Tag: Stephen Thompson

UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann Results — Rousey and Cormier Both Win by First-Round TKO, MacDonald Takes Decision Over Maia


(Judo and wrestling = sports. Curling and ice dancing = not sports. Just wanted to clear that up. / Photo via the UFC 170 weigh-ins gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann is underway in Las Vegas, and if you’re a fan of closely-matched MMA competition…well, you definitely came to the wrong place tonight. Ronda Rousey is over a 4-1 favorite against challenger Sara McMann, and the betting line in Daniel Cormier‘s light-heavyweight debut against late replacement Patrick Cummins can best be described with an Al Bundy GIF. Then again, Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia seems like a competitive welterweight scrap, even if it’s not exactly what you’d call a barnburner.

Round-by-round results from the UFC 170 main card will be after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your own thoughts in the comments section.


(Judo and wrestling = sports. Curling and ice dancing = not sports. Just wanted to clear that up. / Photo via the UFC 170 weigh-ins gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann is underway in Las Vegas, and if you’re a fan of closely-matched MMA competition…well, you definitely came to the wrong place tonight. Ronda Rousey is over a 4-1 favorite against challenger Sara McMann, and the betting line in Daniel Cormier‘s light-heavyweight debut against late replacement Patrick Cummins can best be described with an Al Bundy GIF. Then again, Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia seems like a competitive welterweight scrap, even if it’s not exactly what you’d call a barnburner.

Round-by-round results from the UFC 170 main card will be after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your own thoughts in the comments section.

Preliminary Card Results
– Alexis Davis def. Jessica Eye via split-decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
– Raphael Assuncao def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Aljamain Sterling def. Cody Gibson via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Zach Makovsky def. Josh Sampo via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
– Erik Koch def. Rafaello Oliveira via TKO, 1:24 of round 1
– Ernest Chavez def. Yosdenis Cedeno via split-decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Robert Whittaker vs. Stephen Thompson

Naturally, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson comes out to “Wonderboy” by Tenacious D. Whittaker shows love to Australia by walking out to AC/DC’s “Hells Bells.”

Round 1: Thompson opens with a side kick. Whittaker sticks the jab. Whittaker throws a high kick. Thompson marches forward with punches, then lands a leg kick. Body kick then a leg kick from Thompson. He tries an outside axe kick that scores him style points if nothing else. Great head movement and counters from Thompson. Truly, he is the white Machida. A hook kick from Thompson lands. Whittaker pops the jab. Thompson drops Whittaker with a dead-on right straight, then swarms as Whittaker tries to get to his feet. Thompson clinches, fires in some knees, and clubs Whittaker down to the mat again. Thompson with a frenzy of ground and pound until Mario Yamasaki calls a stop to it. Impressive, violent finish from Wonderboy. Stephen Thompson def. Robert Whittaker via TKO, 3:43 of round 1.

Mike Pyle vs. TJ Waldburger

And now Waldburger is coming out to “TNT” by AC/DC. What the hell. He’s not even Australian. And Mike Pyle is rocking the mullet tonight. Waldburger is already dead.

Round 1: Waldburger lands first with a leg kick. Pyle lands a kick but almost eats a big overhand left in return. Pyle fires a pair of leg kicks. They trade leg kicks. Pyle dashed forward with punches. Pyle grabs a clinch and Waldburger pushes him against the fence. Pyle escapes with ease. Waldburger slips while throwing a kick and Pyle chases him when he gets up but can’t capitalize. Waldburger lands a right, then a left, then a leg kick. Pyle tries a front kick to the body, Waldburger grabs him, Pyle sweeps him to the mat and gets on top. Then, Pyle transitions into side control. Very slick work by Pyle tonight. But then Waldburger powers up to his feet and escapes. They clinch against the fence. Knees to the body then to the head from Pyle. Waldburger throws a pair of knees to Pyle’s leg as the round expires. 10-9 Pyle.

Round 2: Uh…I think my dog just erased everything I wrote for this round when he ran across my laptop. WTF. Short version: It was a much closer frame…Waldburger may have had a slight edge in the striking total, but Pyle had some good grappling moments and bloodied Waldburger’s face with knees.

