(Just like his mentor Kimbo Slice, Ray would find himself done in by the much smaller man when all was said and done.)
When the list of Strikeforce fighters headed to the UFC was first made available to the public, the most glaring omission fans noticed from the get-go was easily that of Jorge Masvidal, the former lightweight title challenger who was set to face Pat Healy at Strikeforce’s final event before he was forced to withdraw due to injury. While a couple of fighters had been left off the list because they had already booked fights in the UFC (most notably Tyron Woodley and Bobby Green), fans were left scratching their heads in regards to Masvidal, who had both an open calendar and the kind of skills that could make a big impact in the sport’s highest promotion despite their apparent decision to pass him over.
Well you’ll be happy to know that “Gamebred” has in fact been brought over to the UFC and will be making his promotional debut at the lightweight-heavy UFC on FOX 7 card set for April 20th. Across the cage from Masvidal will be Tim Means, the 18-3 powerhouse who basically summed up the injury curse of 2012 when he was pulled from his UFC on FOX 5 fight with Abel Trujillo at the very last second for being KO’d by a sauna floor(Author’s note: By now, you’re likely attempting to compliment me on the clever wordplay displayed in this article’s title. I can only ask that you hold your applause for a time when my brilliance is less obvious.) Currently 2-0 in the octagon, we last saw Means at UFC on FX 3: Johnson vs. McCall, where he delivered the most painful one minute beating in recent memory to opponent Justin Salas. Expect fireworks in this one, Taters.
Masvidal vs. Means is just one of many intriguing fights that have been booked today. Join us after the jump to check out the full list…
(Just like his mentor Kimbo Slice, Ray would find himself done in by the much smaller man when all was said and done.)
When the list of Strikeforce fighters headed to the UFC was first made available to the public, the most glaring omission fans noticed from the get-go was easily that of Jorge Masvidal, the former lightweight title challenger who was set to face Pat Healy at Strikeforce’s final event before he was forced to withdraw due to injury. While a couple of fighters had been left off the list because they had already booked fights in the UFC (most notably Tyron Woodley and Bobby Green), fans were left scratching their heads in regards to Masvidal, who had both an open calendar and the kind of skills that could make a big impact in the sport’s highest promotion despite their apparent decision to pass him over.
Well you’ll be happy to know that “Gamebred” has in fact been brought over to the UFC and will be making his promotional debut at the lightweight-heavy UFC on FOX 7 card set for April 20th. Across the cage from Masvidal will be Tim Means, the 18-3 powerhouse who basically summed up the injury curse of 2012 when he was pulled from his UFC on FOX 5 fight with Abel Trujillo at the very last second for being KO’d by a sauna floor(Author’s note: By now, you’re likely attempting to compliment me on the clever wordplay displayed in this article’s title. I can only ask that you hold your applause for a time when my brilliance is less obvious.) Currently 2-0 in the octagon, we last saw Means at UFC on FX 3: Johnson vs. McCall, where he delivered the most painful one minute beating in recent memory to opponent Justin Salas. Expect fireworks in this one, Taters.
Masvidal vs. Means is just one of many intriguing fights that have been booked today. The full list is below.
-Bantamweights Brad Pickett and Mike Easton have agreed to face off in a sure-to-be-slugfest set for the UFC’s return to Sweden. Both men are coming off losses; Easton dropped his first UFC contest via unanimous decision to Raphael Assuncao at UFC on FOX 5 and Pickett a split decision to Eddie Wineland at UFC 155. Featuring a headlining #1 contender fight (or so they say) at light heavyweight between Alexander Gustafsson and promotional newcomer Gegard Mousasi, UFC on FUEL 9 goes down on April 6th from the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
-Also set for UFC on FOX 7 are a trio of lightweight fights featuring a slew of TUF alums. First on the list is a battle between TUF 13 runner-up Ramsey Nijem — who has scored three straight in the UFC since being knocked out in his season’s finale by Tony Ferguson — and TUF 15′s Myles Jury, who is 2-0 in the octagon and most recently scored an upset UD victory over Michael Johnson at UFC 155. Elsewhere on the card, Roger Bowling, a.k.a the guy who made sure that noted Nazi pedophile Brandon Sailing left Strikeforce on a loss, is set to square off against devastating Nigerian striker Anthony Njokuani. The “Assassin” is in danger of being cut with a loss here, as he is coming off a loss to Rafael Dos Anjos that dropped his record to just 2-3 in the octagon.
