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.
Two exciting lightweights are set to square off at UFC 154. According to TSN, Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout and John “The Bull” Makdessi have agreed to face one another at UFC 154 in Montreal on Nov. 17. Stout has won a number of Fight Night bonuses …
Two exciting lightweights are set to square off at UFC 154.
According to TSN, Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout and John “The Bull” Makdessi have agreed to face one another at UFC 154 in Montreal on Nov. 17.
Stout has won a number of Fight Night bonuses during his lengthy UFC tenure despite posting an average 7-6 record in the UFC. His last fight was a decision victory over Spencer Fisher that was an extremely close fight.
Makdessi entered the UFC on a roll, scoring two victories inside the Octagon. Fans were excited about the young Canadian given his flashy striking prowess, but Makdessi has faltered lately. He’s lost two straight fights with his latest bout being an unanimous decision loss to Anthony Njokuani.
As for a quick preview of this matchup, look for both men to establish their striking in the early going. Stout has always been a well-rounded fighter but seemingly can’t sustain any momentum going in his career. Makdessi has used his taekwondo techniques to look impressive, but it’s clear the Canadian has to work on his ground game to become a major force in the lightweight division.
UFC 154 is expected to feature the return of Georges St-Pierre, as he takes on interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit in a title unification bout. Although not official, the fight is expected to be announced shortly.
A title eliminator bout between Johny Hendricks and Martin Kampmann will serve as the co-main event along with a litany of Canadians on the card like Mark Bocek, Patrick Cote and Mark Hominick among others.
It has been a little over a year since the passing of renowned mixed martial arts coach Shawn Tompkins and his legacy is alive and well in his home province of Ontario. Tompkins was an elite striking coach originally out of London, Ontario, more r…
It has been a little over a year since the passing of renowned mixed martial arts coach Shawn Tompkins and his legacy is alive and well in his home province of Ontario. Tompkins was an elite striking coach originally out of London, Ontario, more recently out of the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada. His real legacy is his elite students and his work throughout the community to grow the sport and raise money for important local charities.
In June of this year, a charity screening of “Driven” starring Jens Pulver was shown in downtown Toronto by local charity organization Show Your Strength. (video highlight attached) The organization was put together to help youth all around the world have the opportunity to participate in sport, exercise and healthy living. The event was attended by special guests, UFC and Tompkins trained fighters Mark Hominick, Sam Stout and Chris Clements. The event raised over $10,000 which was divided between various local charities.
Later this month, a second event will be held to raise money in honor of “The Coach” as the 1st Annual Shawn Tompkins Memorial Golf Tournament will be held at Fire Rock Golf Club near London, Ontario. The event will raise money for the Shawn Tompkins Memorial Fund and Heart and Stroke Foundation and will feature UFC fighters, NHL and media personalities. Tournament Director Joe Botnick has worked hard to deliver incredible sponsorship, prizes and people in honor of The Coach.
I spoke with Botnick on the phone this week and it is clear he was up for the challenge of this event.
“I’m hoping for and expecting to sell out all the spots in the event and many people have been great in supporting and sponsoring this event. We have four amazing hole-in-one prizes, one that includes tickets to a UFC event anywhere in the world.”
Botnick is an avid Tompkins and MMA fan who has attended UFC events all over the world and he is constantly giving back; just one of the many fighters and fans who are and will continue to carry on the legacy.
(What?! Every beast needs to take a cat nap every now and again.)
For reasons we will never truly understand, a lot of emphasis seems to be placed on the monikers designated to a given fighter. For guys like Randy “The Natural” Couture, the nickname often represents an extension of a their personality, or an underlying philosophy that they bring into the cage. Guys like Renato “Babalu” Sobral, on the other hand, carry perhaps the most authentic nicknames of them all; names that, although holding little to no meaning in terms of the fight game, were bestowed upon the fighter as a child and simply stuck. And then there are guys like Justin “The Nsane1” McCully, whose nicknames were most likely derived from an ill-fated, drunken AOL Instant Messenger conversation at 3 a.m. with the intent of finding something “fresh” and “intimidating” to bring to the table.
But even lower on the nickname totem pole than the Joe Lauzons and the Kendall Groves of the world are the guys whose nicknames completely clash with the public’s perception of who they truly are, their gameplan once they step into the ring, or simply their abilities as a fighter in general. So it is with that in mind that we present you with a brief rundown of the top ten fighters who are in desperate need of a name change if they want to continue to be taken seriously.