Round 3: Hard right hand from Pyle and he smells blood. They clinch, Pyle shoulder-checks im in the face then lands a hard left hook. And then a spinning back elbow. Pyle is on fire. He lands two nasty elbows in the clinch then fires punches until Waldburger stumbles to the mat. Pyle almost gets a guillotine but Waldburger pulls out. Pyle bears the ever-loving fuck out of Waldburger with punches and elbows from the top. Joe Rogan asks Herb Dean why he’s not stopping the fight. This beating…it just keeps going. Okay, now Herb stopped the fight. Mike Pyle def. TJ Waldburger via TKO, 4:03 of round 3.

Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia

Round 1: They meet in the center of the cage and trade haymakers. Demian Maia shoots once, MacDonald defends. He tries it again and single-legs MacDonald to the mat. Maia trying to pass guard. He throws down an elbow. And boom, Maia scores mount. Maia softening MacDonald up with punches to the head and body. MacDonald tries to shrimp out and almost does it. Maia in half-guard now. MacDonald uses double-butterfly guard, trying to prevent the mount again. MacDonald kicks him off and gets up. Maia shoots and Rory defends. The two fighters start brawling and Maia lands the harder shots. MacDonald is bloodied. The round ends, and it’s an easy 10-9 for Maia.

Round 2: Maia landing some serious power punches, but MacDonald comes back with a series of head kicks that have Maia hurt. Maia shoots and fails. McDonald with a hard body kick and Maia shoots in desperation. MacDonald is having a lot of success with his kicks right now, which are landing at all levels. MacDonald lands a head kick as Maia is shooting in. MacDonald has Maia rocked with punches and kicks. MacDonald using his range really well, landing long jabs and straights. Overhand left from Maia, kicks to the body and leg from MacDonald. MacDonald with a kick to the body, a kick to the head. He tries a superman punch. MacDonald measure up Maia and stings him with a cross. He lands another body kick as the round ends. That round was all MacDonald, 10-9. We’re even heading into round 3, but Rory has the momentum.

Round 3: MacDonald with more long punches. Maia lands a left straight. MacDonald with more kicks to the body and head. MacDonald with another clean right hand. Maia shoots, unsuccessfully once again. MacDonald punches him in the face for it. MacDonald thoroughly outboxing Maia. Maia shoots for a single. Then he grabs both legs and slams MacDonald to the mat. Maia on top, MacDonald pushes him off and scrambles away. MacDonald fends off another takedown attempt. And another. MacDonald with a body punch before stuffing another takedown. MacDonald with a front kick to the body. MacDonald stuffs a takedown and makes Maia pay, landing a nice uppercut. MacDonald with jabs and another big uppercut. And a right straight. MacDonald stuffs one last takedown before the bell. Pretty clear 10-9 for Rory as far as I’m concerned. After a couple of back-to-back stinkers, that was a fantastic performance from Rory MacDonald. Hey look, all the judges got it right! Rory MacDonald def. Demian Maia via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3). “The animal is back,” MacDonald says. “I’m ready to kick some ass, I’m ready to kill…I want that belt.”

Ladies and gentlemen, we have now entered the “squash match” portion of the evening…

Daniel Cormier vs. Patrick Cummins

Round 1: Cormier takes the center of the cage. Cummins lands a sharp leg kick. He shoots, Cormier defends. Cummins with a nice body kick. Cormier lands a hard uppercut. Some hockey-fighting from the clinch. Cummins literally turns his back and runs away. Cormier follows him and throws bombs. An uppercut from Cormier glances off the side of Cummins’s head, and Cummins hits the mat. Cormier starts throwing down bombs. Cummins rolls and turtles. More big, nasty shots from Cormier and it’s all over. Cummins tries to get to his feet. He looks disappointed with the stoppage, but come on bro, you were gonna get killed out there. Daniel Cormier def. Patrick Cummins via TKO, 1:19 of round 1.

Ronda Rousey vs. Sara McMann

Round 1: Rousey storms to the center of the Octagon, and McMann lands multiple punches to Ronda’s dome as she’s coming in. They clinch against the fence and Rousey lands a hard knee to the body and a sharp elbow. They trade knees. Rousey lands another knee to the liver and McMann drops to the mat and covers up. Herb Dean steps in…just as McMann grabs a leg and tries to recover. The crowd boos the stoppage as premature. But what are you gonna do, McMann dropped like a corpse. Ronda Rousey def. Sara McMann via TKO, 1:06 of round  1. So that’s what it looks like to see Ronda win by something other than an armbar…interesting.

Well damn, the main card is over in two hours, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to replay any of the prelims. Are Goldberg and Rogan going to have to kill time for a full hour? I want no part of this. Good night, all.

