Patrick Cote vs. Joe Riggs: Cote hasn’t competed since a unanimous decision loss to Stephen Thompson snapped his three-fight win streak back in September. Riggs will try to rebound from his unsuccessful UFC return at UFC on FOX 13 in December, when his neck immediately gave out on him during a fight against Ben Saunders.
Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. David Michaud: This is not an MMA fight, but the finals of Top Chef Montreal. Can Aubin-Mercier’s innovative molecular gastronomy defeat the impeccable French traditionalism of Michaud? (Ed. note: Okay fine, this is a lightweight fight between two guys without Wikipedia pages. Both are 1-1 in the UFC. Thanks, Sherdog.)
Jessica Rakoczy vs. Valerie Letourneau: Rakoczy was TKO’d by Julianna Pena at the TUF 18 Finale in November, and currently holds the worst professional record of any UFC fighter (1-4 with one no-contest). Letourneau was choked out by Roxanne Modafferi during her elimination fight to get into the TUF 18 house, but was given a UFC contract anyway and won a tough split-decision against Elizabeth Phillips last June.
The UFC’s brass waited less than a month after Dominick Cruz’s ACL injury to find a new challenger for bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw.
Per a report by UFC.com, Dillashaw will attempt to defend his title for the second time when he tangles with …
The UFC’s brass waited less than a month after Dominick Cruz’s ACL injury to find a new challenger for bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw.
Per a report by UFC.com, Dillashaw will attempt to defend his title for the second time when he tangles with top-ranked bantamweight and former champ RenanBarao in a rematch in the main event at UFC 186 at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 14.
A bout between Canadian second-ranked welterweight Rory MacDonald and former Olympic judoka and fifth-ranked Hector Lombard will co-headline the card.
Additionally, former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will appear in the Octagon for the first time since signing with BellatorMMA. Jackson will face 13th-ranked Fabio Maldonado.
Dana White just announced on TSN that Dillashaw-Barao 2, MacDonald-Lombard, ‘Rampage’-Maldonado are set for UFC 186 in Montreal.
In a bout that garnered “Fight of the Night” honors, Dillashaw took the bantamweight belt from Barao with a shocking fifth-round TKO at UFC 173 in May. Heading into the bout, Barao was riding a 32-fight unbeaten streak and was considered an 8-to-1 favorite (-800) to defeat Dillashaw (+550) by OddsShark.com.
DillashawKO’d Joe Soto in his first title defense at UFC 177 in August. Barao submitted 14th-ranked Mitch Gagnon in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 58 in December.
Jackson, who finished his first stint in the UFC on a three-fight losing streak that included a loss over light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, won three straight fights in Bellator MMA, two of which were KOs. Maldonado scored his fourth win in five fights by TKO’ing Hans Stringer at UFC 179 in October.
Also, ninth-ranked middleweight Michael Bisping will face 10th-ranked C.B. Dolloway in a bout on the main card. Middleweights Joe “Diesel” Riggs and Patrick Cote will also lock horns in a main-card bout.
(There’ll be plenty more of this after the jump. Trust me.)
It’s February 18th, 2016 (or something like that), which can only mean one thing: There dun been a whole lotta MMA fights booked today! And rather than give you some paint-by-numbers fight booking breakdown (looking at you, Goldsteen), I’ve decided to do pretty much that, but with gifs. So without further askew, let’s get to it!
#6: Matt Hamill vs. TBA — WSOF 4-Man Light Heavyweight Tournament
Although he won’t be getting that rematch with Rampage Jackson in Bellator he was hoping for, Hamill has in fact signed an exclusive contract with World Series of Fighting, and is expected to make his debut as part of a 4-man tournament for the promotion’s light heavyweight belt. There’s no word on who he’ll be facing yet (our guess is another UFC veteran, which is all this tournament is made up of), but we feel confident not giving two shits about this fight regardless. Ranking:
(There’ll be plenty more of this after the jump. Trust me.)
