Filed under: UFC, NewsFresh off respective wins within the last month, Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann have agreed to face each other at the second installment of UFC on FX, in March 2012.
The UFC confirmed the fight booking on Tuesday, though they d…
Fresh off respective wins within the last month, Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann have agreed to face each other at the second installment of UFC on FX, in March 2012.
The UFC confirmed the fight booking on Tuesday, though they did not offer a precise date or location for it.
Kampmann competed just over one week ago, snapping a hard-luck two-fight losing streak by earning a decision over Rick Story at UFC 139. That improved Kampmann’s career record to 18-5.
Alves, meanwhile, notched his first finish since a June 2008 TKO over Matt Hughes when he choked out Papy Abedi with a rear naked choke at UFC 138, upping his overall record to 19-8.
The two have been longtime members of the UFC‘s welterweight division, with Alves making his octagon debut in October 2005 and Kampmann following in August 2006.
Through the years, Alves has gone 11-5 under the UFC banner while Kampmann has gone 9-4. The two do share a recent common opponent, as Kampmann beat Story while Alves lost to him by decision in May.
While a date and location for UFC on FX 2 is pending, several reports have indicated March 3 is the target date for the show.
Welterweight contenders Martin Kampmann (18-5) and Thiago Alves (19-8) are set to meet each other at an event later in 2012, according to MMAWeekly.com.Both recently rebounded from defeats to get big victories over solid opposition. Kampmann ended…
Welterweight contenders Martin Kampmann (18-5) and Thiago Alves (19-8) are set to meet each other at an event later in 2012, according to MMAWeekly.com.
Both recently rebounded from defeats to get big victories over solid opposition. Kampmann ended his two-fight losing streak when he neutralized Rick Story in their bout from UFC 139 and won a unanimous decision. Alves was coming off a loss to Story when he submitted Papy Abedi in the very first round at UFC 138.
Both have had experience fighting the very best in the division, but it hasn’t always been a positive experience. Kampmann had back-to-back controversial losses against Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez. Had he won those fights, he could be sitting on a five-fight win streak at the moment.
Alves has only won two bouts since 2009. His other losses include those versus UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Jon Fitch.
The winner of this bout could be one or two fights away from being in a No. 1 contender’s bout.
According to multiple reports and independent confirmation we received this afternoon from a source close to the negotiations, a welterweight match-up between Martin Kampmann and Thiago Alves has been verbally agreed to for an unnannounced UFC event in March.
MMAWeekly was first to report the news.
Both fighters rebounded from disappointing losses in impressive fashion in their last outings.
According to multiple reports and independent confirmation we received this afternoon from a source close to the negotiations, a welterweight match-up between Martin Kampmann and Thiago Alves has been verbally agreed to for an unnannounced UFC event in March.
MMAWeekly was first to report the news.
Both fighters rebounded from disappointing losses in impressive fashion in their last outings.
Alves, who is 2-3 in his last three fights submitted UFC newcomer Papi Abedi at UFC 138 earlier this month. In his previous outing, “Pitbull” lost to Rick Story at UFC 130 by unanimous decision.
Kampmann breathed a sigh of relief when Bruce Buffer announced he had claimed a split-decision victory over Story after debatable back-to-back decision losses to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez at UFC 121 and UFC Live: Kampmann vs. Sanchez. Compounding “Hitman’s” bad luck was a knee injury he sustained while training for a planned UFC on Versus 4 bout with John Howard in June that kept him out of action for the past eight months.
Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will make history on Saturday night when they headline the inaugural UFC on Fox event. For Velasquez (9-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) it’s his opportunity to successfully defend the heavyweight championship for the first ti…
Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will make history on Saturday night when they headline the inaugural UFC on Fox event.
For Velasquez (9-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) it’s his opportunity to successfully defend the heavyweight championship for the first time on network television and dos Santos (13-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) is attempting to bring the sport’s most prestigious gold back to Brazil.
