In honor of Pearson’s impressive accomplishment, we’ve rounded up 16 great photos of Kristie, which you can check out in the gallery after the jump. If you like what you see, follow Kristie on twitter for more. The Smashes debuts this Wednesday on FX Australia and ESPN UK.
In honor of Pearson’s impressive accomplishment, we’ve rounded up 16 great photos of Kristie, which you can check out in the gallery above. If you like what you see, follow Kristie on twitter for more. The Smashes debuts this Wednesday on FX Australia and ESPN UK.
With the UFC returning to Australia with UFC on FX 6 on December 14, the promotion is beginning to announce upcoming bouts. While the organization hasn’t announced a venue for said return yet, the card will be headlined by Hector Lombard attempting to redeem himself after his promotional debut at UFC 149, a completely forgettable three round sleeper against Tim Boetsch. The Cuban-born Australian has been given a second chance against none other than Brazilian leg lock specialist Rousimar Palhares. In other words, he isn’t exactly being given a rebound fight.
We all know about the lofty expectations that Hector Lombard carried into the UFC as a Bellator middleweight champion who hasn’t lost in twenty five fights. While Lombard claims that he was too injured to have been fighting during his UFC 149 clash against Tim Boetsch, many fans were quick to jump off of the Lombard bandwagon after that performance. A loss to perennial almost-contender Rousimar Palhares – especially a boring loss to Paul Harris, if that’s possible – could be enough to send Lombard back to Bellator. Likewise, Palhares has built an impressive 7-3 record in the UFC, yet has choked in the fights that would separate him from the pack and potentially earn him a title shot. If Toquinho can’t secure one of Lombard’s legs, he may be permanently relegated to gatekeeper status. Not exactly a great spot for either guy to be in.
Also, UFC on FX 6 will feature the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes, including the fight between TUF: Smashes coaches George Sotiropoulos and Ross Pearson. You guys remember Smashes, right? British fighters squaring off against Aussies? The answer to the TUF ratings woes? An opportunity for comments sections across the internet to rant about cockiness and make “That’s not a _____, THIS is a _____!” jokes? Well, you have three months to get familiar with it.
In other booking news…
Hint.
With the UFC returning to Australia with UFC on FX 6 on December 14, the promotion is beginning to announce upcoming bouts. While the organization hasn’t announced a venue for said return yet, the card will be headlined by Hector Lombard attempting to redeem himself after his promotional debut at UFC 149, a completely forgettable three round sleeper against Tim Boetsch. The Cuban-born Australian has been given a second chance against none other than Brazilian leg lock specialist Rousimar Palhares. In other words, he isn’t exactly being given a rebound fight.
We all know about the lofty expectations that Hector Lombard carried into the UFC as a Bellator middleweight champion who hasn’t lost in twenty five fights. While Lombard claims that he was too injured to have been fighting during his UFC 149 clash against Tim Boetsch, many fans were quick to jump off of the Lombard bandwagon after that performance. A loss to perennial almost-contender Rousimar Palhares – especially a boring loss to Paul Harris, if that’s possible – could be enough to send Lombard back to Bellator. Likewise, Palhares has built an impressive 7-3 record in the UFC, yet has choked in the fights that would separate him from the pack and potentially earn him a title shot. If Toquinho can’t secure one of Lombard’s legs, he may be permanently relegated to gatekeeper status. Not exactly a great spot for either guy to be in.
Also, UFC on FX 6 will feature the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes, including the fight between TUF: Smashes coaches George Sotiropoulos and Ross Pearson. You guys remember Smashes, right? British fighters squaring off against Aussies? The answer to the TUF ratings woes? An opportunity for comments sections across the internet to rant about cockiness and make “That’s not a _____, THIS is a _____!” jokes? Well, you have three months to get familiar with it.
In other booking news…
– UFC 154, which takes place in Montreal, Canada, will feature a lightweight bout between Canadians Sam Stout and John Makdessi (In professional wrestling, this is known as a hometown pop). Stout is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Spencer Fisher at UFC on FX 3, which earned Fight of the Night honors. Makdessi, meanwhile, is riding a two fight losing streak. His most recent loss was a unanimous decision against Anthony Njokuani at UFC 145, which was held at a catchweight of 158 pounds because Makdessi missed weight. Don’t expect him to remain employed by the UFC if he drops this contest.