And finally, TUF:Smashes lightweight winner Norman Parke will be facing a big test in his sophomore octagon appearance when he takes on undefeated Guamanian Jon Tuck, who is fresh off a debut victory over Tiequan Zhang at the UFC’s inaugural trip to China.
(Just like his mentor Kimbo Slice, Ray would find himself knocked out by the much smaller man when all was said and done.)
When the list of Strikeforce fighters headed to the UFC was first made available to the public, the most glaring omission fans noticed from the get-go was easily that of Jorge Masvidal, the former lightweight title challenger who was set to face Pat Healy at Strikeforce’s final event before he was forced to withdraw due to injury. While a couple of fighters had been left off the list because they had already booked fights in the UFC (most notably Tyron Woodley and Bobby Green), fans were left scratching their heads in regards to Masvidal, who had both an open calendar and the kind of skills that could make a big impact in the sport’s highest promotion despite their apparent decision to pass him over.
Well you’ll be happy to know that “Gamebred” has in fact been brought over to the UFC and will be making his promotional debut at the lightweight-heavy UFC on FOX 7 card set for April 20th. Across the cage from Masvidal will be Tim Means, the 18-3 powerhouse who basically summed up the injury curse of 2012 when he was pulled from his UFC on FOX 5 fight with Abel Trujillo at the very last second for being KO’d by a sauna floor(Author’s note: By now, you’re likely attempting to compliment me on the clever wordplay displayed in this article’s title. I can only ask that you hold your applause for a time when my brilliance is less obvious.) Currently 2-0 in the octagon, we last saw Means at UFC on FX 3: Johnson vs. McCall, where he delivered the most painful one minute beating in recent memory to opponent Justin Salas. Expect fireworks in this one, Taters.
Masvidal vs. Means is just one of many intriguing fights that have been booked today. Join us after the jump to check out the full list…
(Just like his mentor Kimbo Slice, Ray would find himself knocked out by the much smaller man when all was said and done.)
When the list of Strikeforce fighters headed to the UFC was first made available to the public, the most glaring omission fans noticed from the get-go was easily that of Jorge Masvidal, the former lightweight title challenger who was set to face Pat Healy at Strikeforce’s final event before he was forced to withdraw due to injury. While a couple of fighters had been left off the list because they had already booked fights in the UFC (most notably Tyron Woodley and Bobby Green), fans were left scratching their heads in regards to Masvidal, who had both an open calendar and the kind of skills that could make a big impact in the sport’s highest promotion despite their apparent decision to pass him over.
Well you’ll be happy to know that “Gamebred” has in fact been brought over to the UFC and will be making his promotional debut at the lightweight-heavy UFC on FOX 7 card set for April 20th. Across the cage from Masvidal will be Tim Means, the 18-3 powerhouse who basically summed up the injury curse of 2012 when he was pulled from his UFC on FOX 5 fight with Abel Trujillo at the very last second for being KO’d by a sauna floor(Author’s note: By now, you’re likely attempting to compliment me on the clever wordplay displayed in this article’s title. I can only ask that you hold your applause for a time when my brilliance is less obvious.) Currently 2-0 in the octagon, we last saw Means at UFC on FX 3: Johnson vs. McCall, where he delivered the most painful one minute beating in recent memory to opponent Justin Salas. Expect fireworks in this one, Taters.
Masvidal vs. Means is just one of many intriguing fights that have been booked today. The full list is below.