GIF-Ranking the Avalanche of UFC Fights That Were Booked Today, December 18th, By Interest Level


(“You know what, Steve, I’m not really feeling this fight. Think I’ll just sit out a few plays.” Photo via Getty.)

Fight-booking articles are a dime a dozen. Throw a couple statistics here, a fighter breakdown there, and top it all off with some information about the event and you’ve got yourself a perfectly normal, haiku-length article that you could almost pass off as journalism. And then its back to huffing duster in your grandmother’s basement, desperately and fruitlessly attempting to blind yourself from the hellscape that has become your reality. But at least you don’t have to wear a tie to work! (*laughs, cries into whiskey*)

The point is, there are some matchups you can’t help but elaborate on as a fan of the sport — Woodley vs. Condit, for instance. But there are only so many ways to inform you readers that several lower-level fights have recently been booked on (under)cards you probably won’t even watch, so when all else fails, we resort to the GIF. Let’s get to the fight bookings!

 

#6 – Brad Scott vs. Claudio Henrique da Silva – Fight Night 37 (March 8, London)

I have no idea who these people are. Ranking: 


(“You know what, Steve, I’m not really feeling this fight. Think I’ll just sit out a few plays.” Photo via Getty.)

Fight-booking articles are a dime a dozen. Throw a couple statistics here, a fighter breakdown there, and top it all off with some information about the event and you’ve got yourself a perfectly normal, haiku-length article that you could almost pass off as journalism. And then its back to huffing duster in your grandmother’s basement, desperately and fruitlessly attempting to blind yourself from the hellscape that has become your reality. But at least you don’t have to wear a tie to work! (*laughs, cries into whiskey*)

The point is, there are some matchups you can’t help but elaborate on as a fan of the sport – Woodley vs. Condit, for instance. But there are only so many ways to inform you readers that several lower-level fights have recently been booked on (under)cards you probably won’t even watch, so when all else fails, we resort to the GIF. Let’s get to the fight bookings!

 

#6 – Brad Scott vs. Claudio Henrique da Silva – Fight Night 37 (March 8, London)

I have no idea who these people are. Ranking: 

 

#5 – Tony Martin vs. Rashid Magomedov – UFC 169 (Feb. 1, NJ)

I have no idea who either of these people are either, but as Chairman of the Russian-U.S.A. Coalition for a Better, More Tolerant Tomorrow (RUSAECBMTT, for short), I am semi-obligated to hype the 15-1 Magomedov. He’s on an eight fight tear and is a solid grappler if the Interwebz are to be believed, but he also hasn’t fought in over a year, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares against the 8-0 ground wizard Tim Martin, who will also be making his UFC debut. Ranking:

 

#4 – Neil Magny vs. Gasan Umalatov – UFC 169 

It’s do-or-die time for TUF 16‘s Neil Magny, who will enter the cage on February 1st having dropped his last two fights to Sergio Moraes and Seth Baczynski at UFC 163 and Fight for the Troops 3, respectively. Unfortunately for Magny, he’s been matched against another Russian with a solid record and a surname ending in “tov.” Luckily for Magny, “tov” ranks behind “dov,” “bov” and even “nov” in terms of the P4P most devastating last syllable of a surname (LSoS, for short) that can possessed by a Russian…

…what was I talking about again? Boobs? Boobs. Ranking:

 

#3 – Luke Barnatt vs. Mats Nilsson – Fight Night 37

Luke Barnatt may be on the heels of his biggest career win (a second round submission over Andrew Craig in Fight Night 30′s “Fight of the Night”), but I think the most important thing here is his nickname, “Bigslow.” Does it just mean that Barnatt is both big AND slow, and if so, why did he combine two normal words into one terrible word? Or is his nickname, as I believe, his way of informing the public that he is the bastard son of Kim Winslow and Bigfoot? Think about it, they’re both lanky, white as whipped cream, and “do” MMA. What other evidence do you need?

Anyways, Bigslow is going to savage UFC newcomer Mats Nilsson like the dude stole his Jack Links beef jerky. Ranking:

 

#2 – Stephen Thompson vs. Robert Whittaker – UFC 170 (Feb. 22, Vegas)

Whether it’s been in victory or defeat, there’s no denying that TUF Smashes winner Robert Whittaker has been entertaining as hell to watch in the octagon. On the heels of a hard fought decision loss to Court McGee at Fight Night 27, Whittaker will be given no easy rebound fight in “Wonderboy” Thomson, who improved to 3-1 in the UFC with a 2nd round TKO of Chris Clements at UFC 165.