– Yesterday, we announced that Swedish kickboxing legend Jorgen Kruth had retired from competition, despite being one month away from his UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 5. His original opponent, Fabio Maldonado, will now fight Cyrille Diabate. Presumably because asking Maldonado to fight a completely different striker with less than one month to prepare for him would be the dumbest idea ever, the UFC has decided to shift this bout to UFC 154 as well. Diabate is coming off of a majority decision victory over Tom DeBlass at UFC on FUEL 2.
(For his final masterpiece, Michelangelo decided to pay tribute to the Biblical hero’s fall from grace through the medium of hamstone. The results were shocking, yet delicious.)
As is likely the case for most of you, we here at CagePotato are more than willing to admit that we all but completely missed out on the failed experiment that was TUF Live. The placement of the show on Friday nights, the rehashed trash-talk and pranks between coaches; it just seemed all too played out and tired to really get us hooked. The fact that Dominick Cruz tore his ACL with only a couple episodes to go only furthered our belief that the season would have been a complete loss if not for the uplifting story of the season’s lightweight winner, Don Cheadle (or something like that).
So when Dana White informed USA TODAY Sports yesterday that the coaches for this season would be polar opposite heavyweights Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, it more than piqued our interest. Aside from being the winner of the show’s tenth (and arguably least talent filled) season, TUF: Heavyweights, Nelson is by all accounts, one entertaining and funny sumbitch. Carwin, on the other hand, has shown before that he is up for a good joshing as long as it is not aimed at him. If you recall, the last time we got on Carwin’s bad side, Old Dad packed up his things, fled, faked his death, died his eyebrows, and attended his own funeral as a man named Phil Schiffley. The last we heard, he was still reporting on all things MMA from a one man vessel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean out of fear that “The Engineer” was still looking for him. So clearly, the potential for hilarity between these two on the set is higher than Nelson’s cholesterol levels.
(For his final masterpiece, Michelangelo decided to pay tribute to the Biblical hero’s fall from grace through the medium of hamstone. The results were shocking, yet delicious.)
As is likely the case for most of you, we here at CagePotato are more than willing to admit that we all but completely missed out on the failed experiment that was TUF Live. The placement of the show on Friday nights, the rehashed trash-talk and pranks between coaches; it just seemed all too played out and tired to really get us hooked. The fact that Dominick Cruz tore his ACL with only a couple episodes to go only furthered our belief that the season would have been a complete loss if not for the uplifting story of the season’s lightweight winner, Don Cheadle (or something like that).
So when Dana White informed USA TODAY Sports yesterday that the coaches for this season would be polar opposite heavyweights Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, it more than piqued our interest. Aside from being the winner of the show’s tenth (and arguably least talent filled) season, TUF: Heavyweights, Nelson is by all accounts, one entertaining and funny sumbitch. Carwin, on the other hand, has shown before that he is up for a good joshing as long as it is not aimed at him. If you recall, the last time we got on Carwin’s bad side, Old Dad packed up his things, fled, faked his death, died his eyebrows, and attended his own funeral as a man named Phil Schiffley. The last we heard, he was still reporting on all things MMA from a one man vessel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean out of fear that “The Engineer” was still looking for him. So clearly, the potential for hilarity between these two on the set is higher than Nelson’s cholesterol levels.
And although Carwin did in fact take a year away from action following his UFC 131 loss to Junior Dos Santos to search the world over for Fowlkes, he also spent a good deal of time rehabilitating his back. Coincidentally, it was this very injury that forced him out of his original matchup with Nelson at UFC 125.
“Big Country” most recently found his way back to the win column with a first round knockout of Dave Herman at UFC 146. Just 2-3 in his past five, Nelson certainly won’t be looking at a title shot with a win over Carwin, but a victory would undoubtedly be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, of his Zuffa career.
And in other TUF coaching news…
For those of you who didn’t stick around to catch the post-fight show on FUEL TV last night, DW also announced that the coaches for the second international season of TUF, which will see fighters from the UK square off against Australia’s finest, will be TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson and TUF 6 standout George Sotiropoulus. Both men have fallen on hard times as of late, with G Sots dropping his past two to Dennis Siver (via decision) and Rafael Dos Anjos (via lawn chair KO). After dropping to featherweight following a 4-2 UFC stint at lightweight and scoring a unanimous decision victory over Junior Assuncao, Pearson most recently screwed our parlay over royally when he was knocked out by Cub Swanson in the second round of their tilt at UFC on FX 4.