Both men own perfect marks inside the Octagon and combined they total 19 career finishes.
Considering the magnitude of this fight, BleacherReport.com gathered insight from some of the sport’s most knowledgeable coaches and talented fighters.
“Well, it’s a tough one, (but) I like Junior dos Santos, (the) kid trains hard and is hungry for this title. Having trained with him before, I have seen first hand what he can do, he has amazing hips and athleticism to stop the first shot on a takedown, what he lacks is the ability to stop the reshoot or chain wrestling that Cain brings to the table.
“You can’t teach a non-wrestler how to deal with a heavy grind that a high level wrestler brings to the table, but there is a way to neutralize it or even deal with it to create openings. With that said, I don’t give any one of them an edge in Boxing striking, Cain is a very good Boxer and so is JDS. There is huge edge in power and ability to control long range by JDS. The Cardio/Conditioning edge goes to Cain.
“So, for the odds makers, Cain has an advantage, but for me I’m picking JDS, he is an awesome kid and I can’t wait for this fight. He has the tools to shock everyone… So, I’m going with JDS!”
“I think dos Santos has this one. I think his boxing and range will be too much for Cain and Cain will not be able to get in on dos Santos to take him down. I’m picking dos Santos, 2nd round KO.”
“I think Cain’s short to mid-range striking will work well for him in this fight. dos Santos, due to his reach will most likely stay outside. Cain’s explosiveness and footwork along with his kicks will serve him well in this fight. I’ve got Cain taking the decision.”
“Javier Mendez is a great coach and Cain is one tough dude! (He’s) still a young champ, if he gets past dos he will probably become a great champ. dos has some strange power. He has very, very explosive hands! However, a betting man would have to think Cain edges him with leg kicks and grappling. I can’t wait to see who the Gods smile on.”
“It’s gonna be a war, but I’ll go with dos Santos. Once Junior tags him, it’s gonna be just a matter of time. dos Santos will bring this belt back to Brazil!”
“This fight could go 5 rounds if Velasquez can’t close the distance. JDS has one of the best jabs in the business (and) he could keep Cain in the middle of the cage all night long landing all kinds of shots. If JDS establishes the jab, Cain’s face could end up just like Carwin’s.
“JDS moves really well and has tons of feints to keep Cain really frustrated. If Velasquez gets the TDs (takedowns), I would like to see how JDS’s bjj (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) has evolved to keep Cain from doing damage from the top position. That’s Cain’s only chance to win it.”
“I think that if the fight goes past the first round, Cain will outwork JR. That being said, Cain will have to navigate those first 5 mins. with extreme caution as JR will be at full speed and power. I predict Cain by TKO, 4th round.”
For additional information for UFC on Fox, follow Joshua Carey onTwitter.
Filed under: UFCEven in the frantic excitement of victory, Mark Munoz held true to his gentlemanly reputation. The rapidly improving middleweight who fights under the beastly nickname of “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” beat Chris Leben up at UFC 138, t…
Even in the frantic excitement of victory, Mark Munoz held true to his gentlemanly reputation. The rapidly improving middleweight who fights under the beastly nickname of “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” beat Chris Leben up at UFC 138, then toned things down with a polite request to cut the line and face champion Anderson Silva.
With a potential big-money Silva vs. Chael Sonnen rematch already in discussions, Munoz’s wish seems unlikely to be granted, but at least he’s planted the bug in people’s minds that he’s title-worthy. Munoz has won seven of his last eight, brings a go-for-broke style and has surrounded himself with an excellent team from which to learn. After some troubles during the early stages of his UFC fight career, things seem to have clicked for him.
Munoz certainly deserves credit for his improvement and his willingness to fight Silva, who is a former training partner. His “call-out” though, could use some work. Calling Silva “by far” the best pound-for-pound fighter alive, Munoz politely requested the honor of Silva’s presence at a title bout. The well-mannered plea was completely contradictory from the fighter who ran over Leben moments before. The saying is that nice guys finish last. Munoz certainly has the chance to prove that wrong.