-Bantamweights Brad Pickett and Mike Easton have agreed to face off in a sure-to-be-slugfest set for the UFC’s return to Sweden. Both men are coming off losses; Easton dropped his first UFC contest via unanimous decision to Raphael Assuncao at UFC on FOX 5 and Pickett a split decision to Eddie Wineland at UFC 155. Featuring a headlining #1 contender fight (or so they say) at light heavyweight between Alexander Gustafsson and promotional newcomer Gegard Mousasi, UFC on FUEL 9 goes down on April 6th from the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
-Also set for UFC on FOX 7 are a trio of lightweight fights featuring a slew of TUF alums. First on the list is a battle between TUF 13 runner-up Ramsey Nijem — who has scored three straight in the UFC since being knocked out in his season’s finale by Tony Ferguson — and TUF 15′s Myles Jury, who is 2-0 in the octagon and most recently scored an upset UD victory over Michael Johnson at UFC 155. Elsewhere on the card, Roger Bowling, a.k.a the guy who made sure that noted Nazi pedophile Brandon Sailing left Strikeforce on a loss, is set to square off against devastating Nigerian striker Anthony Njokuani. The “Assassin” is in danger of being cut with a loss here, as he is coming off a loss to Rafael Dos Anjos that dropped his record to just 2-3 in the octagon.
And finally, TUF:Smashes lightweight winner Norman Parke will be facing a big test in his sophomore octagon appearance when he takes on undefeated Guamanian Jon Tuck, who is fresh off a debut victory over Tiequan Zhang at the UFC’s inaugural trip to China.
Last week we broke down the UFC Featherweight division in key striking metrics. This week we’ll look at the largest (numerically) UFC division, the Lightweights. A full explanation of the chart and variables is included at the end of this post.
The Winners
Sniper Award: Daron Cruickshank finally showed off his striking skills in his second UFC appearance against Henry Martinez on the UFC on FOX 5 card in Seattle. With nearly 50% accuracy, he looked like he was practicing on a heavy bag before mercifully dropping an iron-chinned Martinez with a head kick KO. Interestingly, the “Detroit Superstar” is set to face another division sniper, John Makdessi, in March at UFC 158.
Energizer Bunny Award: Tim Means is two wins into his UFC career, and has almost doubled the standing output of his two opponents. He also maintained good accuracy and scored two knockdowns in those performances.
Biggest Ball(s) Award: Melvin Guillard has been punching above his weight for a long time in the UFC. To date Guillard has 12 knockdowns, putting him 3rd all-time in the UFC behind Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell. Not bad for a lightweight.
(Click chart for full-size version. For previous Databombs, click here.)
Last week we broke down the UFC Featherweight division in key striking metrics. This week we’ll look at the largest (numerically) UFC division, the Lightweights. A full explanation of the chart and variables is included at the end of this post.
The Winners
Sniper Award: Daron Cruickshank finally showed off his striking skills in his second UFC appearance against Henry Martinez on the UFC on FOX 5 card in Seattle. With nearly 50% accuracy, he looked like he was practicing on a heavy bag before mercifully dropping an iron-chinned Martinez with a head kick KO. Interestingly, the “Detroit Superstar” is set to face another division sniper, John Makdessi, in March at UFC 158.
Energizer Bunny Award: Tim Means is two wins into his UFC career, and has almost doubled the standing output of his two opponents. He also maintained good accuracy and scored two knockdowns in those performances.
Biggest Ball(s) Award: Melvin Guillard has been punching above his weight for a long time in the UFC. To date Guillard has 12 knockdowns, putting him 3rd all-time in the UFC behind Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell. Not bad for a lightweight.
The Losers
Swing and a Miss Award: Justin Salas has landed just 15% of his power head strikes in his first two UFC fights and appears at the bottom of the graphed fighters. But (dis)honorable mention also goes to Mitch “Danger Zone” Clarke, who is 0 for 47 in power head strikes through nearly 25 minutes of Octagon time. Unfortunately, because Clarke was so far into the danger zone, I couldn’t fit him onto the graph.
Smallest Ball(s): 15 of the 55 lightweight fighters graphed have yet to score a knockdown in their Zuffa appearances, not an unusual number for a lower weight division. But Mark Bocek and Thiago Tavares have failed to do so despite over two hours of Octagon time each. Given that both fighters tend to be outpaced by their opponents, perhaps they need to try planting their feet.
