(Was this photo taken with a fish eye lens? Get it?! A FISH EYE LENS!! *crickets*)
Yowza. As if we needed further proof, Rashad Evans sent out this tweet earlier today, confirming once and for all that Jon Jones does is fact have the nastiest elbows in the game. At least he took it in stride, stating the following:
I went 2 UFC 145 in Atlanta and I had the best seat in the house & all I came back with was this fat eye! Wth! I hope those of u that went came back with better souvenirs than I did! =)
Though Evans only received a week suspension, he might want to consider sitting out a little longer while he waits for that baby to deflate. ‘Shad was one of fourteen fighters from Saturday’s card to earn just a seven day suspension for cautionary reasons. Brendan Schaub and Che Mills received 45 day suspensions for their (T)KO losses, where Miguel Torres earned a 60 day suspension for his knockout loss to Michael McDonald. Torres must also undergo a CT scan before he is cleared to return to action.
But worse than Schaub, worse even than Torres, was the indefinite suspension Mac Danzig received for the gnarly ankle injury he suffered in his unanimous decision victory over Efrain Escudero as a result of a first round heel hook. Word has it that while this was occurring, Rousimar Palhares went on a bloodthirsty rampage through Brazil that resulted in the deaths of no less than 400 people.
Check out the photo of the damage, compliments of Danzig’s twitter, along with the full medical suspensions, after the jump.
(Was this photo taken with a fish eye lens? Get it?! A FISH EYE LENS!! *crickets*)
Yowza. As if we needed further proof, Rashad Evans sent out this tweet earlier today, confirming once and for all that Jon Jones does is fact have the nastiest elbows in the game. At least he took it in stride, stating the following:
I went 2 UFC 145 in Atlanta and I had the best seat in the house & all I came back with was this fat eye! Wth! I hope those of u that went came back with better souvenirs than I did! =)
Though Evans only received a week suspension, he might want to consider sitting out a little longer while he waits for that baby to deflate. ‘Shad was one of fourteen fighters from Saturday’s card to earn just a seven day suspension for cautionary reasons. Brendan Schaub and Che Mills received 45 day suspensions for their (T)KO losses, where Miguel Torres earned a 60 day suspension for his knockout loss to Michael McDonald. Torres must also undergo a CT scan before he is cleared to return to action.
But worse than Schaub, worse even than Torres, was the indefinite suspension Mac Danzig received for the gnarly ankle injury he suffered in his unanimous decision victory over Efrain Escudero as a result of a first round heel hook. Word has it that while this was occurring, Rousimar Palhares went on a bloodthirsty rampage through Brazil that resulted in the deaths of no less than 400 people.
Check out the photo of the damage, compliments of Danzig’s twitter, along with the full medical suspensions, below.
(Where does the calf fat end and the ankle fat begin?)
UFC 145 Medical Suspensions Mac Danzig: Suspended indefinitely pending results of right-ankle X-ray Miguel Torres: Suspended 60 days; needs CT scan Che Mills: Suspended 45 days for precautionary reasons Brendan Schaub: Suspended 45 days for precautionary reasons Eddie Yagin: Suspended 30 days, including 21 days with no contact Mark Hominick: Suspended 30 days, including 21 days with no contact Chad Griggs: Suspended 30 days, including 21 days with no contact Matt Brown: Suspended 14 days for precautionary reasons Stephen Thompson: Suspended 14 days for precautionary reasons Keith Wisniewski: Suspended 14 days for precautionary reasons Jon Jones: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Rashad Evans: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Rory MacDonald: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Ben Rothwell: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Michael McDonald: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Mark Bocek: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons John Alessio: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Travis Browne: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Anthony Njokuani: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons John Makdessi: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Efrain Escudero: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Chris Clements: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Marcus Brimage: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons Maximo Blanco: Suspended seven days for precautionary reasons
(Thigh sleeve > Muttonchops? I don’t understand this world anymore.)
By Jack Saladino
After a six week hiatus that threatened to drive UFC fans worldwide into their nearest mental asylum, UFC 145 came back with a fury, providing us with all the sweet KO’s, slick submissions, and classic scraps that we have come to know and love. And now that the storm has passed, we must look to the future for those involved in what was a fantastic night of fights. As always, we’ll take a look at the must-make match-ups for Saturday’s biggest winners, and maybe even a couple of the losers, because they’re people too, we guess.