So, Potato Nation, do these matchups do anything for you?
(Dan Miragliotta explains to Guida the maximum amount of miles allowed to run in the octagon without penalty.)
After a brief hiatus, Dana White has returned with the daily dose of heartbreak that is the Danavlog to remind us all of the downsides of being a f*cking fighter. Thankfully, not all of us take the phrase as literally as Brazilians do. But the main lesson we took away from today’s episode is simple: what you don’t pay in gym fees, you will more than make up for in blood. Nick Catone, Joey Gambino, and Ross Pearson were just a few of the men to walk away from their bouts with some gruesome lacerations and another (or in Gambino’s case, a first) loss on their record. A tough day at the office indeed.
“Boring,” and “sucked” were just a couple of words that White used to describe the five round affair between Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, a sentiment that most fans seemed to agree with when all was said and done. And regardless of who you thought won that fight, you could probably understand a little bit of Gray’s frustration with the Steve Prefontainian conundrum that Guida brought to the octagon. This frustration became all the more apparent when the two met backstage, where some less than positive remarks were exchanged between the two camps. Oddly enough, it all began when Guida uncharacteristically complained about the judges decision, despite the fact that Napoleon was closer to conquering Russia than Guida ever was to finishing that fight, or even attempting to for that matter.
Video after the jump.
(Dan Miragliotta explains to Guida the maximum amount of miles allowed to run in the octagon without penalty.)
After a brief hiatus, Dana White has returned with the daily dose of heartbreak that is the Danavlog to remind us all of the downsides of being a f*cking fighter. Thankfully, not all of us take the phrase as literally as Brazilians do. But the main lesson we took away from today’s episode is simple: what you don’t pay in gym fees, you will more than make up for in blood. Nick Catone, Joey Gambino, and Ross Pearson were just a few of the men to walk away from their bouts with some gruesome lacerations and another (or in Gambino’s case, a first) loss on their record. A tough day at the office indeed.
“Boring,” and “sucked” were just a couple of words that White used to describe the five round affair between Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, a sentiment that most fans seemed to agree with when all was said and done. And regardless of who you thought won that fight, you could probably understand a little bit of Gray’s frustration with the Steve Prefontainian conundrum that Guida brought to the octagon. This frustration became all the more apparent when the two met backstage, where some less than positive remarks were exchanged between the two camps. Oddly enough, it all began when Guida uncharacteristically complained about the judges decision, despite the fact that Napoleon was closer to conquering Russia than Guida ever was to finishing that fight, or even attempting to for that matter.
(Things start to get interesting around the 8:26 mark.)
I know this will earn me a lot of hate (then again, what doesn’t), but when you want to jab and jog your way to victory, as was obviously Guida’s plan going into last Friday’s fight, I can’t really empathize when the judges bite you in the ass for doing so. Relying on the judges to determine the correct outcome of a fight (especially one that was that close) is akin to career suicide in MMA considering their time-tested incompetence, so Guida has no one to blame but himself (and maybe Greg Jackson) for the inevitable result of doing so. I say this as a Guida fan.
Just check out the Fightmetric stats if you want to see how close of a fight this truly was.
Granted, Fightmetric results don’t often tell the whole story, but my God, talk about an abysmal efficiency rate. All of the rounds were decided by such a small difference that it would be hard to make the case that either fighter was clearly deserving of the judges nod. So basically, who you feel won the fight likely comes down to your view of the terms “aggression” and “octagon control.” I’ll give Guida this, he implemented a frustrating gameplan that Maynard had little to no answer for the first couple of rounds. As things progressed, however, Guida just fell short in terms of effectiveness. Let the cries of “TUF noob” and “incompetent jackass” begin.
Gray Maynard has never been the most popular UFC fighter. Maybe it’s because it’s almost impossible to picture him as an underdog; he’s an enormous lightweight who lives up his “Bully” moniker. (His choice of entrance music probably doesn’t do him any favors, either.) He’s always Goliath, and in our society we’re conditioned to root for David. That attitude was epitomized in Frankie Edgar’s back-to-back comebacks against him, with the crowd firmly in favor of the smaller fighter who seemed to rely on his will and technique, while Maynard relied on his size and power. As long as Maynard’s achievements were contextualized within that narrative, he would always be the villain.