It’s February 18th, 2016 (or something like that), which can only mean one thing: There dun been a whole lotta MMA fights booked today! And rather than give you some paint-by-numbers fight booking breakdown (looking at you, Goldsteen), I’ve decided to do pretty much that, but with gifs. So without further askew, let’s get to it!
#6: Matt Hamill vs. TBA — WSOF 4-Man Light Heavyweight Tournament
Although he won’t be getting that rematch with Rampage Jackson in Bellator he was hoping for, Hamill has in fact signed an exclusive contract with World Series of Fighting, and is expected to make his debut as part of a 4-man tournament for the promotion’s light heavyweight belt. There’s no word on who he’ll be facing yet (our guess is another UFC veteran, which is all this tournament is made up of), but we feel confident not giving two shits about this fight regardless. Ranking:
Remember that time I mentioned how the WSOF light heavyweight tournament is entirely made up of former UFC fighters? Well, enter Thiago Silva, who was just signed by the WSOF to a multi-fight contract despite being a reprehensible piece of human garbage.
(*exhale*) In any case, Silva has been booked in the WSOF’s 4-man lightweight tourney opposite former UFC middleweight Ronny Markes in the semifinal round.
You see what’s happening here, right? WSOF is unabashedly setting up Thiago fucking Silva to be the face of their light heavyweight division. My reaction to this can only be summed up in the immortal words of David Caruso. Ranking:
‘Page is back, baby! Lovers of MMA circa 2005, rejoice!!
I kid (sort of), but according to MMAFighting, Jackson’s return to the Octagon is being eyed for UFC 186 in April, with his opponent potentially being Fabio Maldonado. The Brazilian former pro boxer is fresh off a second round TKO of Hans Stringer at UFC 179, and has won 4 of his last 5 overall. Say what you want about Rampage (or Maldonado) being past his prime…
I suppose I should have finished that thought with a counterpoint, but what I’m getting at is Rampage vs. Maldonado has slugfest written all over it. In blood. Ranking:
Jim Miller is a gamer through and through, and Paul Felder kicked off 2015 with a KO of the Year-worthy spinning backfist over Danny Castillo at UFC 182. This fight will win all of the performance bonuses. Ranking:
Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, UFC Tonight is reporting that the UFC is looking to book Dillashaw vs. Barao II for the April 25th card in Montreal now that Dominick Cruz has once again gone down with an ACL injury.
This rematch makes a hell of a lot more sense now than it did when Barao and Dillashaw were originally scheduled to lock horns again at UFC 177, which as we all know, ended with Barao withdrawing from the fight on 24 hours notice following a botched weight cut. While Dillashaw went on to starch Joe Soto that night, Barao would bounce back with a third round submission win over top contender Mitch Gagnon at Fight Night 58. The scales are finally starting to even in the battle of Team Alpha Male vs. All of Brazil, so we’ll go ahead and slap this one with a Ranking of:
It looks like the UFC bantamweight title will be on the line in addition to a former champion making his return when the Octagon rolls through Montreal for UFC 186.
While there has yet to be an official announcement on either bout, UFC Tonight’s Ariel …
It looks like the UFC bantamweight title will be on the line in addition to a former champion making his return when the Octagon rolls through Montreal for UFC 186.
While there has yet to be an official announcement on either bout, UFC Tonight’s Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday the event will be headlined with the long-awaited rematch between champion T.J. Dillashaw and former titleholder Renan Barao.
The Team Alpha Male staple upset the Brazilian striker when they initially squared off at UFC 173 back in May, and the Nova Uniao representative was given an immediate rematch that would take place at UFC 177 four months later in Sacramento, California.
Yet “The Baron” would be pulled from the card for medical reasons, and his chance to reclaim the 135-pound title would get thrown on the scrap pile. The newly minted champion would go on to defeat promotional newcomer Joe Soto in the main event, and the former pound-for-pound ranked Brazilian would derail surging prospect Mitch Gagnon in his next outing at Fight Night 58 back in December.
