The UFC and FOX have improved their combined product since the debacle that was the UFC on FOX 1. Not that it wasn’t an historic night for the sport and Junior dos Santos, but spectators unfamiliar with MMA were only treated to a couple minutes of acti…
The UFC and FOX have improved their combined product since the debacle that was the UFC on FOX 1. Not that it wasn’t an historic night for the sport and Junior dos Santos, but spectators unfamiliar with MMA were only treated to a couple minutes of action. Not to mention, FOX didn’t even televise the possible fight of the year between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson.
MMA fans know that isn’t what a night of UFC fights is all about.
MMA has separated itself from boxing in that a night of fights truly is that. A night of the plural word fights. Part of what makes a UFC night so exciting is predicting which fighters will receive awards for Fight of the Night, Submission of the Night and KO of the Night.
UFC on FOX 3 more closely resembled what traditional MMA fans are used to. We had some impressive TKO victories by Lavar Johnson and Alan Belcher, a competitive fight that went the distance between Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks and saw Nate Diaz establish himself as probably the No. 1 contender in the UFC Lightweight division.
Despite all that, television ratings were down for UFC on FOX 3. Several factors could have contributed to that. One reason could be that it was going up against Mayweather vs. Cotto. Another could be that it was Cinco de Mayo and the younger UFC fans were out partying.
Either way, UFC on FOX 4 has some intriguing matchups and it is never too early to make some predictions.
UFC on Fox 4 is beginning to take shape with an intriguing light heavyweight match between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader on the main card. Both fighters had illustrious starts to their UFC careers but have since stuttered in the division. After recordin…
UFC on Fox 4 is beginning to take shape with an intriguing light heavyweight match between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader on the main card.
Both fighters had illustrious starts to their UFC careers but have since stuttered in the division.
After recording an undefeated 16-0 record as a pro, Machida lost his championship title to Mauricio Rua in 2010 and then was defeated again by Quinton Jackson in a closely fought split decision. After finding winning form again with a front-kick knockout victory over Randy Couture, Machida was submitted for the first time in his career by Jon Jones in a title fight.
This has left Machida in limbo, unsure of his place in the division. With three losses in his last four matches, he will need to secure several victories before he earns another title shot.
He could do worse than a victory over Bader, who put in two solid performances against Jason Brilz and Jackson in his last two outings. Still, he had two back-to-back losses to Jones and Tito Ortiz before that, which means that Bader himself is some way off title contention. But the momentum is with him, and a win over Machida could catapult him into the top tier of the light heavyweight division.
Both fighters are circling outside championship contention at the moment, but victories for either one of them could set off a solid title run.
UFC on Fox 4 is to take place on 4 August at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.
Also on the card, heavyweights Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell — who won UFC 145’s Submission of the Night and Knockout of the Night bonuses, respectively — will be facing off in a guaranteed slugfest. (You’re welcome, Joe Silva.) Browne is still undefeated in his MMA career, with his last three victories coming against Chad Griggs, Rob Broughton, and Stefan Struve. Meanwhile, Rothwell’s first-round knockout of Brendan Schaub finally established him as a legitimate threat in the UFC.
Also on the card, heavyweights Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell — who won UFC 145′s Submission of the Night and Knockout of the Night bonuses, respectively — will be facing off in a guaranteed slugfest. (You’re welcome, Joe Silva.) Browne is still undefeated in his MMA career, with his last three victories coming against Chad Griggs, Rob Broughton, and Stefan Struve. Meanwhile, Rothwell’s first-round knockout of Brendan Schaub finally established him as a legitimate threat in the UFC.
April is coming to a close and that means a third of the year is already gone.Many mixed martial arts events have hit the airwaves to thrill and surprise us. From the UFC to Strikeforce to Bellator and beyond. As fans of mixed martial arts we never kno…
April is coming to a close and that means a third of the year is already gone.
Many mixed martial arts events have hit the airwaves to thrill and surprise us. From the UFC to Strikeforce to Bellator and beyond. As fans of mixed martial arts we never know what to expect, and that is part of the fun with MMA.
2012 has already provided us with some remarkable action: impressive submissions, toe-to-toe wars, come-from-behind victories and so on down the line.
Let’s go back and review some of the most unexpected outcomes that we have had so far in 2012.