Clay Guida won the first two rounds of their main event last night by constantly remaining out of Maynard’s reach, dictating the pace, occasionally landing jabs, and landing a solid head kick in the latter half of the second round. The action had been sparse throughout, but it seemed understandable; Guida obviously didn’t want to engage Maynard head on at first, he’d tire him out and then wear him down. Well, that didn’t happen. For the majority of the third round, Guida squandered whatever momentum he may have built by circling, dancing, and circling some more. It was UFC 112 Anderson Silva on meth. By the end of the round, Maynard was flailing with power punches, frustrated by Guida’s unwillingness to engage.
Midway through the fourth round, Maynard had enough. With Guida still circling and refusing to engage, Maynard finally grabbed a hold of him, landed some knees and then proceeding to embody the audience’s frustrations by dropping his hands and bellowing epithets, daring Guida to just stop running and hit him. Guida proceeded to oblige him, only to have Maynard walk through a hard overhand right, stuff a takedown and almost secure an arm-in guillotine in an unprecedented display of attitude and badassery that it actually caused fans to cheer him. Round 5 was unfortunately more of the same, which is to say, not much at all.
Gray Maynard has never been the most popular UFC fighter. Maybe it’s because it’s almost impossible to picture him as an underdog; he’s an enormous lightweight who lives up his “Bully” moniker. (His choice of entrance music probably doesn’t do him any favors, either.) He’s always Goliath, and in our society we’re conditioned to root for David. That attitude was epitomized in Frankie Edgar’s back-to-back comebacks against him, with the crowd firmly in favor of the smaller fighter who seemed to rely on his will and technique, while Maynard relied on his size and power. As long as Maynard’s achievements were contextualized within that narrative, he would always be the villain.
Clay Guida won the first two rounds of their main event last night by constantly remaining out of Maynard’s reach, dictating the pace, occasionally landing jabs, and landing a solid head kick in the latter half of the second round. The action had been sparse throughout, but it seemed understandable; Guida obviously didn’t want to engage Maynard head on at first, he’d tire him out and then wear him down. Well, that didn’t happen. For the majority of the third round, Guida squandered whatever momentum he may have built by circling, dancing, and circling some more. It was UFC 112 Anderson Silva on meth. By the end of the round, Maynard was flailing with power punches, frustrated by Guida’s unwillingness to engage.
Midway through the fourth round, Maynard had enough. With Guida still circling and refusing to engage, Maynard finally grabbed a hold of him, landed some knees and then proceeding to embody the audience’s frustrations by dropping his hands and bellowing epithets, daring Guida to just stop running and hit him. Guida proceeded to oblige him, only to have Maynard walk through a hard overhand right, stuff a takedown and almost secure an arm-in guillotine in an unprecedented display of attitude and badassery that it actually caused fans to cheer him. Round 5 was unfortunately more of the same, which is to say, not much at all.
At the end of the fight, Maynard was awarded a split-decision, with two 48-47’s and one 47-48. I don’t have a problem with the decision, though I can understand why some might; the fight was difficult to score just because so little happened during it. But that’s not what this night should be remembered for; this is the night that Gray Maynard broke the narrative paradigm that has plagued him throughout his UFC career. By expressing the frustration that so many of us felt, Maynard wasn’t a bully anymore; last night, he was one of us.
Well, and the night that Clay Guida single-handedly destroyed his reputation as a fan-favorite. Hey, I’m trying for the glass half-full approach here, people. Moving on…
Disappointing main event aside, this was a pretty good card. Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher lived up to expectations, in what was – I imagine – either the most difficult or the easiest fight to live blog of the night. (It depends if you try to actually give a play by play, or simply copy and paste “They engage. Both land shots,” over and over.) Although Fisher seemed to get the better of the standup exchanges ever so slightly, Stout sealed his victories by nailing takedowns in each round, securing the unanimous decision in their trilogy fight.
