UFC 139 Press Pass: Fight Night News and Notes

Filed under: UFCAmong the MMA media who log serious frequent flier miles following the UFC around the country all year, it takes something major to jar them out of the vague sense that fight night is another day at the office.

That’s not to say that …

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Among the MMA media who log serious frequent flier miles following the UFC around the country all year, it takes something major to jar them out of the vague sense that fight night is another day at the office.

That’s not to say that even the most grizzled road warriors on press row aren’t appreciative of having a job they love following a sport they’re passionate about, but when you start to hear the UFC’s in-arena playlist in your sleep (damn you, techno remix of “Hotel California”!), some of the action can start to feel routine.

Then you get an event like UFC 139, which ended with quite possibly the best fight any of us had ever seen. As Dan Henderson and “Shogun” Rua battled back and forth for five rounds, a sense of baffled astonishment set in. It’s that rare moment where you realize you’re witnessing something amazing, even as that something is still happening. You could look at the faces of the fans in the arena and picture them preparing to tell their grandchildren about this night decades from now.

Afterwards, I tried to compare scorecards with ESPN writer (and fellow University of Montana alum — go Griz) Chad Dundas. Personally, I had the fight a draw, but you could make case for almost any result, and I was curious how Chad scored it.

“Awesome,” he replied. “I scored it ‘awesome.'”

Two things about that: 1) It’s a good thing he isn’t an actual judge, because the phrase, “Judge Chad Dundas scores the bout awesome,” probably wouldn’t go over well with any commission (well, maybe Texas wouldn’t care), and 2) I can’t disagree. That fight was awesome, and it almost doesn’t matter who got the official nod from the judges at the end.

Some more fight night musings, scribbled from 35,000 feet and culled from a brain suffering from severe sleep-deprivation:

– Hendo will likely get a title shot soon, but in which division? Dana White said he was open to letting Henderson challenge for a belt at either middleweight or light heavyweight, depending on which one is available first. The thing about that is, Henderson has made it very clear that he doesn’t want to be a 185-pounder full-time. Even if he won the belt, he told us earlier this week, he might not stick around to defend it. He simply hates the weight cut that much. Don’t tell that to White, however, who said that if Hendo did beat Anderson Silva, a rubber match would only make sense.

“I think Hendo would go back down [to 185 pounds] for that too,” said the UFC prez. “I think these guys will go wherever the big money fights are.”

In other words, White’s betting that Henderson likes money more than he hates dieting. He might have a point.

– Even though both the UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champs have contenders in line to face them, don’t assume that those match-ups are set in stone.
Henderson tweeted from the hospital that he was suffering only from a sprained thumb, which seems almost impossible to believe, but might mean that he won’t need as much time off as you’d expect after a fight like that. That could be important if the UFC finds itself suddenly in need of his services. Talking with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva before the event, he claimed that he’d gone back and crunched the numbers for this year and was slightly amazed to discover that about half his original main events in 2011 had been altered or scuttled entirely by injuries. He seemed to think that the intensity of the sparring in many gyms was to blame, but regardless of the cause, it makes you think twice about assuming that any title shot promises are truly guaranteed. An injury to the champ or the challenger, and the picture could change in a hurry. The show must go on, after all.

Wanderlei Silva‘s win doesn’t automatically extend the life of his career indefinitely.
Even with the dramatic TKO victory over Cung Le, White didn’t seem like he was at all ready to retract his previous statements about wanting to see Silva hang it up. When the knockouts start piling up, he said, it’s time to go — regardless of whether you can still win one here or there.

“People can disagree with me or whatever. Go start your own organization. I’m not doing it,” he added.

As for how Silva will take that message, White sounded an optimistic tone, saying “I think he gets it. It’s pretty clear. I’ve been very open and honest about it.”

So has Silva, and he doesn’t sound like a man who’s ready for the rocking chair just yet. File this little battle under ‘To be continued.’

– If you think the UFC schedule is crazy now, just wait.
White had to sit out from some of the pre-UFC 139 media responsibilities because he was just so worn down after the stress of the first FOX show, which is understandable. But after this emotionally-draining night in San Jose, the UFC is back in Vegas in two weeks, then Toronto the week after that, then Vegas again for the end of the year. In 2012, with the FOX deal starting up and ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ going live, things really get insane.

“The schedule is looking ugly, man. Especially for me,” White admitted. “There’s 26 weeks alone of live television. 26 weeks of live television, every Friday night ends in a live fight, then I have to jump on a plane and fly to wherever we are on Saturday, then start all over again on Monday.”

That’s a travel schedule that even pro wrestlers and Rolling Stones roadies would wince at, and it already appears to be taking a toll on White. What will become of the organization if he runs himself into the ground? He doesn’t sound too worried about it.