Mark Munoz
It simply wouldn’t make sense for the UFC to scuttle the Silva-Sonnen rematch, particularly with all the buildup Sonnen’s already produced for it. Munoz and the rest of the division need to bide their time until that plays out. Unfortunately for Munoz, that means at least one more fight before he can compete for the belt.
On December 3, Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller are fighting. If Bisping wins, a Munoz-Bisping matchup should be signed as a No. 1 contenders fight. If he loses, well, then, we’re in a bit of a pickle.
Prediction: Munoz eventually faces Bisping with a title shot on the line.
Chris Leben
The loss had to sting for Leben, who sees himself as one of the UFC’s toughest fighters but could not survive Munoz’s offensive onslaught. Fighters can often reason away a knockout in their minds by rationalizing that they simply got caught; it’s not so easy when things go the way they did on Saturday, and you’re brought to admit you got beat up by a better fighter.
Given Leben’s exciting style, there is certainly still a place for him in the UFC, it’s just not among the top five, at least not right now. At 31 years old and with a series of wars behind him, that possibility is certainly beginning to fade. Regardless of that, he’ll certainly always be remembered as a warrior in the cage, and given his style, you almost wonder if that reputation is as welcome to him as the description of champion might be.
Prediction:Ed Herman has won two straight since returning. Leben might be a good test in determining what level he’s at.
Renan Barao
Barao’s performance should have served as an eye-opener for those who hadn’t seem him fight before. He looked aggressive on his feet, continued his reputation as a killer on the ground, and closed out the durable Brad Pickett inside of one round despite being on enemy territory.
That win was great news for the UFC, who needs someone, anyone to make a statement at bantamweight and present themselves as a fresh, credible challenge to champion Dominick Cruz. With his win, Barao fit that bill. Will he be immediately thrust into the title picture? It really wouldn’t be hard to sell him as a legitimate threat coming off this win and highlighting his 28-fight unbeaten streak. But my guess is that he’ll need one more victory before he gets to Cruz.
Prediction: He faces Scott Jorgensen
Thiago Alves
The former No. 1 welterweight contender faced a must-win against Papy Abedi, and delivered with a first-round rear naked choke submission, his first finish since a TKO victory against Matt Hughes in June 2008. Given the fact that he was facing a relatively unknown opponent and was one of the best-known fighters on the card, anything else would have been a major disaster for Alves.
He faces a lengthy climb to return to contention, but at 28 years old, it’s not an impossible mission. There are also plenty of good opponents to match him up against.
Anthony Perosh
It’s two straight wins for the Aussie since returning to his natural home at light-heavyweight. At 39 years old, though, it’s hard to believe Perosh has any realistic shot at climbing the ladder towards the top of an extremely deep division. Even worse for his future prospects is that division is cluttered by wrestlers. Given Perosh’s jiu-jitsu based style, those types of matchups will be tough to navigate.
That said, he deserves plenty of credit for these recent wins, as well as the chance to try his skills against an opponent with a different type of skill set next time out.
Terry Etim
Etim spent 19 months on the sidelines injured and then spent 17 seconds in the cage upon his return with a lightning-fast submission against the overmatched Eddie Faaloloto. While the speed of the victory was unexpected, Etim was the biggest favorite on the entire card, so it was a fight he was supposed to win impressively. Things shouldn’t be quite so easy for him next time around.
Prediction: Thiago Tavares is still waiting for a matchup after his August win over Spencer Fisher. That sounds interesting. The UFC though went a different route, matching him up with Edson Barboza at UFC 142.
Che Mills
Mills debuted to some high marks after knocking out Chris Cope in a 40-second clinic of standup violence. UFC commentator Joe Rogan quickly anointed Mills as a fresh new welterweight star and he certainly looked the part, but we’ll need to see more of him before we can put him on the must-watch prospect list. Until then, how about we match him up with another striking star?