A fierce and technical striker with an impeccable kickboxing record, Thompson’s sole loss in the UFC has come at the hands of the resurgent Matt Brown in April of last year. His style is pretty much the antithesis of Whittaker, a brawler who usually looks for the one-punch KO, so Thompson will either continue to do what he do and make short work of the Aussie or wind up on the wrong side of an upset KO. In either case, this is definitely a fight worth watching. Ranking:

 

#1 – John Lineker vs. Ali Bagautinov – UFC 169 

Score another one for the Armchair Matchmaker, which rightfully called for and in turn received a matchup between top flyweight contenders John Lineker and Ali BagautiNOV (told ya). We all know the story with Lineker: 4-1 in the UFC, hits like a truck full of bricks, weighs-in like a truck full of ham, yadda yadda. If he can actually make 125 lbs for once and put away a rising star like Bagautinov, who improved his UFC record to 2-0 with a unanimous decision over the highly-touted Tim Elliot at UFC 167, we could be looking at our next title challenger. In which case, slugfest much?

Speaking of nicknames, “Puncher King” might be the most Russian nickname ever. Ranking:

How would you rank these fights of varying importance? Let us know in the comments section. 

–J. Jones

Amir Sadollah vs. Stephen Thompson Booked for Unnamed UFC Event on Memorial Day Weekend


(“Dude, I f*cking loved you in Simon Birch.”) 

An exciting bout between welterweight strikers has just been booked for an unnamed UFC event set to transpire on May 25th, according to MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani. In one corner, TUF 7 winner and self-deprecating muay Thai striker Amir Sadollah, pictured above with Baby Sinclair from the popular 90’s children’s show Dinosaurs. In the other, world renowned kickboxer Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. In short, this fight will basically be leg kick porn.

Both men will be looking to bounce back into the win column with this fight; Thompson most recently dropped his first fight ever (Author’s note: Seriously. Ever.) to Matt Brown back at UFC 145, whereas Sadollah was outstruck by Dan Hardy en route to a unanimous decision loss at UFC on FUEL 5.


(“Dude, I f*cking loved you in Simon Birch.”) 

An exciting bout between welterweight strikers has just been booked for an unnamed UFC event set to transpire on May 25th, according to MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani. In one corner, TUF 7 winner and self-deprecating muay Thai striker Amir Sadollah, pictured above with Baby Sinclair from the popular 90′s children’s show Dinosaurs. In the other, world renowned kickboxer Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. In short, this fight will basically be leg kick porn.

Both men will be looking to bounce back into the win column with this fight; Thompson most recently dropped his first fight ever (Author’s note: Seriously. Ever.) to Matt Brown back at UFC 145, whereas Sadollah was outstruck by Dan Hardy en route to a unanimous decision loss at UFC on FUEL 5.

The fight is as close as you can get to a must win for Sadollah, who has dropped two of his past three contests and will be staring at the first ever two-fight skid of his career should he come up short against Thompson. Unfortunately for Sadollah, he will likely find himself outmatched in the striking department once again when facing a beast like Thompson. Before making the transition over to MMA, the phenom known as “Wonderboy” compiled an unbelievable 63-0 record in the kickboxing world, not to mention the fact that he nearly kicked the soul out of Dan Stittgen in his octagon debut. Look to see Sadollah try and take this one to the mat, especially when considering that Thompson was dominated by Sodallah’s fellow TUF 7 alum in Brown once the action was taken there.

Although no venue has been named for the Memorial Day card, the general consensus seems to be that the event will go down in Vegas, as is tradition.

Who do you like for this one, Potato Nation?

–J. Jones

‘UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans’ — The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly


(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

By Jason Moles

Reflecting on UFC 145, one can only agree that that was an incredible way to break the fast of Zuffa-branded MMA action. Now that it’s all over, let’s take a moment to sort through the night’s biggest winners, losers, and everything in between. Oops, wrong site. So what five things did we learn from the event? Nope, that’s not right either. Here’s UFC 145’s MMA Stock Market The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Yeah, that’s it.

The Good

• Travis Browne. In a shrinking weight division, the undefeated “Hapa” continues his streak of dominance. After submitting Chad Griggs with an arm triangle choke in the first round, top-ten heavyweights are forced to pay this man some notice — especially now that he’s finishing opponents on the mat, which seemed to surprise Browne as much as anybody. Look for the big man to get a big step up in his next outing.

