Following his monumental comeback win over Yushin Okami at UFC 144 — you know, the one that made Joe Rogan soak his seat? — Tim Boetsch respectfully called out Michael Bisping, telling MMA Junkie Radio: “I had wanted to fight [Bisping] even when we were both back at light heavyweight. I’ve had an eye on him…For some reason, I think Bisping rubs a lot of people the wrong way. That’s not the reason I want to fight him, though. I want to fight him because he’s ranked higher than me. I think I can take that from him…I like being the underdog. I like going into somebody else’s house and knowing everybody wants the other guy to win…That fires me up and gets me excited.”
At the time, we let this little tidbit pass us by without mention because come on, Bisping vs. Boetsch? It’s exactly the kind of fight that the Count would turn up his well-bred nose at. But according to the UFC, it’s actually happening. The fight is slated to be on the main card of UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), which already features Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le, and a cruel bantamweight mismatch between Renan Barao and Jeff Hougland.
Following his monumental comeback win over Yushin Okami at UFC 144 — you know, the one that made Joe Rogan soak his seat? — Tim Boetsch respectfully called out Michael Bisping, telling MMA Junkie Radio: “I had wanted to fight [Bisping] even when we were both back at light heavyweight. I’ve had an eye on him…For some reason, I think Bisping rubs a lot of people the wrong way. That’s not the reason I want to fight him, though. I want to fight him because he’s ranked higher than me. I think I can take that from him…I like being the underdog. I like going into somebody else’s house and knowing everybody wants the other guy to win…That fires me up and gets me excited.”
At the time, we let this little tidbit pass us by without mention because come on, Bisping vs. Boetsch? It’s exactly the kind of fight that the Count would turn up his well-bred nose at. But according to the UFC, it’s actually happening. The fight is slated to be on the main card of UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), which already features Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le, and a cruel bantamweight mismatch between Renan Barao and Jeff Hougland.
For Tim Boetsch (now 3-0 as a UFC middleweight), the July matchup is a chance to launch himself in the upper ranks of MMA competition for the first time in his five-year career. For Michael Bisping, it’s yet another opportunity to insult a surging veteran for not being on his level before inevitably kicking the snot out of him. (See also: Jason Miller, Jorge Rivera.) Bisping’s last performance, a unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2, snapped a four-fight win streak for the Count. He’s never lost two consecutive fights in his entire career. Let the colorfully-accented trash-talk begin…
Admit it: When Mark Hunt first caught Cheick Kongo with a counter left, you were excited. When Hunt chased Kongo down and dropped him with a series of fight-ending straight rights, you cheered. No matter how much money you bet on Kongo to win, you couldn’t help but buy into the feel-good story that has been Mark Hunt’s UFC run. To see the same Mark Hunt who only earned a shot in the UFC due to the PRIDE buyout- the guy who Dana White offered to pay to just walk away from the UFC before being submitted by Sean McCorkle- thoroughly outclass one of the heavyweight division’s best kickboxers is a testament to his newfound dedication to the sport. The fact that he’s thirty seven years old only makes it all the more remarkable.
Mark Hunt improves to 8-7, marking the first time he’s had a winning record in the sport since his record was 5-4 in 2008. Although his hopes for either a title shot or a fight on next week’s Australia card are both pretty optimistic (to put it mildly), Hunt clearly demonstrated that he’s ready for stiffer competition. As for Cheick Kongo, this loss shouldn’t hurt his standing with the UFC- he was already a gatekeeper to begin with. We already knew that he wasn’t a serious contender for the heavyweight championship- the way he was outclassed by Mark Hunt’s striking and his inability to get Hunt on the ground proved it.
Admit it: When Mark Hunt first caught Cheick Kongo with a counter left, you were excited. When Hunt chased Kongo down and dropped him with a series of fight-ending straight rights, you cheered. No matter how much money you bet on Kongo to win, you couldn’t help but buy into the feel-good story that has been Mark Hunt’s UFC run. To see the same Mark Hunt who only earned a shot in the UFC due to the PRIDE buyout- the guy who Dana White offered to pay to just walk away from the UFC before being submitted by Sean McCorkle- thoroughly outclass one of the heavyweight division’s best kickboxers is a testament to his newfound dedication to the sport. The fact that he’s thirty seven years old only makes it all the more remarkable.