Let’s get right to it…
Travis Browne– If not for Chad Griggs’ incredible chin, “Hapa” could have just as easily walked away with a Knockout of the Night bonus for that beautiful double flying knee. That being said, Browne was awarded Submission of the Night for only his second career submission victory, and looked like a Jiu-Jitsu whiz while doing so. Browne has steamrolled through most of his opponents, and if the heavyweight division wasn’t so tongue tied at the moment, I would have a long list of potential opponents for the Hawaiian. But Browne has age on his side and would fight tomorrow if you asked him to, so I’m thinking he should step up and fill the vacancy “Bigfoot” Silva left against Roy Nelson. Browne has a month to keep fit and a win over a name like “Big Country” on relatively short notice would ensure his top tier status.
(Thigh sleeve > Muttonchops? I don’t understand this world anymore.)
By Jack Saladino
After a six week hiatus that threatened to drive UFC fans worldwide into their nearest mental asylum, UFC 145 came back with a fury, providing us with all the sweet KO’s, slick submissions, and classic scraps that we have come to know and love. And now that the storm has passed, we must look to the future for those involved in what was a fantastic night of fights. As always, we’ll take a look at the must-make match-ups for Saturday’s biggest winners, and maybe even a couple of the losers, because they’re people too, we guess.
Let’s get right to it…
Travis Browne– If not for Chad Griggs’ incredible chin, “Hapa” could have just as easily walked away with a Knockout of the Night bonus for that beautiful double flying knee. That being said, Browne was awarded Submission of the Night for only his second career submission victory, and looked like a Jiu-Jitsu whiz while doing so. Browne has steamrolled through most of his opponents, and if the heavyweight division wasn’t so tongue tied at the moment, I would have a long list of potential opponents for the Hawaiian. But Browne has age on his side and would fight tomorrow if you asked him to, so I’m thinking he should step up and fill the vacancy “Bigfoot” Silva left against Roy Nelson. Browne has a month to keep fit and a win over a name like “Big Country” on relatively short notice would ensure his top tier status.
Mark Bocek– The pasty Canadian BJJ specialist has had a bumpy road to hoe thus far in his Zuffa career. His only losses have come to title holders, potential contenders, and TUF winners, but his only wins have come over fighters no longer employed by the promotion. And John Alessio, who as of this moment has yet to be booted from the UFC again. For Bocek’s next fight, I’d like to see him get a nice submission in a striker/grappler mismatch against UFC 145 undercard winner Anthony Njokuani. Njokuani made a name for himself in the WEC but has struggled to thrive in the UFC’s tough lightweight division. If he could neutralize the ground game of Bocek and score a KO, it could propel him into notoriety. Potentially, this could be a huge fight for both men.
Eddie Yagin– I couldn’t imagine a better pick for Fight of the Night than Yagin’s huge upset over former number one contender Mark Hominick. With more strikes landed in three rounds than the five round title fight and a no holds barred attitude from both fighters, I was thoroughly pleased with each man’s performance. Unfortunately for Hominick, getting dropped twice, combined with his one-dimensional striking attack, cost him a close split decision for his third loss in a row. This was a big win Yagin, who utilized some powerful kicks to pepper Hominick’s legs and managed to rock “The Machine” on two separate occasions, despite telegraphing damn near every technique he threw. I’d recommend he heals his face up, improves his cardio, and gets ready to fight Armenian judoka Manvel Gamburyan, who’s also coming off three consecutive losses. Both men are relatively small even for featherweight, and would make for a hell of an addition to one of the free “Fight Night” type cards the UFC throws our way every now and again.
Michael McDonald– Be afraid, Mr. Cruz. Be very afraid. After your done trading insults (and tiny fists) with Urijah Faber, you’re going to have to deal with the ridiculous punching power of this youngster. The 21 year old McDonald is thriving off his second consecutive first round KO, and against a former WEC champ nonetheless. If he hasn’t already cemented his spot amongst the bantamweight elite, perhaps a fight against someone like Brad Pickett would. Renan Barao and Ivan Menjivar could be fighting for the #1 contender spot at UFC 148, but I think Pickett or McDonald could also present a serious challenge to the champ.