Starnes Award for Inaction: Reza Madadi has had solid accuracy through his first two UFC appearances, but had less than half the striking output of his opponents. He’ll need to step on the gas if he doesn’t want to drop close decisions in the future.
Also Noteworthy
In a division made famous by strong wrestlers, it’s no surprise that the top ranked fighters aren’t pure strikers. But keep an eye on Anthony Pettis, who will bring a striking advantage to his recently announced featherweight fight against current champion Jose Aldo. Aldo has had sharper striking than most of his opponents to date, so this will be an interesting challenge.
Despite his recent UD loss to Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz shows impressive accuracy and the ability to push the pace — at least, when he has vision in both eyes. He’s down but not out.
For those counting red bubbles, the Lightweight division has a high 27% share of left-handers, about three times the normal rate for the population.
The lightweight division is often thought to be the deepest in the UFC, but we’ll have to see how the new additions play out against tried-and-true veterans.
How the Analysis Works:
In order to understand standup striking performance, which is more multifaceted in MMA than it is in boxing, I need to boil down a few of the most important variables that determine success as a striker. These are fairly uncomplicated variables in isolation, but together they can summarize a fighter’s overall capabilities. Here, I’ve focused on three fundamental, offensive metrics:
Accuracy: I’ve used power head striking accuracy (as opposed to body or leg strikes, or jabs to the head), where the average for UFC Lightweights is about 26%. Certainly, great strikers can attack the body and legs, but the most likely way to end a fight by strikes is by aiming at the head. And in order to keep this comparison apples-to-apples, we can’t have a guy that throws a lot of high accuracy leg kicks skewing his accuracy stat. The accuracy of the power head strike is a great indicator of a fighter’s striking prowess, and there’s a wide range within a single division. This is the vertical axis, so more accurate fighters are higher in the graph.
Standup Striking Pace: Prior analysis reveals that outpacing your opponent is a key predictor of success, and certainly correlates with winning decisions as it reflects which fighter is dictating the pace of the fight. Here, I’ve used the total number of standup strikes thrown as a ratio to the same output from a fighter’s opponents. All strikes attempted from a standup position are counted, including body shots and leg kicks. This is the horizontal axis in the graph, and the average for the whole division must be 1, so fighters with superior pace appear further to the right.
Knockdown Rate: The objective of every strike thrown is to hurt your opponent, and knockdowns reflect a fighter that has connected with a powerful strike. I’ve used the total number of knockdowns a fighter landed divided by the number of landed power head strikes to see who does the most damage per strike landed. The size of the bubble for a fighter indicates their relative knockdown rate; the bigger the bubble, the higher their knockdown rate. The very small bubbles indicate fighters who have yet to score a knockdown in their Zuffa fights.
The data includes all UFC, WEC, and Strikeforce fights through 2012, including UFC 155. Some of these fighters competed in other weight classes or at catchweight, but for the purposes of this analysis, that data was still included and analyzed. Because of the size of the division, fighters with only one fight were not included in the graph.
(To be fair, Means’ should have seen something like this coming when he decided to frequent the creepy sauna in the middle of a swamp.)
You guys remember how the booking of Tim Means and Abel Trujillo — two former convicts — on the undercard of UFC on FOX 5 raised some interesting questions regarding just who the UFC should allow to fight under their banner? Well, we can put that debate to rest for now in the case of Means, as Dana White announced over Twitter just a couple hours ago that “The Dirty Bird” has been pulled from the card for — we shit you not — slipping in the sauna and knocking himself unconscious:
(To be fair, Means’ should have seen something like this coming when he decided to frequent the creepy sauna in the middle of a swamp.)
You guys remember how the booking of Tim Means and Abel Trujillo — two former convicts — on the undercard of UFC on FOX 5 raised some interesting questions regarding just who the UFC should allow to fight under their banner? Well, we can put that debate to rest for now in the case of Means, as Dana White announced over Twitter just a couple hours ago that “The Dirty Bird” has been pulled from the card for — we shit you not — slipping in the sauna and knocking himself unconscious:
If this sounds familiar, it’s because a very similar situation occurred at UFC 24 when Kevin Randleman slipped on a pipe backstage and knocked himself right out of the headlining heavyweight title match he was scheduled to compete in opposite Pedro Rizzo. At least we’re only dealing with an undercard injury for the time being.