Mark Hunt improves to 8-7, marking the first time he’s had a winning record in the sport since his record was 5-4 in 2008. Although his hopes for either a title shot or a fight on next week’s Australia card are both pretty optimistic (to put it mildly), Hunt clearly demonstrated that he’s ready for stiffer competition. As for Cheick Kongo, this loss shouldn’t hurt his standing with the UFC- he was already a gatekeeper to begin with. We already knew that he wasn’t a serious contender for the heavyweight championship- the way he was outclassed by Mark Hunt’s striking and his inability to get Hunt on the ground proved it.
It’s disappointing to say this, but I think we can all agree that the “Sexyama in the UFC” experiment is officially a bust. Jake Shields, with his subpar striking and inclination to grapple, was about as handpicked of an opponent as Yoshihiro Akiyama could get for his welterweight debut. Yet for three rounds last night, Shields outpointed Akiyama on his way to a unanimous decision victory. While Akiyama did manage to stuff Shields’ takedown attempts throughout the fight, he offered nothing in return. Save for a beautiful throw in the second round, Akiyama never had Jake Shields out of his element in this fight- let alone actually in danger. And even though Jake Shields didn’t come close to finishing Akiyama until the final minute of the fight, he was clearly in control throughout the bout. Yoshihiro Akiyama has now lost four straight fights (or five, depending on how you feel about the Alan Belcher decision), and although he has shown flashes of greatness, the thirty six year old’s UFC run has been overwhelmingly unremarkable.
There may not have been a bigger surprise from last night than Tim Boetsch’s victory over Yushin Okami. Not only because Boetsch was such a heavy underdog, but also because of how he won. “The Barbarian” failed to live up to his nickname for most of their fight, being outgunned by Yushin Okami’s jab heavy offense in the first round and nearly punched out by Okami’s ground and pound after a failed guillotine in the second. When Tim Boetsch realized that nothing short of a finish would get him a victory, he threw caution to the wind and put everything behind his strikes. And it actually worked, as Okami found himself out cold fifty four seconds into the third round. While Okami seemed to be back to normal throughout the fight, once he got caught by “The Barbarian” he resorted to the same gunshy ”Thunder” we watched get picked apart by Anderson Silva. Okami needs to shake his fear of getting caught- something much easier said than done after back-to-back knockout losses.
As for the evening’s end of the night bonuses, which were all worth $65k, Submission of the Night went to Vaughan Lee for his armbar against Kid Yamamoto. Lee survived Yamamoto’s early onslaught and transitioned to the armbar after a failed triangle choke during the prelims on FX. Knockout of the Night went to Anthony Pettis for his brutal head kick against Joe Lauzon. It’s being rumored that Pettis has earned a rematch with Benson Henderson for the title. Don’t ask me how knocking out a gatekeeper like Lauzon earns a guy a title shot, but we’ll keep you posted if the rumor turns out to be true. As we mentioned earlier, Fight of the Night went to Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson for their five round main event title fight.
Also of note, the UFC has decided to give Takeya Mizugaki his win bonus, even though he lost a unanimous decision to Chris Cariaso. Mizugaki earned takedowns and stayed on top of Cariaso for the entire fight, but Cariaso’s submission attempts, elbows from the bottom and sweeps earned him the victory in the eyes of the judges. Admittedly, I thought Mizugaki was going to be the victor while watching the fight, but only because top control usually wins, regardless of whether the guy on top is actually attacking or not.
Full Results:
MAIN CARD (PPV)
Ben Henderson def. Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision- UFC Lightweight Championship
Ryan Bader def. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson via unanimous decision
Mark Hunt def. Cheick Kongo via TKO (strikes) at 2:11 of Round One
Jake Shields defeats Yoshihiro Akiyama via unanimous decision
Tim Boetsch def. Yushin Okami via TKO (strikes) at :54 of Round Three Hatsu Hioki defeats Bart Palaszewski via unanimous decision
Anthony Pettis def. Joe Lauzon via KO (head kick) at 1:21 of Round One
PRELIMINARY CARD
Takanori Gomi def. Eiji Mitsuoka via TKO (strikes) at 2:21 of Round Two
Vaughn Lee def. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto via submission (armbar) at 4:29 of Round One
Riki Fukuda def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision
Chris Cariaso def. Takeya Mizugaki via unanimous decision
Issei Tamura def. Tiequan Zhang via KO (punch) at 0:32 of Round Two
UFC on FX to air in January 2012 with 2 bouts announced: Duane Ludwig vs. Josh Neer and Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft. MMA Junkie website (which was newly acquired by USA Today) will debut.
UFC on FX to air in January 2012 with 2 bouts announced: Duane Ludwig vs. Josh Neer and Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft.