Ben Rothwell– I’m not sure how Ben Rothwell and Brendan Schaub, who were both coming off rather embarrassing losses (the former more so than the latter), got promoted to the main card over Travis Browne and Chad Griggs, who are both coming off wins. That being said, “Big Ben” survived an early onslaught and got the better of “The Hybrid” in a flurry that earned him Knockout of the Night honors, and finally gave him a UFC highlight to boot. The heavyweight division is upside down right now thanks to Alistair Overeem’s prescription-biased illiteracy, and almost every other big name is tied up at UFC 146. But one heavyweight I’d like to see back in the cage soon is Matt “Meathead” Mitrione, who would match-up perfectly with Rothwell. After suffering his first career loss to Cheick Kongo in October, Mitrione has been devoting most of his time to his family whilst opening up his own gym. He’ll be eager to erase the memory of what was one of the most boring fights this side of Ben Askren vs. anybody against a fellow slugger like Rothwell, so I say we match them up ASAP.
Rory MacDonald– When Rory MacDonald steps into the cage, the only thing he fails to do is give you a bathroom break. It is non-stop action with the GSP protégé, and his domination of Che Mills has earned him a step up in competition. His wrestling prowess is simply too much for a pure striker, so I’d like to see how he fares against a fellow wrestler. After Jon Fitchdisposes of Aaron Simpson at UFC 149, I say test “Ares” against the AKA product, who’s smothering “offense” has frustrated even the most aggressive of competitors at 170.
Jon Jones– The argument has been settled, reach is everything in fighting. Jones’ proved to be too much for Rashad Evans on Saturday night, as he was able to land over 75 strikes to the head alone, according to FightMetric. In the post-fight press conference, Dana White confirmed that Dan Henderson was next in line for the title shot, which would likely go down sometime in the late summer. Honestly, I think Jones deserves some well earned R&R, but then again, I’m not the boss, so I’m ready for sparks to fly.
Rashad Evans– The hype surrounding this fight may or may not have made the evening tougher for Rashad, but the fact of the matter is that he just couldn’t get inside frequently enough to put combos together against Jones. He had success in the first round landing a big head kick and a few flurries, but for the most part, he seemed content to eat jabs and elbows from the outside until the final bell rang. In my opinion, “Suga” should say farewell to the light heavyweight division and drop to 185. His cardio would improve enough for him to challenge most of the top tier middleweights right off the bat, and his fight with Jones would prepare him for what he could expect in a title fight against Anderson Silva. If Rashad chooses to drop, it would take him several months to do so, and by that time the middleweight division could be even more shaken up than it is now. The winner of Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva immediately comes to mind, being that they have both fought in higher weight classes before and have good power to boot. But the winner of Tim Boetsch and Michael Bisping could make for a great fight as well, especially if it meant a rematch with Bisping, who dropped to 185 following his loss to Evans at UFC 78.
Even if you weren’t glued to your Twitter account last night, you still had plenty of MMA news to keep yourself entertained. From a middleweight and lightweight tournament to a post-fight brawl to a referee ignoring a fighter’s cornermen throwing in the towel, there were plenty of things to talk about. All of these story lines came from Bellator 66 last night in Cleveland, Ohio.
While this season hasn’t been a stranger to dangerously late stoppages, last night’s main event, a rematch between former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki, provided one worthy of mention in our worst referee blunders roundtable. Alvarez dropped Aoki early, and although he initially seemed hesitant to jump into Aoki’s guard, Alvarez unloaded some heavy punches that almost immediately put Aoki out cold. When the referee in charge, Jerry Krzys, didn’t stop the fight Aoki’s cornermen threw their towel into the cage. Of course, everyone knows that “throwing in the towel” is just an expression for giving up, and not a sign that the fighter’s cornermen actually believe that the fight should be stopped, right? No? Well then someone should have explained that to Jerry Krzys, who allowed the fight to continue for a few more seconds before stopping the action.
After the fight, Alvarez had a very simple question for Bellator, and an equally simple follow up request: “Bjorn Rebney where you at? Show me the money.” Of course, if Bellator can’t- or isn’t willing to- comply with that request, something tells us that the UFC will.