“This is McDonald’s, man,” he said. “This thing goes on forever without me. Is it different without me? Yeah maybe it’s a little different without me, but they don’t need me, man.”

– I’m not sure how the UFC so consistently manages to position press row so near to each arena’s foremost striking expert, but it does. This time, media members were treated to several hours worth of one ticket-holding genius shouting for the “2-4” combination. He must have thought it was a flawless attack, since he offered the same advice to nearly every fighter, from Nick Pace to Wanderlei Silva to Dan Henderson. None of them listened to him, of course, but that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm any. A note to those of you who plan on attending a live event: it’s not a damn Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, people. The fighters are not taking your requests, no matter how loudly you shout the MMA equivalent of ‘play Free Bird!’ at them.

– Anybody complaining about an early stoppage in the Cung Le-Silva fight obviously didn’t see Le’s face as he made his way to the locker room. Remember how badly his nose was smashed at the end of his first bout with Scott Smith? It was a lot like that, only with more assorted lumps about the rest of his face to accompany it. You could tell by the way he lunged for that desperate takedown attempt: Le was done. Even if he could have gone on a few more seconds, better to stop it just a tad too soon than to let it go on a punch too far.

Urijah Faber is more willing than ever to be Dominick Cruz’s bantamweight nemesis.
Before their rematch, he was somewhat reluctant to assume that mantle. Now that he’s had some time to stew on that decision loss, however, he’s all about the rivalry. Not only did he call out Cruz in his post-fight remarks, telling him to “throw some gel in that widow’s peak,” but he later insisted that Cruz’s narrow win didn’t prove him to be the better fighter, hence the need for a rubber match.

“We’ll find out who’s the man for the rest of our lives,” Faber said. “That’s important to me.”

No kidding.

Ronda Rousey got the UFC president’s attention with her grisly armbar win at Strikeforce: Challengers. White actually referenced the nasty ending to that fight when lambasting the referee in the Chris Weidman-Tom Lawlor fight for being slow to step in. Weidman claimed he didn’t blame the ref for not believing him that Lawlor had been choked unconscious since “I could be trying to get a cheap victory with that,” for all the ref knew. White disagreed:

“I blame him. I do. You’re referee. You should know when somebody’s out. Get your ass in there and stop the fight. Same thing with the armbar last night in Las Vegas. …I blame him. 100 percent.”

Okay, so he didn’t call out Rousey by name, but we all know who he’s talking about. Just getting him to admit to watching a women’s MMA fight is a step in the right direction, even if he later insisted that his general feeling on the lack of depth in the women’s division is a deal-breaker for him. Baby steps.

– UFC headed to Sao Paulo in June? Magic Eight Ball says, ‘Outlook good.’ I was reluctant to believe White’s claim that Brazil is “our new Canada,” but the regular presence of Brazilian media members at UFC fights lately makes me think otherwise. One Brazilian reporter quizzed White about a newspaper report that the organization was headed for Sao Paulo in June — a question that clearly caught White off-guard.

“How’s this stuff get out?” he said, before changing gears and trying to play it coy, yet gleefully unsubtle. “I don’t know if we’re going to Sao Paulo in June, and if Anderson Silva’s headlining the card. No clue. That would be awesome, though.”

– Unsolicited travel tip:
When you realize that you didn’t pack enough underwear for your excessively long road trip spanning back-to-back MMA events, think twice about trying to wash a pair in your hotel room’s bathroom sink. It takes longer to dry than you’d think, and attempting to wear them while still even a little bit damp will be a decision you immediately regret.

 

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Strikeforce Challengers 20 Recap: Rousey snaps Budd’s Arm, Calls out Kaufman

Rousey vs. Budd. Things get ugly about thirty seconds in. Props: IronForgesIron.com

Heading into last night, many people were calling Ronda Rousey the new face of women’s MMA. And why not? She is a decorated judoka who has finished all three of her professional fights in less than one minute. Rousey was given a step up in competition against Julia Budd at last night’s Strikeforce Challengers 20.

If you’ve followed Ronda Rousey’s MMA career at all, then you probably knew how the fight would look even before watching it. For those of you who are new to WMMA: Rousey quickly got Julia Budd to the ground. She established mount, and worked for an armbar. Julia Budd tried to fight through it, and got her arm snapped as a result. Total time? Thirty nine seconds. Forget the second round- Ronda Rousey is yet to see the second minute of a professional fight, having armbarred all four of her opponents less than one minute into the opening round.


Rousey vs. Budd. Things get ugly about thirty seconds in. Props: IronForgesIron.com

Heading into last night, many people were calling Ronda Rousey the new face of women’s MMA. And why not? She is a decorated judoka who has finished all three of her professional fights in less than one minute. Rousey was given a step up in competition against Julia Budd at last night’s Strikeforce Challengers 20.

