A pair of exciting welterweights are set to square off on Aug. 23 when the UFC heads to Oklahoma.
FoxSports.com was the first to report the news (which MMA Junkie has since confirmed) that a fight between Thiago Alves and Jordan Mein has been added to …
A pair of exciting welterweights are set to square off on Aug. 23 when the UFC heads to Oklahoma.
FoxSports.com was the first to report the news (which MMA Junkie has since confirmed) that a fight between ThiagoAlves and Jordan Mein has been added to the card.
Alves made a successful return to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 11 after sitting on the sidelines for over two years due to a number of injuries. The Brazilian picked up a win over Seth Baczynski in a bout that earned both fighters Fight of the Night honors.
Alves will be looking to win back-to-back fights for the first time since 2008.
Mein may only be 24 years of age, but he sports a wealth of experience. “Young Gun” has nearly 40 professional fights and also recently returned from an extended layoff. Mein picked up a win over HernaniPerpetuo at UFC on Fox 11. It was Mein‘s first appearance since suffering his first defeat in the Octagon to Matt Brown in April 2013.
Alves is among the most popular and well-known fighters currently on the UFC roster. His early career highlights are the stuff muaythai fighters dream of. Alves is no slouch on the ground, either, as he has a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Although not known for excelling in any one particular area, fans shouldn’t sleep on Mein in this fight. The Canadian sports a well-rounded game that features a high-octane, aggressive style of fighting. This style will definitely test the cardio of Alves in this bout.
This fight will likely be on the main card given Alves‘ name value combined with the talent that both fighters possess.
Fighters sometimes fall off the map.
We, as fans, don’t want them to, but that’s usually the natural order of things in this sometimes cruel world of mixed martial arts.
Time moves along and these fighters are for the most part forgotten. Castaways tha…
Fighters sometimes fall off the map.
We, as fans, don’t want them to, but that’s usually the natural order of things in this sometimes cruel world of mixed martial arts.
Time moves along and these fighters are for the most part forgotten. Castaways that have been chiseled down to bone and extracted from the sport they put every last ounce of blood, sweat and fear into.
However, a few stragglers sometimes get snatched from the quicksand, reinvented and rebooted, and thrust back into action to avenge the things they may have lost when they first fell.
Here are six of those fighters and why we’d love for their exciting careers to get back on track.
When news recently broke on ESPN that Rashad Evans had pulled out of his UFC 170 bout with Daniel Cormier, expressions of surprise within the MMA community were rarer than unicorn sightings.
Injuries are now as much a part of the sport as punching…
When news recently broke on ESPN that Rashad Evans had pulled out of his UFC 170 bout with Daniel Cormier, expressions of surprise within the MMA community were rarer than unicorn sightings.
Injuries are now as much a part of the sport as punching and kicking. Fight announcements are less a promise than a tentative hope.
Some fighters are less reliable than others when it comes to showing up on fight night, of course. These individuals have gained a reputation—often through no fault of their own—for having all the robustness of candy glass.
Read on for a countdown of the UFC’s most injury-prone fighters.
(Alves and Martin Kampmann trade fisticuffs during their epic battle at UFC on FX 2. Photo via Getty.)
After nearly two years away from the game, Thiago Alves finally has his next fight booked. The one-time welterweight title challenger has been out of action since suffering a last-second submission loss to Martin Kampmann in their headlining bout at UFC on FX 2, subsequently pulling out of fights with Siyar Bahadurzadaand Matt Brown at UFC 149 and Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen, respectively.
However, it was revealed last month that Alves was finally healthy again and hoping to return at UFC 171 in March. Yesterday, word was passed along that Alves will actually be returning in April when he faces TUF 11 standout Seth Baczynski at UFC on FOX 11.
Baczynski has a had a rough run of things since putting together a six-fight win streak between 2010 and early 2012. “The Polish Pistola” was decisioned by Mike Pierce at UFC on FX 6 before getting KO’d by the now-retired Brian Melancon in the last second of the first round at UFC 162, and only recently returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Neil Magny at Fight for the Troops 3 last November.