Even if you weren’t glued to your Twitter account last night, you still had plenty of MMA news to keep yourself entertained. From a middleweight and lightweight tournament to a post-fight brawl to a referee ignoring a fighter’s cornermen throwing in the towel, there were plenty of things to talk about. All of these story lines came from Bellator 66 last night in Cleveland, Ohio.
While this season hasn’t been a stranger to dangerously late stoppages, last night’s main event, a rematch between former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki, provided one worthy of mention in our worst referee blunders roundtable. Alvarez dropped Aoki early, and although he initially seemed hesitant to jump into Aoki’s guard, Alvarez unloaded some heavy punches that almost immediately put Aoki out cold. When the referee in charge, Jerry Krzys, didn’t stop the fight Aoki’s cornermen threw their towel into the cage. Of course, everyone knows that “throwing in the towel” is just an expression for giving up, and not a sign that the fighter’s cornermen actually believe that the fight should be stopped, right? No? Well then someone should have explained that to Jerry Krzys, who allowed the fight to continue for a few more seconds before stopping the action.
After the fight, Alvarez had a very simple question for Bellator, and an equally simple follow up request: ”Bjorn Rebney where you at? Show me the money.” Of course, if Bellator can’t- or isn’t willing to- comply with that request, something tells us that the UFC will.
The evening’s co-main event saw a wild back-and-forth brawl between Bellator newcomer Andreas Spang and Brian Rogers. Rogers appeared to have Spang in trouble early, but slipped while attempting a head kick. Spang immediately took Rogers’ back and attempted a rear-naked choke, but Rogers fought his way out of it and attempted a choke of his own as the first round came to an end. Rogers continued to control the fight throughout the second round, yet got caught by Spang with a left hook that shut his lights out.
After the fight, Spang was face-to-face with the other middleweight tournament finalist, Maiquel Falcao. As evident by the way that he pushed Brian Rogers at the weigh-ins before the fight, Andreas Spang does not like when other people get in his face. Spang responded to the way that bitch looked at me wrong with a shove (naturally). Falcao faked a punch before throwing a knee of his own as Bellator officials, including commentator Jimmy Smith, separated the middleweights. It wasn’t so much a brawl as an awkward post fight staredown gone wrong, but sometimes these things happen in MMA journalism.
Naturally, Maiquel Falcao made it past Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, although it was a far closer fight than most people anticipated it being. Vasilevsky started out strong, using his judo to keep Falcao on his back throughout the first round. However, Falcao managed to take down Vasilevsky towards the end of the second round, and owned the third round with his superior striking.
Elsewhere on the card, lightweights Rick Hawn and Brent Weedman advanced to the finals of this season’s lightweight tournament. Hawn outstruck Lloyd Woodard en route to a second round TKO, while Weedman defeated Thiago Michel Pereira Silva by split decision. Weedman winning on 4/20, eh? I’m sure I’d be the first person to make a joke about that, but I chose not to.
Full Results
Main Card:
Eddie Alvarez def. Shinya Aoki via first-round TKO
Andreas Spang def. Brian Rogers via second-round TKO
Maiquel Falco def. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Rick Hawn def. Lloyd Woodard via second-round TKO
Brent Weedman def. Thiago Michel Pereira Silva via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Preliminary Card:
Jessica Eye def. Anita Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30×27 x 3)
Julian Lane def. Joe Heiland via submission (guillotine)
Frank Caraballo def. Donny Walker via fourth-round KO
John Hawk def. Marcus Vanttinen via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Attila Vegh def. Dan Spohn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Adhering to its usual formula and taking a look back at the locker room footage from the previous event, the newest edition of UFC President Dana White’s infamous vlog features an up close and personal look at the poor bastards who came up short at UFC on FUEL: Gustafsson vs. Silva. And Brian Stann. He’s simply too nice to not be around at all times.
Adhering to its usual formula and taking a look back at the locker room footage from the previous event, the newest edition of UFC President Dana White’s infamous vlog features an up close and personal look at the poor bastards who came up short at UFC on FUEL: Gustafsson vs. Silva. And Brian Stann. He’s simply too nice to not be around at all times.