While the next title opportunity was set to go to former champion Dominick Cruz, “The Dominator” suffered another knee injury and was once again pushed to the sidelines, where he’s been for the better part of the past three years. Cruz’s injury opened the door for Barao to get a chance for redemption, and it appears he will get precisely that at UFC 186 in Montreal.
In addition to the main event title tilt, Helwani also broke another rumored bout for the UFC’s return to Quebec with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson versus Fabio Maldonado.
It was recently announced the former light heavyweight champion had officially re-signed with the UFC, and if Helwani’s report comes to fruition, the bout with the scrappy Brazilian will be his first under the organization’s banner since he was defeated by Glover Teixeira at UFC on Fox 6 in January 2013. Jackson would go on to sign with Bellator, where the former Pride fighter found victory in all three of his showings for the Los Angeles-based organization.
The 36-year-old knockout artist made headlines around the sport by returning to the UFC, but his existing contract issues with Bellator could very well create some obstacles on his way to the Octagon. According to Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting, Bellator CEO Scott Coker has publicly stated that Jackson is still under contract with the promotion and they have no plans of letting him out of that agreement to compete in the UFC.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
Machida ran through Dollaway like Grant took Richmond. Seriously, the fight was reminiscent of Machida’s 2012 performance against Ryan Bader but even more devastating and one-sided. After being hit with a body kick from Machida, Dollaway recoiled back to the cage and turtled. Machida followed up with vicious strikes. Dollaway crumpled to the mat. The fight was over before it started.
See Renan Barao choke out Mitch Gagnon after the jump.
Sick of watching the same NOS and Metro PCS commercials 4,000 times just to watch one or two good fights on a Fox Sports 1 card?
Machida ran through Dollaway like Grant took Richmond. Seriously, the fight was reminiscent of Machida’s 2012 performance against Ryan Bader but even more devastating and one-sided. After being hit with a body kick from Machida, Dollaway recoiled back to the cage and turtled. Machida followed up with vicious strikes. Dollaway crumpled to the mat. The fight was over before it started.
Mitch Gagnon fought more competitively against Renan Barao despite losing. Barao seemed sluggish in the first round and a half, not steamrolling over Gagnon like many (including us) expected. However, Barao’s fighting acumen snowballed as the contest dragged on, culminating in a third-round submission victory via arm-triangle choke. A good win, but Barao will need to show up about 20x better if he’s going to avenge his loss to bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw.
Oh, and by the way, the UFC announced they resigned Quinton “Rampage” Jackson during the fight card. We’re not kidding, though we wish we were. Read more here.
The fight card’s complete results are below:
Main Card
Lyoto Machida def. C.B. Dollaway via TKO (kick and punches) (1st, 1:02).
Renan Barao def. Mitch Gagnon via submission (arm triangle) (3rd, 3:53).
Patrick Cummins def. Antonio Carlos Junior via unanimous decision (30-27 x3).
Rashid Magomedov def. Elias Silverio via TKO (punches) (3rd, 4:57).
Erick Silva def. Mike Rhodes via submission (arm triangle) (1st, 1:15).
Daniel Sarafian def. Antonio dos Santos Jr. via TKO (finger injury) (2nd, 1:01).
Preliminary Card
Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Igor Pokrajac via TKO (punches) (1st, 1:59).
Renato Carneiro def. Tom Niinimaki via submission (rear-naked choke) (2nd, 3:30).
Hacran Dias def. Darren Elkins via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Leandro Issa def. Yuta Sasaki via submission (neck crank) (2nd, 4:13).
Tim Means def. Marcio Alexandre via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Vitor Miranda def. Jake Collier via knockout (head kick and punches), (1st, 4:55)
Renan Barao must’ve thought he’d live forever.