Just as interesting was the ground war waged between young gun T.J. Waldburger and battle-tested, immaculately manscaped Brian Ebersole. Waldburger got off to a fast start, dropping Ebersole with a straight left, and almost finishing him on the ground with a D’Arce choke. Despite his face turning the color of Prince’s garments of choice, Ebersole survived. In the next round, Ebersole escaped from an omoplata, an arm bar, and two triangle chokes. Despite Waldburger’s active guard, Ebersole took the round on the strength of his ground and pound, turning it on in the final seconds. The deciding round saw Ebersole secure a takedown, escape yet another triangle, and deliver shoulder strikes and elbows until the bell rang. It was enough for Ebersole to take a unanimous decision, 29-28 across the board. With this momentum, Ebersole plans to set up a higher profile fight at 170 in an attempt to… wait, no, apparently he’s going to try to cut to 155. Huh?
Cub Swanson and Ross Pearson was another highly entertaining fight, in which Swanson really got to show off just what was in his arsenal. Although Pearson was clearly the larger and stronger of the two, Swanson’s speed and ingenuity allowed him to get the better of the exchanges. At one point in the first round, Swanson threw a capoeira kick that would impress Anthony Pettis, which Pearson didn’t even flinch from, with Swanson following with upkicks from his back. The end came as Pearson pushed forward, Swanson landed two jabs, pivoted to his left and unleashed a counter left hook that sent Pearson crashing into the fence at 4:14 of the second round. Bring on Do Bronx, please.
The prelims were generally solid, but the highlight had to be Ricardo Lamas’ upset of Hatsu Hioki. Hioki had passed on a title fight with Jose Aldo because he believed he wasn’t ready to face him, and took the fight with Lamas as a tune up to that title shot. Well, it proved to be the right decision, because there was no way Hioki was ready for a title shot. After winning the first round and losing a competitive second round, Hioki was utterly ineffective in the third. It’s not so much that Lamas dominated him, although he did almost submit him with a number of guillotines, so much as Hioki just didn’t do anything in the final round. His standup looked atrocious, and his cardio looked almost as bad.
Fight of the Night went to Fisher-Stout, KO went to Swanson, and Sub went to Dan Miller for his third-round guillotine win over Ricardo Funch.
A lot of fans got really excited when this fight was made, and Cub Swanson and Ross Pearson made sure they did not disappoint when they finally stood toe-to-toe on Friday night. Swanson threw everything but the kitchen sink at Pearson and the Brit was …
A lot of fans got really excited when this fight was made, and Cub Swanson and Ross Pearson made sure they did not disappoint when they finally stood toe-to-toe on Friday night.
Swanson threw everything but the kitchen sink at Pearson and the Brit was eager to return fire, as both men put on a hell of a fight.
In the end, Swanson landed a fantastic combination that ended with a big left hand that sent Pearson crashing to the canvas. The punches that followed gave Swanson his second straight victory inside the Octagon.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
That it was fun to watch.
Swanson was at the top of his game tonight and he made life difficult for Pearson with his relentless attacks throughout the entirety of the fight.
Pearson was game, and landed some solid punches and a few takedowns to keep the fight close, but eventually Swanson’s pace and endless barrage of strikes was a bit too much.
What We Learned About Cub Swanson
We knew Swanson was extremely exciting, but he may have outdone himself with tonight’s performance.
Swanson looked crisp on the feet and was incredibly active off of his back. Now that he seems to have finally put everything together, he is going to be a dangerous fighter, going forward at 145 lbs.
What We Learned About Ross Pearson
Despite a lackluster win over Junior Assuncao in his featherweight debut back at UFC 141, a lot of people thought that Pearson was going to be a force in his new division.
He may not have gotten the win tonight, but he put on a solid show and with his size and skill set Pearson still has a chance to be one of the premier fighters in the division.
What’s Next for Cub Swanson
It’s been a long time coming for Swanson to enter the featherweight title picture, and while he says he wants a number one contender fight, he’s going to have to win some more before that happens.
A rematch with Ricardo Lamas, who won earlier tonight and defeated Swanson at UFC on FOX 1 last November would be a fun fight, but there’s another option that would be even more attractive for the UFC brass to put together.
Even though he’s coming off a loss, Dustin Poirier is one of the best fighters in the UFC’s 145 lb division and would be a solid test for Swanson going forward.
What’s Next for Ross Pearson
After a tough loss to Swanson, I don’t see Pearson getting any favors from Sean Shelby for his next bout.
It’s always fun to see Pearson get into a technical standup war, so a fight on the UFC 152 card in Toronto against Canada’s own Mark Hominick would be a ton of fun for everyone involved.