• Young Fighters Performing Like Veterans. Rory MacDonald and Jon Jones are two of the youngest fighters in the UFC, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that purely from watching them in action Saturday night. At 22 and 24 respectively, the young guns showed us that virtuosity beats experience. Georges St. Pierre has praised MacDonald for a while now, going as far as saying that he will be the next Georges St. Pierre — a mighty high compliment considering the source. In all of his 14 pro bouts, “Ares” has only gone to a decision once. Even his one loss to UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit came in exciting fashion and earned him a Fight of the Night bonus. The countdown has already begun. Liftoff is imminent. Hope this kid isn’t scared of heights.


(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

By Jason Moles

Reflecting on UFC 145, one can only agree that that was an incredible way to break the fast of Zuffa-branded MMA action. Now that it’s all over, let’s take a moment to sort through the night’s biggest winners, losers, and everything in between. Oops, wrong site. So what five things did we learn from the event? Nope, that’s not right either. Here’s UFC 145′s MMA Stock Market The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Yeah, that’s it.

The Good

• Travis Browne. In a Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem: Where Are They Now?” href=”http://www.cagepotato.com/brock-lesnar-vs-alistair-overeem-where-are-they-now/” target=”_blank”>shrinking weight division, the undefeated “Hapa” continues his streak of dominance. After submitting Chad Griggs with an arm triangle choke in the first round, top-ten heavyweights are forced to pay this man some notice — especially now that he’s finishing opponents on the mat, which seemed to surprise Browne as much as anybody. Look for the big man to get a big step up in his next outing.

• Young Fighters Performing Like Veterans. Rory MacDonald and Jon Jones are two of the youngest fighters in the UFC, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that purely from watching them in action Saturday night. At 22 and 24 respectively, the young guns showed us that virtuosity beats experience. Georges St. Pierre has praised MacDonald for a while now, going as far as saying that he will be the next Georges St. Pierre — a mighty high compliment considering the source. In all of his 14 pro bouts, “Ares” has only gone to a decision once. Even his one loss to UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit came in exciting fashion and earned him a Fight of the Night bonus. The countdown has already begun. Liftoff is imminent. Hope this kid isn’t scared of heights.

As for the champion, Jon “Bones” Jones retained his 205 lb. strap after he carved out an elbow-shaped cave in Rashad Evans‘ forehead. Even with emotions running high and the world taking pause to watch genuine bitter enemies fight it out, Jones kept his composure and never once hinted at cracking under the brightest of spotlights. The fight was never really all that close, at least not as close as one would expect it to be with Bones fighting an opponent who’s former champion as well as a former sparring partner. Jones’ masterful performance in the Octagon on Saturday night makes me hope the UFC offers to pay for the funeral of his next opponent. I mean, the guy’s already left four former champions in body bags.

• Guys Who Make Rape Jokes Getting KTFO. I don’t care if it was a line from a hit TV show or not, rape is no laughing matter. Miguel Torres was cut from the UFC for his blunder, and re-signed after making a concerted effort to make amends for his transgressions. Though his debt to society had been paid, Michael “Mayday” McDonald — another impressive young up-and-comer — dished out his own brand of justice to the master of mullets. Defeating a former champ is always noteworthy, even if Torres is playing on the back nine, so to speak. One well-executed uppercut was all that was needed from McDonald to send the former WEC bantamweight champion to the canvas for the night. I bet Torres never saw that coming. Good thing everyone loves surprises.

• Matt Brown’s Testicular Fortitude. Brown fought a game opponent in Stephen Thompson whose famed karate was key in busting up Brown’s face, but was virtually useless when the fight hit the mat. Nonetheless, as the fight progressed into the final minutes of the third round, Thompson landed a 1-2 combo and nearly won the fight. Goldie and Rogan insisted that Brown was in trouble, hurt, rocked and various other synonyms. If half of what they said was true, then maybe “Immortal” is more than just a nickname for Matt Brown.

• Joe Rogan busting Mike Goldberg’s balls. It never, ever gets old.

The Bad

• Brendan Schuaub’s Chin. It’s no coincidence that all three of Brendan Schaub‘s losses have come by way of (T)KO. Some guys can take a punch, others can’t. Either the Colorado native needs to work on a different game plan for heavy hitters, or he should make reservations at Sharmar Village Care Center.