If you’ve followed Ronda Rousey’s MMA career at all, then you probably knew how the fight would look even before watching it. For those of you who are new to WMMA: Rousey quickly got Julia Budd to the ground. She established mount, and worked for an armbar. Julia Budd tried to fight through it, and got her arm snapped as a result. Total time? Thirty nine seconds. Forget the second round- Ronda Rousey is yet to see the second minute of a professional fight, having armbarred all four of her opponents less than one minute into the opening round.

After receiving confirmation from none other than “Judo” Gene Lebell that her fight lasted only thirty eight seconds, Ronda Rousey got busy calling out Sarah Kaufman and Miesha Tate. Both fights are very interesting for WMMA. Make it happen, Zuffa.

The only fight on the card to end quicker than Rousey vs. Budd was the evening’s main event, Antwain Britt vs. Lumumba Sayers. Sayers caught Britt with a vicious uppercut just twenty eight seconds into their bout. Sayers improves to 5-2, and despite his nickname being “Heavy Hands”, this victory marks his first by knockout. Go figure.


Props: IronForgesIron.com

Full results, courtesy of MMA Junkie:

MAIN CARD

Lumumba Sayers def. Antwain Britt via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:28
Ronda Rousey def. Julia Budd via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 0:39
Adlan Amagov def. Anthony Smith via knokcout (punches) – Round 1, 2:32
Trevor Smith def. T.J. Cook via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:28
Derek Brunson def. Nate James via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Matt Ricehouse def. Bill Cooper via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Bobby Green def. J.P. Reese via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:25
Quinn Mulhern def. David Hulett via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Andreas Spang def. Willie Parks via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:10

Ronda Rousey Arm Bars Julia Budd at Strikeforce Challengers

Filed under: StrikeforceIn a fight with major implications for the future of women’s mixed martial arts, former Olympic judo competitor Ronda Rousey needed just 39 seconds to submit Julia Budd with an arm bar at Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers e…

Filed under:

Ronda Rousey fights at Strikeforce Challengers 20.In a fight with major implications for the future of women’s mixed martial arts, former Olympic judo competitor Ronda Rousey needed just 39 seconds to submit Julia Budd with an arm bar at Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers event.

Rousey’s ground game is simply on a different level from Budd — and from just about every other woman in the world — and it didn’t take her long to establish that: As soon as she got Budd down, Rousey effortlessly transitioned into mount, then cranked on Budd’s arm and forced her to tap.

“I got tagged a couple more times than I would like to, but I’m stoked,” Rousey said afterward.

Rousey is now 4-0 in her professional MMA career, with all four wins coming by first-round arm bar in less than a minute. Rousey could be a good future opponent for Strikeforce 145-pound champion Cris Cyborg, but she said after the fight that she’d rather move down to 135 pounds and fight for the title there.

“I really want to have a title shot at Miesha Tate,” Rousey said.

Whatever weight class she’s fighting in, Rousey is a force. She has the potential to be a great crossover star for women’s MMA.

In other Strikeforce Challengers action:

— Lumumba Sayers needed just 28 seconds to knock out Antwain Britt, pummeling Britt with hard punches against the cage and finishing him off with a devastating uppercut.

— Adlan Amagov got a highlight-reel knockout of Anthony Smith in the first round, swinging wildly and connecting with a huge overhand right and then finishing him off with four more bombs on the ground. The always exciting Amagov is now 9-1-1 in his MMA career.

Trevor Smith submitted T.J. Cook with a guillotine choke in the first round. Smith put on a solid showing and improved his pro record to 9-1, with eight of his nine wins coming by submission.

Derek Brunson beat Nate James by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards, in a fairly dull battle to get the Showtime televised card started.

 

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Video: Ronda Rousey Talks Marketability, Her Desire to Slap Miesha Tate and Feeling Submissions in Her Lady Parts

(Video courtesy of AOL)

When Gina Carano quietly slipped away from MMA for two years, many thought that Strikeforce was grooming Ronda Rousey to be the next face of women’s MMA.

Last weekend “Rowdy” Rousey spoke with Ariel Helwani about a variety of subjects and the outspoken decorated judoka who faces Julia Budd later this month had a lot to say on what makes women marketable in the sport among other topics.

Check out the quick quotes from the interview after the jump.


(Video courtesy of AOL)

When Gina Carano quietly slipped away from MMA for two years, many thought that Strikeforce was grooming Ronda Rousey to be the next face of women’s MMA.

Last weekend “Rowdy” Rousey spoke with Ariel Helwani about a variety of subjects and the outspoken decorated judoka who faces Julia Budd later this month had a lot to say on what makes women marketable in the sport among other topics.