(I have seen the future of Swedish MMA and it is pale, polite and comes with a nasty uppercut)
No one really disappointed in the UFC’s first ever event in Sweden Saturday. Swedish headliner Alexander Gustafsson won an entertaining and technical stand-up striking battle against Thiago Silva. For his part, Silva was coming off of a one-year suspension from a failed drug test and was a late replacement for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira but found success in spots throughout the fight and never stopped pushing the pace and coming forward, no matter how much damage he took.
It’s always fun to see what crowds in new UFC territory are like and the Swedish fans proved to be a pleasing combination. Think the soccer chants of British and Brazilian fans with the polite appreciation of Japanese fans (but slightly louder). When one of their own won, they roared. When one of theirs lost, they applauded the victor for their honest effort. Old dad was on the scene last week and did a great job writing about Swedish attitudes.
As he wrote, Silva was initially one of the few people to get booed in Sweden. But that had more to do with his assumed steroid use than his nationality. And by the end of his strong-willed battle against Gustafsson, the Swedish fans cheered Silva for his aggression.
(I have seen the future of Swedish MMA and it is pale, polite and comes with a nasty uppercut)
No one really disappointed in the UFC’s first ever event in Sweden Saturday. Swedish headliner Alexander Gustafsson won an entertaining and technical stand-up striking battle against Thiago Silva. For his part, Silva was coming off of a one-year suspension from a failed drug test and was a late replacement for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira but found success in spots throughout the fight and never stopped pushing the pace and coming forward, no matter how much damage he took.
It’s always fun to see what crowds in new UFC territory are like and the Swedish fans proved to be a pleasing combination. Think the soccer chants of British and Brazilian fans with the polite appreciation of Japanese fans (but slightly louder). When one of their own won, they roared. When one of theirs lost, they applauded the victor for their honest effort. Old dad was on the scene last week and did a great job writing about Swedish attitudes.
As he wrote, Silva was initially one of the few people to get booed in Sweden. But that had more to do with his assumed steroid use than his nationality. And by the end of his strong-willed battle against Gustafsson, the Swedish fans cheered Silva for his aggression.
Gustafsson was well-prepared to deal with Silva’s “in your face” style. At the opening horn Silva rushed Gustafsson but the young Swede stayed clear of danger and used footwork to circle out. It was typical of how the fight would go. Though, both fighters each landed their share of bombs. Just a few seconds into the first round, Gustafsson took advantage of Silva rushing head first into him by countering with an uppercut that floored the Brazilian. Even though the lanky Swede used his long jab well throughout the fight to keep Silva at bay, the uppercut became his most reliable punch over the course of three rounds. And, just as he did in the first round after the uppercut, Silva responded to each big Gustafsson strike landed by gathering his wits and getting back in his face. When Gustafsson’s constant lateral movement didn’t keep him out of harm’s way, his solid chin kept him in the game. Silva landed more than a few big overhand rights that landed flush on the Swede’s chin. As the fight closed, Gustafsson seemed to know he was in the lead and tried to run out the clock. Silva, though visibly tired, finished strong in his trademark fashion (think his bout with Rashad Evans), landing hard roundhouse leg kicks and one last big overhand right.
It wasn’t enough, however, and Gustafsson won the unanimous decision (30-27, twice, and 29-28).
Gustafsson continues to climb the ranks at light heavyweight. Perhaps more importantly, he dealt with the spotlight remarkably well against an elite opponent. If he continues to win it seems likely we could see Gustafsson challenge for the belt in the next year. It’s unlikely that even a title fight will put him through the emotional grinder and place the amount of pressure that headlining his nation’s first ever UFC event did. He passed that test with flying colors, staying composed and sticking to a smart strategy. Gustafsson moved to 14-1 while Silva dipped to 14-3.
At this point I should probably be surprised at how good Brian Stann is at making other strikers fight his type of fight. And a Stann type of fight is one heavy on brawling with heavy shots being traded. Alessio Sakara could not withstand Stann’s onslaught in their co-main event and got knocked clean out early in the first round of their bout. Stann started the fight bobbing and weaving behind a type of peek-a-boo guard. When he had closed the distance, Stann unleased with heavy shots to the body and head in nice dirty boxing fashion. Sakara fell to his back and Stann finished with him stiff shots from inside his guard. One shot put Sakara out and another woke him up. The referee wisely recognized that the fight was over and stepped in. It seems like the only time Stann will lose is when he’s put against a grappler. As long as he gets paired with fellow sluggers, he should continue to impress. As it stands, his record is 12-4 and Sakara’s second consecutive loss moves him to 15-9.
