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The British Journal of Sports Medicine recently published a study highlighting two key risk factors for developing CTE. When it comes to fighters, both the number of head injuries suffered and the age of the fighter in question need to be monitored. Th…
The British Journal of Sports Medicine recently published a study highlighting two key risk factors for developing CTE. When it comes to fighters, both the number of head injuries suffered and the age of the fighter in question need to be monitored. The study focuses on TES (Traumatic encephalopathy syndrome) and the features and similarities…
Continue Reading New Study Reveals Shocking CTE Stats For Fighters at MMA News.
Spencer Fisher recently made MMA headlines by revealing the impact a lifetime of fighting was having on him, now his career as a UFC athlete was over. The ‘King’ revealed that he had been diagnosed with early symptoms of CTE, at the same time as when the UFC had cut him from their roster of […]
Spencer Fisher recently made MMA headlines by revealing the impact a lifetime of fighting was having on him, now his career as a UFC athlete was over. The ‘King’ revealed that he had been diagnosed with early symptoms of CTE, at the same time as when the UFC had cut him from their roster of retired fighters.
Now Sam Stout, a former opponent of Fishers, is making moves to assist him through these hard times. Stout recently started a GoFundMe page for Fisher, with the initial goal of reaching $2000. However, the fundraiser has been met with a great response, currently having made over double the original goal.
Speaking with MMA Fighting, Stout had the following to say:
“It’s great to get him a couple thousand bucks, but it’s a short-term solution, it’s pretty sad to see.”
“It’s always a risky thing to say anything about the UFC’s practices, but we’re talking about a guy that I’ve got a bond with that’s going to last the rest of our lives,” he said. “Spencer’s earned my respect almost more than any other man walking this planet. Just to see him twisting in the wind with no help, it’s really hard for me to watch, because it could have been me.“
Stout also went on to discuss what steps need to be taken in order to ensure that more fighters in the future do not end up following Fisher’s tragic path.
“I think some things need to change. There’s more information coming to light about CTE and the lasting effects of head injuries. I think ongoing medical coverage for the fighters should be part of their expenses that they need to factor into their business. Sometimes I think they worry about the bottom line more than the people that are making their company the great powerhouse that it is. I think it’s not right and something needs to change.”
Former UFC lightweight title contender, Gray Maynard, has also weighed into the situation surrounding Fisher. ‘The Bully noted that it is essential that the impacts of a career in MMA become commonly known.
“(Fisher said) like, ‘Dude, I don’t care not being known and I don’t want to be in the spotlight. And I could relate to him,” Maynard said. “I’m like, ‘Dude, I hear ya. I’m with ya. But it’s not about us, it’s about all these other guys and girls. You have to get this story out and you have to tell them what’s going on in this sport and what’s going on in this world.’ It definitely was hard on him. We’ve talked a couple of times, but I really feel like he went through with it because of that. Because he definitely didn’t want to get his story out. That’s not the point of why he did it. ‘Oh, I want people to know what I’m going through.’ No. I want people to know what I’m going through because other people are going to go through this. And it’s going to happen a lot. It’s already happened’ He’s just the person that got the story out. There’s a lot of scared people out there, man.” (BJPENN.com).
Fighters like Max Holloway have already taken steps to avoid such future ramifications, by no longer having heavy sparring as an integral aspect of their training camps.
(The plaque is nice and all, but Chiesa would have gladly entered the TUF 15 tournament for two dollars.)
Although we can’t exactly accuse Spencer Fisher of violating our ban on MMA fighters retiring only to immediately unretire, he came about as close as humanly possible when he told various media outlets that his trilogy-completing fight with Sam Stout at UFC on FX 4 last June would probably be his last. As we originally remarked, it seemed about as fitting an end to his MMA career as Fisher could have asked for — his pair of previous fights with Stout had not only fueled an intense rivalry between the two (not on the level of Paraguay vs. Uruguay, but still), but had earned the duo Fight of the Night honors on two separate occasions. That he suffered a razor-thin split decision loss should not have cheapened the significance of the moment, at least in our minds.
In either case, it appears that Fisher is not quite ready to call it quits, as he has been booked to face fellow UFC vet Yves Edwards at UFC on FOX 8, which transpires from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington on July 27th. Fisher has dropped 5 of his last 6 contests, whereas Edwards has gone win-loss in his last 5 fights and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Strikeforce newcomer Isaac Vallie-Flagg at UFC 156. For Fisher’s sake, we hope he wins this, because ending your career on your own terms sure beats joining the And Now He’s Fired club.