 

Here’s what Miss Rousey had to say about:

Her submission win over Sarah D’Alelio in her last bout:

“She was screaming and I could actually feel her arm popping out and if you dislocate someone’s arm [with an armbar] it’s actually in the most sensitive area of your body. So if you’re implying that I’m imagining sensations in that area, then we have another argument on our hands. I thought she was yelling, ‘Tap, tap!’ as loud as she could.Other people told me they heard that too. She said she was just yelling out, but they tell you right before you walk in that anything verbal during the submission is a verbal submission. It counts as tapping. I thought she couldn’t tap because she was falling forward and using her arm to catch herself. I think if she could have tapped she would [have].”

What makes her a marketable commodity: 

“Well I’m doing the best to be as marketable as possible… I’m training as hard as possible. I want to have an exciting style — not just to win matches, but to win them impressively. And I took the time to do my hair and nails and make-up today. You have to do everything that you can to make it interesting. I think that if you want to bring in new fans you really have to play up that entertainment aspect. If the fan’s already there, they’re going to start appreciating you and the actual skill and athleticism that goes into fighting. To bring people in you’ve got to show them something bright and shiny at first to get them to look. Then it’s the skill and true sportsmanship that gets them to stay.”

Her recent trend of  putting out video blogs with deceiving titles like “RONDA ROUSEY UNEDITED SEX VIDEO.”

“I just kind of think that if an unedited sex video comes out later, then people just won’t believe the title and they won’t click on it, so then I’ll get away with it. I’m just saying it’s a possibility I’m prepared for.”

Her short and long term goals in the sport:

“I’ve only been doing MMA for one year and I’ve had six fights in 12 months. I would like to have five or six more professional fights before I went for a title. Miesha Tate did kinda call me out on Twitter, so I’m considering getting some extra fights down at 135 and slapping that title out of her hands, first and then grabbing the other one second and hopefully unifying the two divisions.”

Her thoughts on fighting  Carano at this point in her young career:

“I would fight her today, for sure. I don’t think she would want to fight me right away. I think we’d both be better off if she came back and had a couple really good impressive looking wins first, and then let me beat her later.”

Ronda Rousey Considering Bantamweight Move to Slap That Title From Miesha Tate

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MMA Fighting recently caught up with Ronda Rousey to discuss her Strikeforce Challengers fight against Julia Budd, what she’s doing to be “as marketable as possible,” her climb up the MMA ladder, why she is considering moving down to 135, whether she believes a woman needs to be attractive to be successful in sports and her thoughts on fighting Gina Carano.

 

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Filed under: , , ,

MMA Fighting recently caught up with Ronda Rousey to discuss her Strikeforce Challengers fight against Julia Budd, what she’s doing to be “as marketable as possible,” her climb up the MMA ladder, why she is considering moving down to 135, whether she believes a woman needs to be attractive to be successful in sports and her thoughts on fighting Gina Carano.

 

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Ronda Rousey Returns to Strikeforce in November Against Julia Budd

Ronda Rousey weigh-ins Strikeforce underwear gif MMA gifs
(Sometimes these things happen in MMA. RouseyGifProps: Fightlinker)

Ronda Rousey (3-0) — the badass Cali chick and Judo champ who has submitted her three professional opponents in a combined 99 seconds — will make her next appearance at a November Strikeforce event, likely a Challengers card in Las Vegas. Rousey last competed three weeks ago, earning a somewhat controversial technical submission win over Sarah D’Alelio. During the fight, Rousey shouted at referee Steve Mazzagatti that D’Alelio had verbally tapped from an armbar, while D’Alelio claims that she was only screaming in agony.

Rousey will be facing Canadian striker Julia Budd (2-1), who most recently outpointed Germaine de Randamie at Strikeforce Challengers 16, but is perhaps more famous for getting dummied by Amanda Nunes. No other bouts for Strikeforce’s November card have been announced yet.

Ronda Rousey weigh-ins Strikeforce underwear gif MMA gifs
(Sometimes these things happen in MMA. RouseyGifProps: Fightlinker)

Ronda Rousey (3-0) — the badass Cali chick and Judo champ who has submitted her three professional opponents in a combined 99 seconds — will make her next appearance at a November Strikeforce event, likely a Challengers card in Las Vegas. Rousey last competed three weeks ago, earning a somewhat controversial technical submission win over Sarah D’Alelio. During the fight, Rousey shouted at referee Steve Mazzagatti that D’Alelio had verbally tapped from an armbar, while D’Alelio claims that she was only screaming in agony.

Rousey will be facing Canadian striker Julia Budd (2-1), who most recently outpointed Germaine de Randamie at Strikeforce Challengers 16, but is perhaps more famous for getting dummied by Amanda Nunes. No other bouts for Strikeforce’s November card have been announced yet.