Siyar Bahadurzada shocked everyone with a quick KO over Paulo Thiago just as Thiago did to Josh Koscheck a couple years ago. The Afghanistan-born Bahadurzada threw a wide left hook and a short right as Thiago waded in face-first seconds into the first round. The left hand missed but the right hand clipped Thiago right on the chin, knocking him out cold and dropping him face-first onto the mat. Bahadurzada moves to 21-4 while Thiago slides to 14-4.
Dennis Siver and Diego Nunes went after each other, mostly on the feet, for three rounds. The pair combined cautious rang-finding with dramatic spinning kick and fist attacks for about the first round and a half. Siver continues to look more confident in his grappling, as he attempted multiple takedowns, but was unable to finish them. His aggression and slight edge in accuracy ended up giving Siver the advantage on the scorecards and he won a unanimous decision. Siver improved his record to 20-8 and Nunes fell to 17-3.
In other main-card action, John Maguire beat DeMarques Johnson with an arm bar in the second round and Brad Pickett submitted Damacio Page with a rear naked choke in the second stanza of their fight. James Head also took out fan favorite Papy Abedi with a rear naked choke in the first round of their welterweight bout.
More results and an amazing photo gallery from UFC photographer Josh Hedges below
Preliminary fight results:
Cyrille Diabate defeats Tom DeBlass via majority decision
Francis Carmont defeats Magnus Cedenblad via rear naked choke at 1:42 of the second round
Reza Madadi submits Yoislandy Izquierdo with a guillotine choke at 1:28 of the second round
Simeon Thoresen beats Besam Yousef with a rear naked choke at 2:36 of the second round
Jason Young wins a unanimous decision over Eric Wisely
This week’s matchup between Joe Proctor and Chris Tickle seems to be a study in contrast. Proctor has been quiet thus far, with his nose to the grindstone in training. Tickle has been loud, full of bravado, while annoying his coaches by finding ways not to train during practices.
Similarly, both sides seem to agree that Proctor is the more technical fighter, with the ability to finish on the ground while Tickle is a powerful brawler that needs to avoid the ground. But before we can get to that fight, Tickle showed up drunk to last week’s.
After his teammate loses and he is selected to fight Proctor, we see Tickle giggling, talking smack and pushing his coach Dominick Cruz over the edge. We are told, and its not hard to believe, that Tickle got crunk prior to the bout.
Coach Cruz is in no mood for jokes after losing his second straight in the locker room and tells Tickle to “shut up. Shut up.” “What are you doing?” Cruz asks Tickle.
“Nothing,” Tickle replies. “I’m being me.”
Coach Cruz, and perhaps the viewing nation, simply replies, “why?”
Last week’s episode ended with Tickle getting in Urijah Faber and Proctor’s face when the match up was announced. Proctor teammate Al Iaqunita, fresh off his own win, believes that Tickle’s courage is liquid-based.
This week’s matchup between Joe Proctor and Chris Tickle seems to be a study in contrast. Proctor has been quiet thus far, with his nose to the grindstone in training. Tickle has been loud, full of bravado, while annoying his coaches by finding ways not to train during practices.
Similarly, both sides seem to agree that Proctor is the more technical fighter, with the ability to finish on the ground while Tickle is a powerful brawler that needs to avoid the ground. But before we can get to that fight, Tickle showed up drunk to last week’s.
After his teammate loses and he is selected to fight Proctor, we see Tickle giggling, talking smack and pushing his coach Dominick Cruz over the edge. We are told, and its not hard to believe, that Tickle got crunk prior to the bout.
Coach Cruz is in no mood for jokes after losing his second straight in the locker room and tells Tickle to “shut up. Shut up.” “What are you doing?” Cruz asks Tickle.
“Nothing,” Tickle replies. “I’m being me.”
Coach Cruz, and perhaps the viewing nation, simply replies, “why?”