Prediction: Mills vs. Duane Ludwig sounds like fireworks to me.
Filed under: UFCI don’t know if it was the tape-delay or the lack of big names on the card, but UFC 138 hardly felt like a genuine numbered event by the time it hit Spike TV on Saturday night.
It was more like a really good Fight Night event, complet…
I don’t know if it was the tape-delay or the lack of big names on the card, but UFC 138 hardly felt like a genuine numbered event by the time it hit Spike TV on Saturday night.
It was more like a really good Fight Night event, complete with the same few video game and credit report ads over and over and over again. At least now if I wake up in the middle of the night and realize I have sleepwalked to Wal-Mart to buy Assassin’s Creed, I’ll know who to blame.
But now that the paychecks and the concussions have been handed out and another one is in the books, let’s sort through the wreckage to find the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.
Biggest Winner: Mark Munoz
It was the cut over Leben’s eye that stopped the fight, but it was Munoz’s pace and power that put it there. Every punch Munoz threw was a home run swing, and it’s hard not to wonder if his relentless pressure didn’t help to convince Leben that maybe it wasn’t a great idea to try and fight on through the mask of blood. If I had plasma obstructing my vision in one eye, I’m not sure I’d want to march back out into that hurricane again either. It’s a great victory for Munoz, but does he really think he’s ready for a title shot? He’s won four straight against an increasingly impressive list of victims, but it would be hard to put him ahead of guys like Chael Sonnen or the winner of the Michael Bisping-“Mayhem” Miller bout. At 33, I realize he doesn’t have years to wait around for his chance, but he needs at least one more high-profile win before he deserves a crack at the gold. If he continues to improve at his current pace, he might really be able to do something with the opportunity by then.
Biggest Loser: Chris Leben
Something about ending on a cut between rounds just doesn’t seem to fit with the Leben mystique. No matter how legitimate or necessary it was, that’s not how “The Crippler” is supposed to go out. He’s supposed to keep plodding forward, keep deflecting blows with his skull, keep tossing back haymakers of his own until someone is down and out. For him to get stopped by a cut and look almost grateful for it to be over, it just feels wrong. There were rumors of a disastrous weight cut for Leben, so maybe he was genuinely glad to get out of there. Whatever the cause, he’s now lost two of his last three, with the lone win coming against the guy who Dana White says should quit. When we talked last week and Leben expressed his belief that this was essentially a number one contender bout, I asked him how he’d feel if he never got a title shot in the UFC. What if he retired as the brawler who people loved to watch, but who never even got a close-up look at a belt? “You know what?” Leben said. “Actually I am fine with that. At this point in my career I want to fight epic fights and have great battles.” Saturday night in Birmingham was probably a battle he’d rather forget.
Just What the Little Guys Needed: Renan Barao and Brad Pickett
We hear plenty of griping about the lack of finishes in the lighter weight classes, but Barao and Pickett both showed up intent on damaging someone’s frontal lobe. When guys get into exchanging power shots like that, you know it will only be a matter of time until someone’s consciousness flickers. The beautiful knee from Barao turned out to be the difference-maker, and he did a great job of capitalizing on Pickett’s woozy state in order to sink in the choke. Before the bout, Pickett said he couldn’t tell just how good Barao was, since he hadn’t faced tough competition yet. That was a fair assessment at the time, but now we know: this kid is good. Pickett knows it too, just like he knows that maybe he should have been a little more worried about Barao’s stand-up game after all.