MMA Junkie website (which was newly acquired by USA Today) will debut a live MMA news magazine show on Spike TV in January 2012.
Shane Carwin is recovering from back surgery which was necessary to keep him from “feeling paralyzed” when he competes.
UFC 141 books Nam Phan vs. Jim Hettes for December 30th event in Las Vegas.
Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio added to UFC 142 event on January 14th in Rio.
UFC 143 receives Dustin Poirier vs. Eric Koch in February.
Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch and Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis set for UFC 144 in Japan.
Justin Bieber paternity suit is dismissed by Mariah Yeater.
*UPDATE: The Bieber paternity case is still on. Reports earlier from TMZ indicated Mariah Yeater had dismissed the case but her lawyer says Yeater “believes Justin Bieber is the father.” In other news, judging by these recent pics both Yeater and Bieber look like excellent parental figures:
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has chosen a somewhat curious opponent for Yushin Okami for his next fight, considering that the only losses he’s had in the past three years came against arguably the number one and number two middleweights in the world.
The promotion announced today that Okami will lock horns with Tim Boetsch when the Octagon returns to “The Land of the Rising Sun” for UFC 144 on February 26.
(Tim who?)
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has chosen a somewhat curious opponent for Yushin Okami for his next fight, considering that the only losses he’s had in the past three years came against arguably the number one and number two middleweights in the world.
The promotion announced today that Okami will lock horns with Tim Boetsch when the Octagon returns to “The Land of the Rising Sun” for UFC 144 on February 26.
In his last five bouts, “Thunder” only losses came against Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva. During that span, he also beat Mark Munoz, Nate Marquardt and Lino Linhares.
Having beaten Kendall Grove and Nick Ring — both by decision — in his last two outings since dropping to middleweight, Boetsch has not faced the level of competition that Okami has at 185. Prior to his latest two-fight win streak, “The Barbarian” was stopped by Phil Davis’ patented “Philmura” at UFC 123.
UFC 144 will also feature a main event featherweight championship bout between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes.
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UFC 144 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Japan February 26, 2011
Lightweight Championship Bout
Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson
Filed under: UFC, NewsYushin Okami will take on Tim Boetsch in a middleweight bout at UFC 144 on Feb. 26, 2012 in Japan, UFC president Dana White said Tuesday on UFC.com.
Okami (26-6), who is coming off a failed attempt in August to dethrone Anderson …
Okami (26-6), who is coming off a failed attempt in August to dethrone Anderson Silva, will be fighting in Japan for the first time since June 2006. Two months after the GCM fight in Tokyo, Okami joined the UFC and went on to compile a 10-3 record.
Boetsch (14-4) out of AMC Pankration has reinvented himself as a middleweight this year, scoring wins over Kendall Grove and Nick Ring.
The last time the UFC presented an event in Japan was back at UFC 29 in December 2000.
In championship action at UFC 144, Frankie Edgar will defend his lightweight title against Ben Henderson. Yoshihiro Akiyama will also appear on the card, making his welterweight debut against Jake Shields.
Those of you who caught the middleweight match-up between Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch and Nick “The Promise” Ring on the UFC 135 Live Prelims last Saturday were likely transfixed by the gorgeous judo throw Boetsch pulled off in the third round known as the Harai-Goshi, or Sweeping Hip Throw.
The Harai-Goshi is one of the forty fundamental throws created by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. The above video, though not demonstrated in English, most properly demonstrates the necessity of foot placement in both the initial attack and sweep stages of the throw. From there, the throw trades in power for momentum, a basic principle of Judo.
Those of you who caught the middleweight match-up between Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch and Nick “The Promise” Ring on the UFC 135 Live Prelims last Saturday were likely transfixed by the gorgeous judo throw Boetsch pulled off in the third round known as the Harai-Goshi, or Sweeping Hip Throw.
The Harai-Goshi is one of the forty fundamental throws created by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. The above video, though not demonstrated in English, most properly demonstrates the necessity of foot placement in both the initial attack and sweep stages of the throw. From there, the throw trades in power for momentum, a basic principle of Judo.
No stranger to brutal throws, “The Barbarian” showcased his “redneck judo” once again this past weekend and impressed a lot of people with his decision win over the previously unbeaten Ring. As further proof of the effectiveness of Judo in MMA, here’s a video of the Cory Devela/Joe Riggs scrap from the Strikeforce: Strikeforce at the Dome event back in 2008, which ended just over a minute in after Devela pulled off a similar throw. Karo Parisyan would be proud. Enjoy.
Yushin Okami