After all, the young man had it all. He was the three-time defending UFC bantamweight champion. He had a nine-year, 34-fight unbeaten streak. At the tender age of 27, he had earned global fame and adoratio…
After all, the young man had it all. He was the three-time defending UFC bantamweight champion. He had a nine-year, 34-fight unbeaten streak. At the tender age of 27, he had earned global fame and adoration in the combat sports-o-sphere.
It all hit its peak this past May. None other than UFC President Dana White threw all his considerable muscle behind Barao, calling the champ the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
But then? It all came crashing down. In 22 minutes and 26 seconds, it was all over.
That was all the time it took for T.J. Dillashaw to snatch Barao‘s belt and start Barao on a bit of a career tailspin. A pay-per-view headliner this spring, Barao will play second fiddle this Saturday to CB Dollaway on a deep-cut cable card five days before Christmas.
No offense meant to any party involved, but Barao‘s co-main event scrap with Mitch Gagnon at UFC Fight Night 58 is not exactly the place where we’re accustomed to seeing him.
How did we get here? And more importantly, why?
Losing the belt certainly takes some shine away, but it doesn’t fully explain such a precipitous drop-off. As most fans know, Barao‘s follow-up did not help his cause. He reduced UFC officials to a bunch of headless chickens after a nearly last-minute withdrawal from an August rematch with Dillashaw, which some people said Barao didn’t deserve in the first place. Barao, who pulled out after passing out and hitting his head during his weight cut, was replaced by relative unknown Joe Soto in the main event of UFC 177.
Hampered by this lineup change, the pay-per-view event only pulled in an estimated 125,000 buys, according to MMA business website MMA Payout. That’s the second-worst total of 2014.
But let’s talk more about pay-per-view buys for a moment.
RenanBarao is not exactly what you might call a ratings gold mine. In February, he topped UFC 169 by knocking out the immensely popular Urijah Faber in a rematch of their title fight 19 months before. Ths show only earned 230,000 buys, MMA Payout notes.
Interestingly, their original matchup at UFC 149 reportedly drew the same exact number. Not good. UFC 173, Barao‘s fight with Dillashaw, notched only 215,000. For comparison’s sake, the show with the highest number of pay-per-view buys in 2014 was UFC 175 with 545,000.
Maybe it’s the fact that, despite an exciting style, he fights in one of the smaller weight classes, which have historically had to really scrape for attention outside the hardcore fanbase. Maybe it’s the fact that Barao is not a fluent English speaker, which can be a barrier to marketing in the U.S. and Canada. Maybe it’s because Barao is one of many fighters who, language barrier or not, does not exactly exude great enthusiasm over the process of answering interview questions or promoting a fight.
Still, though, that UFC 177 number is dismal. None of this stuff is going to endear you to the people who promote your fights or the people who determine your opponents, not to mention media and fans.
In a rather convenient encapsulation of several of these problems, watch Barao‘s interview with longtime UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan, who takes Barao to task for his UFC 177 withdrawal.
Next, watch an interview around the same time with UFC President Dana White, who notes not only his own frustration with Baraobut referenced the video above and how “fired up” Rogan was to “go after” Barao about the whole incident.
On the post-fight show, White says Rogan was “fired up” to “go after” Barao in that interview. How quickly you can become persona non grata.
Here’s the point: You don’t have to be good at hyping fights. You don’t have to be multilingual. You don’t have to ooze charisma. You don’t have to WAR each and every time you hit the cage. You don’t even necessarily have to win every time out.
But all these things provide a margin of error, a safety net, a reservoir of good will. If you don’t have such a safety net, you can fall pretty far pretty fast. Barao is clearly still a young, exciting and extremely talented fighter. He also appears to be an upstanding citizen who keeps out of trouble away from the cage; that’s no small thing these days.
But that’s exactly the point, and if RenanBarao didn’t know that before, hopefully he knows it now. Rock bottom isn’t defined by anything but the bottom line, baby.
Scott Harris writes about the serious and less-serious aspects of MMA for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.
The UFC’s brass waited less than a month after Dominick Cruz’s 