• Rashad Evans’ Unwillingness to “Go for Broke.” Being down four rounds to none is the definition of having one’s back against the wall. You cannot retreat. You have no other recourse than to fight your heart out, risking life and limb, and another embarrassing KO face, for the chance to wear UFC gold once again.  This is your chance to prove what you’ve been saying for over a year to be true. Pop quiz hotshot, what do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO? In the case of Rashad Evans, ‘nothing’ is answer.

• The MMA Live Curse Returns. Miguel Torres and Rashad Evans, both former ESPN MMA Live co-hosts, walked away in defeat at UFC 145. Some say it’s because their opponents were just that damn good or that the difference in reach was an insurmountable disadvantage for Rashad. Others, however, blame a completely provable, totally natural curse from a few years back — which we conveniently never mention unless it benefits us.

The Ugly

• That Color Blind Ref. I swear the referee for the Bocek/Alessio fight was wearing a pair of UPS pants. Although still not as big of a wardrobe malfunction as this (SFW), it was certainly distracting.

• The Faces of Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin.

• Marcus Brimage and Maximo Blanco following up a shitty fight with a ridiculous gymnastics demo.

• The Sight of Brendan Schaub Reaching at a Phantom After Being Savaged By Ben Rothwell. Although the GIFs it spawned made it all worth it…

‘UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans’ — The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly


(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

By Jason Moles

Reflecting on UFC 145, one can only agree that that was an incredible way to break the fast of Zuffa-branded MMA action. Now that it’s all over, let’s take a moment to sort through the night’s biggest winners, losers, and everything in between. Oops, wrong site. So what five things did we learn from the event? Nope, that’s not right either. Here’s UFC 145’s MMA Stock Market The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Yeah, that’s it.

The Good

• Travis Browne. In a shrinking weight division, the undefeated “Hapa” continues his streak of dominance. After submitting Chad Griggs with an arm triangle choke in the first round, top-ten heavyweights are forced to pay this man some notice — especially now that he’s finishing opponents on the mat, which seemed to surprise Browne as much as anybody. Look for the big man to get a big step up in his next outing.

• Young Fighters Performing Like Veterans. Rory MacDonald and Jon Jones are two of the youngest fighters in the UFC, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that purely from watching them in action Saturday night. At 22 and 24 respectively, the young guns showed us that virtuosity beats experience. Georges St. Pierre has praised MacDonald for a while now, going as far as saying that he will be the next Georges St. Pierre — a mighty high compliment considering the source. In all of his 14 pro bouts, “Ares” has only gone to a decision once. Even his one loss to UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit came in exciting fashion and earned him a Fight of the Night bonus. The countdown has already begun. Liftoff is imminent. Hope this kid isn’t scared of heights.


(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

By Jason Moles

Reflecting on UFC 145, one can only agree that that was an incredible way to break the fast of Zuffa-branded MMA action. Now that it’s all over, let’s take a moment to sort through the night’s biggest winners, losers, and everything in between. Oops, wrong site. So what five things did we learn from the event? Nope, that’s not right either. Here’s UFC 145′s MMA Stock Market The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Yeah, that’s it.

The Good

• Travis Browne. In a shrinking weight division, the undefeated “Hapa” continues his streak of dominance. After submitting Chad Griggs with an arm triangle choke in the first round, top-ten heavyweights are forced to pay this man some notice — especially now that he’s finishing opponents on the mat, which seemed to surprise Browne as much as anybody. Look for the big man to get a big step up in his next outing.

• Young Fighters Performing Like Veterans. Rory MacDonald and Jon Jones are two of the youngest fighters in the UFC, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that purely from watching them in action Saturday night. At 22 and 24 respectively, the young guns showed us that virtuosity beats experience. Georges St. Pierre has praised MacDonald for a while now, going as far as saying that he will be the next Georges St. Pierre — a mighty high compliment considering the source. In all of his 14 pro bouts, “Ares” has only gone to a decision once. Even his one loss to UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit came in exciting fashion and earned him a Fight of the Night bonus. The countdown has already begun. Liftoff is imminent. Hope this kid isn’t scared of heights.

As for the champion, Jon “Bones” Jones retained his 205 lb. strap after he carved out an elbow-shaped cave in Rashad Evans’ forehead. Even with emotions running high and the world taking pause to watch genuine bitter enemies fight it out, Jones kept his composure and never once hinted at cracking under the brightest of spotlights. The fight was never really all that close, at least not as close as one would expect it to be with Bones fighting an opponent who’s former champion as well as a former sparring partner. Jones’ masterful performance in the Octagon on Saturday night makes me hope the UFC offers to pay for the funeral of his next opponent. I mean, the guy’s already left four former champions in body bags.