And now let’s address the possible person of interest pictured above, who has also been booked for UFC on FOX 8…
(The plaque is nice and all, but Chiesa would have gladly entered the TUF 15 tournament for two dollars.)
Although we can’t exactly accuse Spencer Fisher of violating our ban on MMA fighters retiring only to immediately unretire, he came about as close as humanly possible when he told various media outlets that his trilogy-completing fight with Sam Stout at UFC on FX 4 last June would probably be his last. As we originally remarked, it seemed about as fitting an end to his MMA career as Fisher could have asked for — his pair of previous fights with Stout had not only fueled an intense rivalry between the two (not on the level of Paraguay vs. Uruguay, but still), but had earned the duo Fight of the Night honors on two separate occasions. That he suffered a razor-thin split decision loss should not have cheapened the significance of the moment, at least in our minds.
In either case, it appears that Fisher is not quite ready to call it quits, as he has been booked to face fellow UFC vet Yves Edwards at UFC on FOX 8, which transpires from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington on July 27th. Fisher has dropped 5 of his last 6 contests, whereas Edwards has gone win-loss in his last 5 fights and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Strikeforce newcomer Isaac Vallie-Flagg at UFC 156. For Fisher’s sake, we hope he wins this, because ending your career on your own terms sure beats joining the And Now He’s Fired club.
And now let’s address the possible person of interest pictured above, who has also been booked for UFC on FOX 8…
Since making mincemeat of his three opponents during his run on the fifteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, Michael Chiesa has collected two straight victories in the octagon via rear-naked choke (sound familiar?). Although he’s heard a fair share of criticism in regards to his standup game (again), Chiesa’s smothering Jiu-Jitsu attack has been the kiss of death for all of his opponents thus far in his MMA career.
Unfortunately for Chiesa, he’ll be facing an equally dangerous submission artist when he takes on Swedish prospect Reza Madadi, also at UFC on FOX 8. Like Chiesa, Madadi has collected both of his octagon victories via submission and is coming off a third round, come-from-behind Brabo choke victory over TUF something-or-other runner-up Michael Johnson at UFC on FUEL 9.
Who do you like for this pair of lightweight battles, Potato Nation?
(James Thompson, seen here demonstrating the CagePotato “What in the bloody hell are you on about, mate?” rule of early stoppages.)
Over the past few days, we’ve witnessed a pair of rarely seen finishes in the octagon — a suplex KO and a flying reverse triangle — and after we here at CagePotato collectively picked our jaws up off the floor and found a clean pair of shorts, we got to thinking, what other techniques/finishes do we rarely come across in the MMA stratosphere? And more importantly, which of these techniques/finishes have we not devoted some sort of gif or video tribute to already?
Taking all of those factors into account, we came to the standing TKO, a finish so uncommon in MMA that we could only name a handful of occurrences before having to resort to the Interwebs for assistance. So in honor of the iron-jawed sumbitches who wouldn’t bow to defeat even when it was kneeing/punching/kicking them damn near to death, we’ve placed our favorite examples of this phenomenon below. Check ’em out after the jump and let us know which stoppages you thought were warranted and which ones could have gone on a little longer.
(James Thompson, seen here demonstrating the CagePotato “What in the bloody hell are you on about, mate?” rule of early stoppages.)
Over the past few days, we’ve witnessed a pair of rarely seen finishes in the octagon — a suplex KO and a flying reverse triangle — and after we here at CagePotato collectively picked our jaws up off the floor and found a clean pair of shorts, we got to thinking, what other techniques/finishes do we rarely come across in the MMA stratosphere? And more importantly, which of these techniques/finishes have we not devoted some sort of gif or video tribute to already?
Taking all of those factors into account, we came to the standing TKO, a finish so uncommon in MMA that we could only name a handful of occurrences before having to resort to the Interwebs for assistance. So in honor of the iron-jawed sumbitches who wouldn’t bow to defeat even when it was kneeing/punching/kicking them damn near to death, we’ve placed our favorite examples of this phenomenon below. Check ‘em out after the jump and let us know which stoppages you thought were warranted and which ones could have gone on a little longer.
The Justified Stoppages
Hermes Franca vs. Spencer Fisher – UFC Fight Night 8
Matt Brown vs. Luis Ramos – UFC on FX 4
Paul Daley vs. Martin Kampmann – UFC 103
For some reason, the embeddable is being a dingus, so check out the full fight here.
Jason Day vs. Alan Belcher – UFC 83
Our thoughts exactly. Props: MMAMania
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.
Our thoughts exactly. Props: MMAMania
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.”
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