At this point, the injury curse of 2012 has officially gone full-retard. Drunk on power and arrogance, it is basically stumbling through mess halls and vomiting into harpsichords, looking for the nearest hapless gent to pick a fight with. It’s beyond the point of parody, really, kind of like how fast food drive-thru window pranks and AIDS jokes just aren’t as funny as they used to be. The question is, will 2013 be just as bad? There’s truly no earthly way of knowing which direction the injury curse is going, but not a spec of light is showing, so the danger must be growing. YES, the danger MUST be growing, for the woe-ers keep on woeing, and they’re certainly not showing ANY SIGNS THAT THEY ARE SLOWING!!
Ahem.
As DW mentioned, stepping up on short notice to face Trujillo will be Marcus LeVesseur, who lost his original opponent in TUF 15 winner Mike Chiesa due to a sudden illness that forced him to pull out from the fight at the last minute. If I were one to buy into conspiracies, this is where I’d start speculating that a Higher Power was behind all this, perhaps attempting to prevent some sort of ecological disaster or terrorist attack through a series of frivolously connected events that begin with this fight. Thankfully, I’m not one of those loons.
Words cannot express how much we dislike the group of two-faced, propaganda pushing arseholes that are The Culinary Union (although we sure do try), but we have to admit that they’ve raised an interesting debate whilst digging up dirt on some of the fighters participating at UFC on FOX 5. First, they rallied to get Jeremy Stephens removed from the card as a result of his past transgressions, and now they’ve uncovered some information about undercard fighter and debuting UFC lightweight Abel “Killa” Trujillo that is simply too glaring to overlook:
Abel Nazario Trujillo, another cage fighter scheduled to compete on the UFC fight card on Dec. 8th in Seattle, has twice pleaded guilty to Domestic Abuse Assault Causing Bodily Injury, an aggravated misdemeanor. In both cases, the victim was identified as the mother of his child. In May 2007, Trujillo also pleaded guilty to Obstruction of an Emergency Communication.
In the plea agreement, Trujillo acknowledged that the crime required the State to prove that his alleged assault victim was making a 911 call, Trujillo knew that she was making a 911 call, and Trujillo hung up the phone. Trujillo competes under the nickname “Killa.”
Jesus. That is some cold-blooded shit right there.
Now, we feel that there is one major discrepancy between the cases of Trujillo and Stephens that needs to be addressed. For starters, Stephens has yet to be convicted of anything. His trial date is set for January 9th, and despite the evidence against him, Stephens should not receive a mandatory/preemptive punished in a country whose legal system declares that we are all innocent until proven guilty.
Trujillo, on the other hand…
Words cannot express how much we dislike the group of two-faced, propaganda pushing arseholes that are The Culinary Union (although we sure do try), but we have to admit that they’ve raised an interesting debate whilst digging up dirt on some of the fighters participating at UFC on FOX 5. First, they rallied to get Jeremy Stephens removed from the card as a result of his past transgressions, and now they’ve uncovered some information about undercard fighter and debuting UFC lightweight Abel “Killa” Trujillo that is simply too glaring to overlook:
Abel Nazario Trujillo, another cage fighter scheduled to compete on the UFC fight card on Dec. 8th in Seattle, has twice pleaded guilty to Domestic Abuse Assault Causing Bodily Injury, an aggravated misdemeanor. In both cases, the victim was identified as the mother of his child. In May 2007, Trujillo also pleaded guilty to Obstruction of an Emergency Communication.
In the plea agreement, Trujillo acknowledged that the crime required the State to prove that his alleged assault victim was making a 911 call, Trujillo knew that she was making a 911 call, and Trujillo hung up the phone. Trujillo competes under the nickname “Killa.”
Jesus. That is some cold-blooded shit right there.
Now, we feel that there is one major discrepancy between the cases of Trujillo and Stephens that needs to be addressed. For starters, Stephens has yet to be convicted of anything. His trial date is set for January 9th, and despite the evidence against him, Stephens should not receive a mandatory/preemptive punished in a country whose legal system declares that we are all innocent until proven guilty.