Most Overly Ambitious Debut: Papy Abedi
The story coming out of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg during the broadcast was that Abedi had turned down lesser names in order to make his UFC debut against veteran welterweight Thiago Alves. If that’s true, it should serve as one more reminder that hubris comes with a price in this business. Abedi was game enough, and he certainly wasn’t afraid of Alves. At least, not until a couple well-placed hooks had him doing the stanky leg. If you’re going to fight in the UFC, I suppose you’d better think of yourself as someone who’s capable of hanging with the best and the toughest, but does that mean you have to do it right away? Your first time in the Octagon might be difficult enough without a guy like Alves standing across from you. Sooner or later, you’ll have to fight guys like him, but why not wait and do it when you’re getting paid like a veteran rather than a rookie? Abedi showed everyone that he’s got guts. Next time, maybe he should work on showing them that he’s got brains, too.
Most Ado About Nothing: Thiago Alves‘ weight
With his history, it’s understandable for people to freak out when he shows up on the scales a pound heavy. This is the same guy who got within a half-pound of making weight for his rematch with Jon Fitch, but ultimately decided to pay Fitch 20 percent of his purse rather than jump back in the sauna. But Mike Dolce, Alves’ nutritionist, swears they didn’t have any trouble stripping off that last pound while still keeping Alves in prime condition this time. As good as he looked against Abedi, I believe it. He was calm, patient, and violently efficient. Most importantly, he didn’t look like he’d left his best stuff on the scale this time. Alves once told me (while we were sitting down to a great big lunch, appetizers and all) that the thing he hated most about fighting was the diet. He talked about a post-MMA life where he could eat whatever, whenever in the same wistful tones that insurance agents talk about retiring to play golf all day. It’s no wonder that weight has been a struggle for him, but with Dolce he finally seems to have that part of his life under control. Next area of emphasis for “The Pitbull”? Takedown defense.
Most Resilient: Anthony Perosh
What’s a 39-year-old Australian with a 12-6 career record doing riding a two-fight win streak in the UFC’s light heavyweight division? Beats me, but Perosh just won’t go away quietly. He still seems uncomfortable on his feet, and it’s incredibly hard to imagine that he and Jon Jones are even in the same weight class, much less fighting for the same organization. Still, Perosh has legitimately dangerous ground game, even if he lacks the wrestling skills to reliably get the fight there. Diabate all but took himself down early in the second, and that was all the opening Perosh needed. He’s every bit as patient and methodical on the mat as he is awkward and tentative on the feet. That was good enough for a win over Diabate, but how far can this middle-aged “Hippo” go with this relatively limited skill set? I have no idea, though he seems intent on finding out.
Quickest Comeback: Terry Etim
After more than a year and a half out of the cage, Etim’s return was over in just 17 seconds. Not only is that not enough time to knock off the ring rust, it’s not even enough time to work up a sweat. It was obvious right away that Etim and Eddie Faaloloto were simply not operating on the same level, so maybe it’s good that it ended so quickly. Any longer and things might have gotten very ugly for Faaloloto, who simply can’t be long for the UFC after that performance. It’s good to have Etim back, but can we please get a translator in there for his post-fight remarks? I listened closely and tried my best to pick out a few familiar words, but it was like trying to read something in a dream. Whatever language he was speaking, it was just familiar enough to be frustrating.
Most Perfunctory Win: Michihiro Omigawa
His decision victory over Jason Young wasn’t the prettiest or the most exciting fight you’ll ever see, but Omigawa needed that one in a bad way. He snapped his two-fight losing streak in the UFC and learned that not all judges are as blind as the ones who handed him a loss against Darren Elkins, so perhaps it was more of a psychological boost than anything else. Now that Omigawa finally has a UFC win under his belt, he needs to prove that he can do more than just barely edge one out. It’s great that he’s halted his slide, but it means the opponents will only get tougher.
Fresh off respective wins within the last month, Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann have agreed to face each other at the second installment of UFC on FX, in March 2012.
Welterweight contenders Martin Kampmann (18-5) and Thiago Alves (19-8) are set to meet each other at an event later in 2012, according to 
Even in the frantic excitement of victory, 
I don’t know if it was the tape-delay or the lack of big names on the card, but