Also booked for UFC on FOX 11…
(Alves and Martin Kampmann trade fisticuffs during their epic battle at UFC on FX 2. Photo via Getty.)
After nearly two years away from the game, Thiago Alves finally has his next fight booked. The one-time welterweight title challenger has been out of action since suffering a last-second submission loss to Martin Kampmann in their headlining bout at UFC on FX 2, subsequently pulling out of fights with Siyar Bahadurzadaand Matt Brown at UFC 149 and Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen, respectively.
However, it was revealed last month that Alves was finally healthy again and hoping to return at UFC 171 in March. Yesterday, word was passed along that Alves will actually be returning in April when he faces TUF 11 standout Seth Baczynski at UFC on FOX 11.
Baczynski has a had a rough run of things since putting together a six-fight win streak between 2010 and early 2012. “The Polish Pistola” was decisioned by Mike Pierce at UFC on FX 6 before getting KO’d by the now-retired Brian Melancon in the last second of the first round at UFC 162, and only recently returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Neil Magny at Fight for the Troops 3 last November.
Also booked for UFC on FOX 11…
Speaking of hype trains that came to a sudden halt, Jordan “Young Guns” Mein was flying high after becoming the only man to ever stop Dan Miller inside the distance (in the first round, no less) in his promotional debut at UFC 158. Unfortunately, the Strikeforce vet was paired with the beast that is Matt Brown in his next contest and saw his three-fight win streak broken via a hellstorm of elbows. Said Evangelista Santos while watching the fight from his couch, “Good, now he knows how it feels.”
In any case, Mein will also attempt to get back in the win column at UFC on FOX 11 when he faces Santiago “El Rasta” Ponzinibbio, an 18-2 TUF Brazil 2 alum who dropped a decision in his promotional debut against Ryan LaFlare at Fight Night 32. I have no clue who this Ponzinibbio fella is, but he did just remind me of how versatile and excellent ponzu sauce is, so perhaps the beatdown he will inevitably at the hands of Mein will not be completely in vain. Little victories, Nation.
Finally, TUF 17 vet Josh Samman will face Caio Magalhaes on the FOX 11 undercard as well. Please try and contain yourselves.
UFC on FOX 11 goes down on April 19th from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
Ladies and gentlemen, Thiago “Pitbull” Alves is back, and he is facing off with Seth Baczynski at UFC on Fox 11. The UFC announced the news Thursday (via Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com) and it marks the end of a lengthy hiatus for the hard…
Ladies and gentlemen, Thiago “Pitbull” Alves is back, and he is facing off with Seth Baczynski at UFC on Fox 11. The UFC announced the news Thursday (via Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com) and it marks the end of a lengthy hiatus for the hard-kicking former contender.
Alves was scheduled to face YoshihiroAkiyama at UFC 149 in July 2012, but was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury. He was later booked to Matt Brown at UFC Fight Night 26, but once again was unable to compete.
“Pitbull” first rose to prominence when he knocked out Matt Hughes at UFC 85. He parlayed that into title contention after beating Josh Koscheck at UFC 90 and fought Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100. Injuries and losses have defined his career since, however, going 2-3 since losing to St-Pierre. In his most recent fight, which came opposite Martin Kampmann all the way back in March 2012, he squandered what seemed to be a sure-fire decision victory by tapping to a guillotine choke following an inadvisable takedown attempt in the final minute of the last round.
His opponent is Seth Baczynski. A former TUF11 cast member, Baczynski has put together a 5-3 record in the UFC, most notably choking out Matt Brown at UFC 139. Most recently, he took a handy unanimous decision victory over TUF 16’s Neil Magny at UFC Fight for the Troops 3.
UFC on Fox 11 goes down April 10 in Orlando, FL and is headlined by the critical heavyweight tilt between Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum. Whether this fight will land on the main card or preliminary card is not yet known, but stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available.
One of Dana White’s greatesttalents is burying fighters. When old, broke war dogs speak out against the UFC, White cuts them down with assertions that he “makes millionaires” and labels detractors as “goofs” and “dummies.”