Last week’s episode ended with Tickle getting in Urijah Faber and Proctor’s face when the match up was announced. Proctor teammate Al Iaqunita, fresh off his own win, believes that Tickle’s courage is liquid-based.
“Tickle was hammered at the fight tonight. When he wakes up and finds out he has to fight Proctor, he’s going to shit himself,” Iaquinta laughs.
Cruz continues his dressing down of Tickle. “Do me a favor and just try to keep your mouth shut for this next week,” he says. “And no more drinking.”
Cruz explains during an interview later that he actually loves Tickle and his personality. “He cracks me up…he has a good heart.”
Tickle, perhaps still drunk, takes Cruz aside in the training center and makes a request. He tells Cruz to fuck all that technique shit, he needs to be “pushed,” in terms of conditioning. Well, no one’s conditioning is likely to improve in the week of their fight, and Cruz has been trying to push Tickle for a month now, with much push back from Chris.
Cruz is flabbergasted at Tickle’s lack of self-awareness.
“’I don’t want to tell you how to coach me, but push me.’ Alright Tickle. Good advice!” Cruz
Back in the house, Tickle weighs himself on the scale – he’s 168.5 pounds. The lightweights will need to weigh in at a maximum of 156 the day before their fight. Proctor, who says he likes Tickle and that they talk every day, walks in to the house after Tickle and is goaded into weighing in in front of his opponent.
He does, and he’s over 175. Still, there’s no chance that the Joe-Lauzon protégé will miss weight after his coach has mercilessly teased fellow TUF 5 cast mate Gabe Ruediger, will he?
Cut to Tickle eating three corn dogs in his bed. Well, he seems to have the weight thing under control.
Tickle’s Team Cruz team member Justin Lawrence expresses his disgust at Tickle’s attitude. “Every day you don’t get coached by a world champion like Dom. You’ve got to be able to take this opportunity that he’s giving you, and just soak it up,” Lawrence preaches.
Lawrence turns his judging eye to injured teammate Mike Rio next. Rio, one of the oldest in the house, is talking about his injured knee to Lawrence. The 21 year-old dispassionately responds by saying MMA is a “young man’s game.”
Rio says he feels that he has ten more years in him if he can stay healthy. Lawrence says, “Really? See, I think at the age 30, you’re done.”
Rio is 30 years old. Dick move, Lawrence.
At the next day’s training, Cruz calls Tickle over, but not to yell at him. The coach wants to apologize to the fighter.
“I was very frustrated last night and I let it come out and I apologize for that,” Cruz tells Tickle.
Cruz says he’s making today’s practice a hard one. He wants his fighters to be put in “tough situations [that] challenge their brain and their heart.”
On that note, Rio and Lawrence are sparring and things are about to get intense. Cruz explains that he makes spinning kicks illegal in sparring for his guys because he’s seen nasty KO’s from them and wants to keep things safer in practice.
Lawrence still throws a spinning heel kick at Rio and the old man gets pissed. A shouting match ensues between the two but Cruz doesn’t seem to much mind. “They got angry at each other. Good. They are already fighting each other,” he says with a wide grin.
Rio says later during an interview that he was pissed so decided to give a little extra mustard on the ground to Lawrence and “pop” his arm in an arm bar. Cruz makes Lawrence and Rio continue sparring one another and Rio appears to use his anger to school Lawrence on the ground.
Rio shoots in, takes Lawrence down, arm bars him, and their round ends with Lawrence downed once again, his back taken by Rio. Lawrence storms off, presumably in search of the supposed benefits of his youth.
“Rio stepped up,” Cruz says. “And Justin, when he doesn’t kick your ass, he starts getting frustrated with himself.”
Cruz talks with Lawrence after practice, calming him down and explaining to him that he needs to start relying on his mind as much as he does on his physical gifts. “You’ve got to find different ways to win other than [with] power, athleticism and speed…now you’ve got to think each round,” Cruz explains calmly.
Now’s the time we learn a little bit more about Proctor and Tickle’s lives outside of the Octagon. Both men say they’ve used MMA training to lift themselves out rough situations during their youths.
Proctor was raised by his grandparents, his father in jail during his youth and his mom out of the picture. He goes on to say proudly that these days he and his dad are close, and that his dad has been clean of drugs for four years.