Fast-rising superstar Alexander Gustafsson has done a good job of making the UFC take notice of his tremendous skills. Utilizing a lengthy reach that prevented Thiago Silva from working his way inside, Gustafsson came out on top in the main event …
Fast-rising superstar Alexander Gustafsson has done a good job of making the UFC take notice of his tremendous skills. Utilizing a lengthy reach that prevented Thiago Silva from working his way inside, Gustafsson came out on top in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 2 in his native country of Sweden.
Now sitting firmly in the Top 10, the young Swede has put together an impressive 6-1 record against hefty competition inside the Octagon.
Not only that, but with the event selling out in only three hours, Gustafsson proved to Zuffa brass that he has drawing power in European markets.
When a fighter produces results in the cage and at the gates, you’d better believe that Joe Silva takes notice. Gustafsson is on the verge of another step up in competition for his next fight. Here is a look at five options for that contest.
Note: Many fans are already calling for Gustafsson to get a title shot or No. 1 contender bout for his next fight. I promise you that neither of those options are on this list. Thiago Silva was unranked at the time of yesterday’s fight, as were all of Gustafsson’s former opponents. Gustafsson may or may not be ready for such an immense challenge, and if you need an example of a prospect that got pushed too far too soon, look no further than Phil Davis and his anemic performance against Rashad Evans earlier this year.
Seven years. Fifteen seasons. The Ultimate Fighter has been a part of our lives for nearly a decade, ladies and gentlemen, and not only is it still going strong, but it has spread at the rate of your average zombie apocalypse. With the first international installment of the hit reality show already under way, TUF has seemingly evolved beyond its counterparts, transcending even that of the sport in it’s ability to excite, and often inspire its audience. Sure, the next season of Jersey Shore will feature a piss drunk pregnant woman and a possible probable cokehead and will therefore rule the ratings from here to eternity, but The Ultimate Fighter has something better to bring to the table than fabricated drama. Mainly, sweet ass knockouts.
With these knockouts, we’ve seen underdogs pull off upsets, loudmouths get their comeuppance, and the emergence of future superstars. So in honor of what has already been a KO-ridden season of TUF, we decided to watch every season back to back, and determine the BEST knockout from its respective season. Enjoy.
(No, no, not THAT kind of ultimate fighter.)
Seven years. Fifteen seasons. The Ultimate Fighter has been a part of our lives for nearly a decade, ladies and gentlemen, and not only is it still going strong, but it has spread at the rate of your average zombie apocalypse. With the first international installment of the hit reality show already under way, TUF has seemingly evolved beyond its counterparts, transcending even that of the sport in it’s ability to excite, and often inspire its audience. Sure, the next season of Jersey Shore will feature a piss drunk pregnant woman and a possible probable cokehead and will therefore rule the ratings from here to eternity, but The Ultimate Fighter has something better to bring to the table than fabricated drama. Mainly, sweet ass knockouts.
With these knockouts, we’ve seen underdogs pull off upsets, loudmouths get their comeuppance, and the emergence of future superstars. So in honor of what has already been a KO-ridden season of TUF, we decided to watch every season back to back, and determine the BEST knockout from its respective season. Enjoy.
We imagine many of you would prefer to have Justin Lawrence’s KO of Christiano Marcello snag the top spot for this year’s brief (albeit brutal) list of knockouts. But the simple matter is, James Vick’s sorta-knee-sorta-kick knockout of Daron Cruickshank earns its place for a multitude of reasons, the first being how unexpected it was. Not many of us had picked Vick to come out victorious after seeing how diverse a striking attack Cruickshank showcased in his preliminary match. Add to that the first couple minutes of the fight, which were completely controlled by said diverse striking attack, and Cruickshank seemed all but destined to advance. Then he got cocky, went for a takedown, and was promptly knocked the fuck out.
Diego Brandao blew through TUF 14 in more devastating fashion than the monsoon that wrecked the set of Apocalypse Now. The main problem we had when deciding upon last season’s top KO wasn’t figuring out who deserved it, but rather which one of Brandao’s deserved it. Was it his steamrolling of Steve Siler? Or maybe his beatdown of Bryan Caraway? The correct answer was actually his flying forearm KO of that poor albino bastard Jesse Newell in episode 1. Our reasoning; it was eerily reminiscent of Dan Henderson’s “‘Amurica” KO of Michael Bisping at UFC 100, something that opposing coach Jason “Mayhem” Miller couldn’t help but notice himself. And anything that makes us recall perhaps the single most glorious moment in MMA history will always gets its just deserves here at CP.