But can White do that to Georges St-Pierre, who recently called out the UFC for their drug testing policies. Well, we’ve already had a small taste of White’s verbal stylings. He questioned GSP’s manhood, implying that GSP airing his grievances with the media was somehow cowardly. He also said GSP’s actions were “kooky,” and that his claims were ridiculous.
That was just the opening salvo. What’ll Dana White say about his former meal ticket six months from now, a year from now, two years from now, when GSP’s relevance fades and insulting him carries less risk?
One of Dana White’s greatesttalents is burying fighters. When old, broke war dogs speak out against the UFC, White cuts them down with assertions that he “makes millionaires” and labels detractors as “goofs” and “dummies.”
But can White do that to Georges St-Pierre, who recently called out the UFC for their drug testing policies. Well, we’ve already had a small taste of White’s verbal stylings. He questioned GSP’s manhood, implying that GSP airing his grievances with the media was somehow cowardly. He also said GSP’s actions were “kooky,” and that his claims were ridiculous.
That was just the opening salvo. What’ll Dana White say about his former meal ticket six months from now, a year from now, two years from now, when GSP’s relevance fades and insulting him carries less risk?
1. Dana will insult GSP’s character.
Bringing up a former fighter’s character flaws is a fantastic way to defuse any criticism against the UFC. The UFC is bad? Well the guy who said that is a horrible person, so their points, no matter how valid, don’t stand in light of their moral turpitude.
GSP—the greatest welterweight of all time—wasn’t that good, or at least that’s what Dana White might eventually argue. He’ll say that GSP was the champ during an era where the welterweight division was less-developed and lacked depth. [Insert champ at the time of this hypothetical conversation] is better than GSP because the division is stacked now. Back when GSP had the belt, it was older guys like Matt Hughes and BJ Penn, and non-factors like Dan Hardy and Thiago Alves. The “great” GSP was only great at stalling his way to decision victory after decision victory.
3. Dana will shut GSP out of the UFC Hall of Fame (and erase him from UFC history if things get bad enough).
Also known as the Frank Shamrock treatment. If Dana White doesn’t like you enough and you say enough bad things about the company, Zuffa will make sure you don’t exist, at least not in their “official” version of history.
Imagining a hypothetical future interview with Dana White about GSP.
Let’s imagine what White would say about GSP in the future, if the drug testing situation devolves and GSP becomes an enemy of the Zuffa state [Note: Dana white didn’t actually say any of this; it’s all hypothetical and just for fun]:
“GSP has this clean image and stuff like that, but he is not a good guy. He has never been a good guy. He is a greedy, sleazy guy. That bozo will put his name on anything for a few bucks. And he’s just a headache. All that legal bullshit he’s going through, it’s because he’s greedy and he’s not a good guy. I’m just happy that I never have to deal with GSP ever again.
And let’s talk about his fuckin’ “legacy” for a second. The guy beat an ancient Matt Hughes—who was the greatest welterweight ever but old by then—for the title. Then he fuckin’ loses it to MATT SERRA. Goofs on these fuckin’ message boards and on the Internet are always bitching about GSP and how we don’t honor him enough and how we don’t put him in our hall of fame. Guess what? GSP wasn’t that fuckin’ good. He never killed people like Jon Jones and Anderson Silva did. The only guys GSP killed were guys like Jon Fitch who couldn’t make it in the UFC. When GSP fought a real guy, he clinched them for five rounds because he was scared for his life. And that’s what GSP is, scared. He was too scared to fight real guys, he was too scared to go up in weight and fight Anderson Silva, and he was too scared to be a man and settle his problems with us like a man. He’s a coward, he’s not one of the greats. Yet all these “fans” on the fuckin’ Internet go on about it, bunch of fucking clowns. Next question…”
Media shills will agree, and if they don’t, their disagreement will only be tepid, and they’ll still praise White for “being real.” Fans who remember or who don’t listen to Zuffa will argue for GSP, but will be drowned out by “GSP sucks lol.”
Hopefully, this isn’t what’s in store for GSP and his legacy.
Ladies and gentlemen, 