Not only does Stout have only one knockout to his credit in his 13-fight UFC career, he only has one finish in his UFC career. Granted, the KO he managed to pull off against Yves Edwards at UFC 131 was a freakin’ brilliant one, but you don’t see Chad Mendes calling himself “The Guillotine Machine” because he was able to pull it off once a couple years ago. Perhaps “Hands of Limestone” would be something a little more appropriate.
(What?! Every beast needs to take a cat nap every now and again.)
For reasons we will never truly understand, a lot of emphasis seems to be placed on the monikers designated to a given fighter. For guys like Randy “The Natural” Couture, the nickname often represents an extension of a their personality, or an underlying philosophy that they bring into the cage. Guys like Renato “Babalu” Sobral, on the other hand, carry perhaps the most authentic nicknames of them all; names that, although holding little to no meaning in terms of the fight game, were bestowed upon the fighter as a child and simply stuck. And then there are guys like Justin “The Nsane1″ McCully, whose nicknames were most likely derived from an ill-fated, drunken AOL Instant Messenger conversation at 3 a.m. with the intent of finding something “fresh” and “intimidating” to bring to the table.
But even lower on the nickname totem pole than the Joe Lauzons and the Kendall Groves of the world are the guys whose nicknames completely clash with the public’s perception of who they truly are, their gameplan once they step into the ring, or simply their abilities as a fighter in general. So it is with that in mind that we present you with a brief rundown of the top ten fighters who are in desperate need of a name change if they want to continue to be taken seriously.
Not only does Stout have only one knockout to his credit in his 13-fight UFC career, he only has one finish in his UFC career. Granted, the KO he managed to pull off against Yves Edwards at UFC 131 was a freakin’ brilliant one, but you don’t see Chad Mendes calling himself “The Guillotine Machine” because he was able to pull it off once a couple years ago. Perhaps “Hands of Limestone” would be something a little more appropriate.
When your MMA record is just a notch above .500, it might be a little pretentious to refer to yourself as “Immortal.” Not even Superman was immortal, but he could sure as hell defend a guillotine choke when forced to do so. Not that we’re knocking Brown as a fighter, because like Stout, the guy always comes to throw down on fight night, and is one intimidating SOB to boot. Plus, as Jeremy May will surely tell you, pissing off Brown is not something you want to do if you enjoy having all of your teeth in their current location.
Besides the fact that the nickname already belongs to one of the godfathers of the sport, you shouldn’t be able to call yourself a natural anything when you’ve admitted to steroid use in the past.
You haven’t held a title in ten years, and you gave yourself a nickname that was both stolen from a professional wrestler and contradicts the heel role you have built your name on for the past fifteen or so years. For shame, Tito. For shame.
Now, this technically isn’t Warren’s nickname, as it isn’t listed on his fighter profile, but Warren has referred to himself as such on several occasions, and has paid dearly in karma points as a result.
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.
Who would have thought that the third bout in the Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher trilogy would be decided by wrestling? The first six rounds between these two took place primarily on the feet, but the rubber match went everywhere and the takedowns from S…
Who would have thought that the third bout in the Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher trilogy would be decided by wrestling?
The first six rounds between these two took place primarily on the feet, but the rubber match went everywhere and the takedowns from Stout ended up being the deciding factor.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
This could be the final appearance for Fisher inside the cage, and there wasn’t a better opponent for him if this is indeed his final bout.
The trilogy with Stout is one of the best in the history of MMA, and even though Fisher came out on the losing end, he still showed he has some serious skills tonight.
What We Learned About Sam Stout
Sam Stout is no longer just a striker.
The standup between Stout and Fisher was extremely close for the entire fight, but Stout’s ability to get the fight to the ground whenever he felt like it made a huge difference in the outcome of the bout.
What We Learned About Spencer Fisher
It’s been a long, tough career for Spencer Fisher, and he showed he still has plenty of fights left in him if he feels like he wants to continue in MMA.
Fisher got the better of a tough striker in Stout numerous times on the feet, and his defense on the mat was excellent as well, but in the end, he just didn’t do enough to earn the decision.
What’s Next for Sam Stout
After rebounding from a controversial decision loss to Thiago Tavares in his last fight, Stout is back in the winner’s circle and will be looking to continue his streak of exciting fights in his next bout.
The UFC seems to love matching Stout up against fellow strikers, and with UFC 152 set to go down in Stout’s native Canada, a fight against someone like Takanori Gomi would be awesome.
What’s Next for Spencer Fisher
Hopefully, Fisher gets one more chance in the UFC, but now that he’s lost five of his last six fights, that seems unlikely.
If Fisher gets another fight, someone like Yves Edwards would be a nice final fight for “The King.”
Two exciting lightweights are set to square off at 