• Guys Who Make Rape Jokes Getting KTFO. I don’t care if it was a line from a hit TV show or not, rape is no laughing matter. Miguel Torres was cut from the UFC for his blunder, and re-signed after making a concerted effort to make amends for his transgressions. Though his debt to society had been paid, Michael “Mayday” McDonald — another impressive young up-and-comer — dished out his own brand of justice to the master of mullets. Defeating a former champ is always noteworthy, even if Torres is playing on the back nine, so to speak. One well-executed uppercut was all that was needed from McDonald to send the former WEC bantamweight champion to the canvas for the night. I bet Torres never saw that coming. Good thing everyone loves surprises.

• Matt Brown’s Testicular Fortitude. Brown fought a game opponent in Stephen Thompson whose famed karate was key in busting up Brown’s face, but was virtually useless when the fight hit the mat. Nonetheless, as the fight progressed into the final minutes of the third round, Thompson landed a 1-2 combo and nearly won the fight. Goldie and Rogan insisted that Brown was in trouble, hurt, rocked and various other synonyms. If half of what they said was true, then maybe “Immortal” is more than just a nickname for Matt Brown.

• Joe Rogan busting Mike Goldberg’s balls. It never, ever gets old.

The Bad

• Brendan Schuaub’s Chin. It’s no coincidence that all three of Brendan Schaub’s losses have come by way of (T)KO. Some guys can take a punch, others can’t. Either the Colorado native needs to work on a different game plan for heavy hitters, or he should make reservations at Sharmar Village Care Center.

• Rashad Evans’ Unwillingness to “Go for Broke.” Being down four rounds to none is the definition of having one’s back against the wall. You cannot retreat. You have no other recourse than to fight your heart out, risking life and limb, and anotherembarrassing KO face, for the chance to wear UFC gold once again.  This is your chance to prove what you’ve been saying for over a year to be true. Pop quiz hotshot, what do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO? In the case of Rashad Evans, ‘nothing’ is answer.

• The MMA Live Curse Returns. Miguel Torres and Rashad Evans, both former ESPN MMA Live co-hosts, walked away in defeat at UFC 145. Some say it’s because their opponents were just that damn good or that the difference in reach was an insurmountable disadvantage for Rashad. Others, however, blame a completely provable, totally natural curse from a few years back — which we conveniently never mention unless it benefits us.

The Ugly

• That Color Blind Ref. I swear the referee for the Bocek/Alessio fight was wearing a pair of UPS pants. Although still not as big of a wardrobe malfunction as this (SFW), it was certainly distracting.

• The Faces of Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin.

• Marcus Brimage and Maximo Blanco following up a shitty fight with a ridiculous gymnastics demo.

• The Sight of Brendan Schaub Reaching at a Phantom After Being Savaged By Ben Rothwell. Although the GIFs it spawned made it all worth it…

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans Aftermath Pt. 2

By Elias Cepeda

(UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre [right] and fan contest winner future champion Rory MacDonald)

Ok, let’s get right to the cheddar – the UFC 145 fight bonuses, which UFC President Dana White announced during the post-event presser (video of entire press conference below). It always warms the heart when the fighters who get the big bonus checks are not the big stars, and that’s what happened at UFC 145.

Ben Rothwell, Travis Browne, Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin all earned an extra $65,000 for their efforts Saturday night in Atlanta, GA. Rothwell got the KO of the night for his come-from-behind stoppage of Brendan Schaub. Browne got the night’s only submission but it was still a good one – forcing Chad Griggs to tap out to an arm triangle choke.

Eddie Yagin and Mark Hominick both took home fight of the night honors for their back and forth war. Yagin also took home the win bonus for earning the split-decision win over the former featherweight #1 contender.

The Immortal beats The Karate Kid and GSP-lite continues to impress

Matt Brown took a little steam out of the home town Karate Kid Stephen Thompson with a unanimous decision win. Thompson burst onto the UFC scene with a nifty lead leg KO at UFC 143. Brown has a toughness that his win to loss ratio doesn’t necessarily reveal, and a win over a top prospect like Thompson helps “The Immortal” get back on the slow climb up in the welterweight division.