Trujillo’s case, on the other hand, is not exactly so cut and dry. As the report said, he has twice pled guilty to the domestic assault of the same woman — the mother of his children, nonetheless — and to the aforementioned charge of Obstruction of an Emergency Communication. Although these charges aren’t exactly on the level of our favorite Nazi pedophile MMA fighter Brandon Saling, they are nearly on the level of Brett Rogers, who was fired from Strikeforce just hours after being arrested for multiple felonious assault charges. So the discrepancy (at least in the UFC’s mind) seems to lie in the fact that Trujillo has never been convicted of a felony, but rather of several misdemeanors. It’s a thin line to traipse, for sure. Just ask Rampage Jackson.
Of course, the UFC isn’t exactly leading the charge in employing former criminals. Both Rogers and War Machine have signed to Bellator since being released from their stays in the pen, and Bellator is somewhat despicably using Machine’s past as a hype tool for his return. And let’s not even get into the whole Dan McGuane debacle they underwent recently.
But speaking of an interesting past, Trujillo’s opponent, 18-3 Tim “Dirty Bird” Means, has probably the most insane story of them all. I’ve posted most of his revealing interview with MMASucka (really?) below, but to sum it up in a few words: Gunshot, painkiller addiction, battery, prison stint.
On getting shot and nearly dying: “We wound up at a local business late at night. I was out with my buddies, not old enough to get in the bar, but we had ways to get in. I wind up at a local fast food place and had some words with this guy about supposedly cutting in line. I’m not sure if we did or didn’t, to be honest I was intoxicated, but I know we shook hands and called it cool but I noticed the guy in the corner on the phone. Usually I would of left the situation but I felt like superman that night. Later that night we walked outside, I guess the guy called his cousin and the dude shot 15 rounds at us. I’m lucky to only get hit one time in the leg, and now we can laugh and talk about it, but it was a serious incident. No hard feelings to the individual who shot me, there’s no telling the story he cousin told him maybe he said we jumped him, but the guy who called him, that’s a coward’s act, you can’t forgive him. But that’s the past and onto the future.”
On the painkiller addiction that led to his prison stint: “I had a prescription for Vicodin and morphine. I felt like I was on top of the world. That shit is awesome, but before you know it you’re abusing it and it’s not helping you get back on track. You want to stay fuzzy and tingly and it’s not helping you out. But you’re on a prescription and the doctors said if I had some pain, they signed it off without really thinking about a whole lot. It’s not their fault, it’s mine, but once they stopped signing off I starting doing cocaine and meth to get my fix. I didn’t know anything about meth at the time but it made me feel real good like I was on top of the world. But two, three years into that stuff I start look backing at my life and I have nothing to show for it. Wearing dirty clothes, living in a house I’m about to be evicted out of, I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror. It was starting to become someone I didn’t want to be anymore. I was wanting to get off meths and around that time I was facing new charges for an aggravated battery charge for punching a man who broke into my house. From then on I got on probation, they were giving me drug tests, and I was trying to hide the drug tests which meant not showing up to take them or not answering my probation officers phone calls to take them and the judge put me in jail. I realized freedom wasn’t what I needed at the time, I needed to buckle down and look at my addictions that’s what I did. I went to prison, and focused on correcting myself, got out in 2009, and have been running ever since.”
So now we come to the crux of the debate: Do any of you feel as if the UFC should more clearly define the degree of past convictions that could prevent fighters from competing in their organization, or is the current “No felony, no problem” rule seem fit enough?
It’s easy to judge someone for their troubles in the past. Hell, I’ve been arrested before and I’m sure there’s a fair number of you readers who have had their run-ins with the law as well (feel free to describe said run-ins in excruciating detail in the comments section if you’re up to it). It’s not as easy, however, to believe that a person has truly evolved beyond that which previously defined them in the public eye, hence why we are having this debate. Have Means and Trujillo earned the right to be forgiven? Or should an organization that showcases violence on as grand a scale as the UFC tread a little more lightly when dealing with the kind of fighters that could soil the name they’ve worked so hard to build and protect?