Proctor’s coach Faber says of the quiet Massachusetts kid, “always beware of the dog with no bark.”
Faber is confident that Proctor’s technical style will be able to overcome Tickle’s powerful brawling. The segment ends with the voice of Faber and perhaps an assistant coach doing the Faber thing to do – coining nicknames.
“Proc-daddy,” Faber says. “Proctologist,” another voice says. “The Proctornator,” Faber submits. It’s like improvised jazz, really it is.
“Velociproctor,” the other voice offers. To which Faber, simply says, in a mellow voice, “I know.”
Ok.
We’ve got the first real house prank of the season, ladies and gents!
Guess who does it? That’s right, Tickle me Chris. Tickle takes a plastic water jug, cuts it in half, fills with water and rigs it on the house front door so that when Team Faber walks in, it will fall on one of them.
Joe Proctor walks in and gets soaked. With water from his own water bottle!
Proctor laughs it off. Tickle brags about Proctor getting “smoked.” What is and isn’t entertaining must vary wildly depending on one’s ability to communicate with the outside world, read, listen to music or watch television.
Live cut- in! Vitor Belfort is in the UFC Training Center waiting to watch the fight.
We’re back in the house on Easter Sunday and the guys all seem to wish they were back home with family for the holiday. Lawrence, underscoring how young he really is, actually says that he misses being at home with his parents for Easter, because his mom and dad get him an Easter basket each year.
Tickle is being all nice and cooking a turkey and ham for the guys. Two other guys are off in the distance in the yard playing bean bag in their underwear. Why not, I guess?
Mike Cheisa is waxing poetic on what it will be like getting back home and being with a girl again after three months with dudes. “Look, this is going to be the worst performance of my life,” he imagines telling the lucky lady to be. “You’re going to get naked. I’m going to put my hands on you and then I’m going to jizz all over you.”
Who hasn’t been there?
Tickle talks a bit about growing up in the not-Chicago portion of Illinois and dealing with racism. He says he was in and out of jail through his youth but that training himself in MMA lifted him out of many bad habits.
Ironically, he may be the real mature guy in the house because of the real-world responsibilities he has. “Most of these guys live on their own or with their parents,” Tickle says. He, on the other hand, has a fiancé and two kids.
“I fight for my family,” he says.
At the weigh-in, Cruz looks at Faber in his Urijah Faber dress-code mandated flip flos and calls his toes “sweaty.” Faber brushes off Cruz by saying he is “very intimidating with zero finishes.”
Tickle weighs in at 153 while eating pizza on the scale and then breaks up the seriousness of his stare down with Proctor by asking Joe if he can “smell my pizza?”
Fight time!
Proctor comes out staring hard at Tickle.
Rd 1
Proctor lands a jab, Tickle misses with a head kick. Lots of feinting from both men. Tickle with a rear roundhouse leg kick.
Proctor with an inside leg kick. Tickle marches towards Joe with a left-right, left-right combo followed by an attempted high kick that is blocked.
Proctor lands a right hand and clinches with Tickle. Tickle reverses and presses Proctor against the cage. Tickle lands an overhand right on separation and then throws a hard punch combo at Proctor, mixing the body and the head.
They free up and hit the center of the cage. A lot of measuring each other up and Tickle coming in with bursts of strikes. Two head kicks that miss from Tickle but a left hook that lands.
Proctor throws a two-punch combo and clinches up with Tickle. Proctor has his own back to the cage but is controlling Tickle’s head in a Thai plum grip. Tickle defends against knees to the head and they separate with Tickle whiffing on a big overhand elbow strike to the head.
Proctor jabs and then shoots and gets a double leg takedown. Tickle scrambles up to his feet but gives up his back in the process.
Proctor gets behind Tickle and gets his arm under his chin, dragging Tickle backwards onto the mat. Tickle fights hard to remove Proctor’s connecting hand from the back of his own head, but Proctor maintains the other arm’s position under Tickle’s throat and eventually secures the tap out.
Three in a row for Team Faber. They now lead 3-2
Matchup time!
Faber chooses his own John Cofer to face Vinc Pichel. Faber also takes the time to give Vinc a new nickname. Vinc “From the depths of hell” Pichel. The man is a champion and a poet.