Staying in the welterweight division for a moment, Rory MacDonald continued to prove that he is the division’s brightest young star

By Elias Cepeda

(UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre [right] and fan contest winner future champion Rory MacDonald)

Ok, let’s get right to the cheddar – the UFC 145 fight bonuses, which UFC President Dana White announced during the post-event presser (video of entire press conference below). It always warms the heart when the fighters who get the big bonus checks are not the big stars, and that’s what happened at UFC 145.

Ben Rothwell, Travis Browne, Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin all earned an extra $65,000 for their efforts Saturday night in Atlanta, GA. Rothwell got the KO of the night for his come-from-behind stoppage of Brendan Schaub. Browne got the night’s only submission but it was still a good one – forcing Chad Griggs to tap out to an arm triangle choke.

Eddie Yagin and Mark Hominick both took home fight of the night honors for their back and forth war. Yagin also took home the win bonus for earning the split-decision win over the former featherweight #1 contender.

The Immortal beats The Karate Kid and GSP-lite continues to impress

Matt Brown took a little steam out of the home town Karate Kid Stephen Thompson with a unanimous decision win. Thompson burst onto the UFC scene with a nifty lead leg KO at UFC 143. Brown has a toughness that his win to loss ratio doesn’t necessarily reveal, and a win over a top prospect like Thompson helps “The Immortal” get back on the slow climb up in the welterweight division.

Staying in the welterweight division for a moment, Rory MacDonald continued to prove that he is the division’s brightest young star. MacDonald took on the underrated Che Mills and, after getting tagged a little too much by Mills’ sharp striking, took him down at will and dominated on the ground.

MacDonald exhibited smooth striking-to-takedown transitions, excellent ground control and vicious, well-balanced ground striking en route to a second round TKO win over Mills. The twenty two year-old has only lost to current interim champion Carlos Condit, and that was after a fight that MacDonald was arguably winning at points.

Last week Georges St. Pierre said that he believes his fellow Canadian and training partner MacDonald will be the 170 lb champion one day. The two have said they won’t fight one another.

I’m sure they are friends and respect each other. But at least a small part of GSP not wanting to fight MacDonald is because it can’t be that much fun to do so.

Miguel Torres’ future

Miguel Torres’ year didn’t get any better with a knockout loss to top bantamweight prospect Michael McDonald. McDonald threw fast and hard punch combinations at Torres during their brief fight, with a number of uppercuts landing.

The last uppercut landed cleanly and knocked the former champion Torres out on contact. Torres has now lost two out of his last three, though this was the first decisive loss for the charismatic fighter since 2010.

More importantly, however, is how well Torres will be able to recover from such a bad knockout. He is a young man by society’s standards at just 31 years of age. But, considering his weight class, where speed and reaction time is so crucial, Torres is beyond a veteran.

There is no telling how much damage Torres’ mind and body have sustained, either. His official record stands at something around 40-5, and goes back twelve years.


(Miguel Torres could find himself in the broadcaster’s booth whenever he ends his long and illustrious career)

That’s an eternity and a huge amount of fights by MMA standards. But Torres likely has dozens more fights that will never appear on any official record. When he was still in high school he’d regularly fight multiple grown men in a single night at unsanctioned events.

Also, anyone who has seen Torres in training knows that he goes harder in practice sparring than many fighters go in competition. And we’ve all seen his warring style in the ring.

Torres has kept up the arrebentacao style and legacy of his mentor, the late, great Carlson Gracie Sr. , and he’s earned world titles, pound for pound rankings and legions of fans because of it. But at some point, his accomplished career will have to come to an end.

Only he knows if Saturday night’s knockout loss brings him closer to that moment or not. Its part of the cruelty of fight sports that careers can be considered full and long, but still leave their owners young, with fire in their heart and their families’ plates needing to be filled.

There is no pension for MMA fighters, no union that will ensure they get at least a living wage in retirement for the blood they’ve spilled and millions they’ve made for their employers. Thankfully, Torres will have a better shot than most fighters at maintaining success once he retires from fighting, whenever that is.

He is college-educated, has been a successful gym business owner for years, and has the kind of reputation – built on accessibility and genuine seeming overall friendliness and community involvement – that could keep him in demand as a trainer and television commentator for years after he hangs up his gloves. At the moment, the bantamweight division moves on with prospects like McDonald and champion Dominick Cruz, but without Torres.

Read Pt 1 of our UFC 145 Aftermath

UFC 145 Post Event Press Conference Video: