Tag: TJ Dillashaw

UFC: Why Raphael Assuncao Deserves a Bantamweight Title Shot

Leading into UFC 173, Renan Barao was being compared to the pound-for-pound boxing kingpin, Floyd Mayweather. In less than 25 minutes, all of those mentions came tumbling down as T.J. Dillashaw crushed the Brazilian and walked out of Las Vegas as the n…

Leading into UFC 173, Renan Barao was being compared to the pound-for-pound boxing kingpin, Floyd Mayweather. In less than 25 minutes, all of those mentions came tumbling down as T.J. Dillashaw crushed the Brazilian and walked out of Las Vegas as the new UFC Bantamweight champion. The moment he went from prospect to title holder Dillashaw had unrolled a laundry list of new contenders for the title. However, none should receive a shot before Raphael Assuncao.

Travel back to October 9, 2013. Dillashaw and Assuncao would meet in an undercard fight at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Shields. In a hotly contested bout, the two athletes would go back and forth in exchanges. At the end of the three-round affair, Raphael would have his hand raised in victory. Moments after the decision, much of the mixed martial arts community would voice their displeasure with the judging in the contest. That wouldn’t be enough to reverse the decision as Assuncao‘s victory would snap T.J.’s four-fight win streak while increasing his own to five straight wins.

When UFC 173 was first announced, Barao was expected to face the returning Dominick Cruz. Unfortunately, Cruz would be injured once again and forced off the card. That would create the opening for Raphael to be granted a title shot. Assuncao would opt out of the opportunity due to an injury of his own, which created the pathway for Dillashaw to shock the world and take the title.

The fact that Assuncao holds a very controversial win over the new champion is more than enough reason to give him the first shot at the belt. Assuncao has already began to call out the champion.

“I hope they give me the title shot,” Assuncao stated to MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz. “I want to fight T.J. Dillashaw next. He said he deserved to win the first fight, so it’s the perfect finale.”

Both fighters have made their case as to why they feel they earned the win that night. Looking deeper at the numbers provided by Fight Metric, which is the official stats group for the UFC, it is clear that this bout was very close.

Neither fighter had the advantage in striking as Assuncao landed 37 of 106 attempted strikes which is nearly identical to the 32 of 105 for Dillashaw. The true difference is in the area of grappling where Dillashaw landed two takedowns while stopping all six from his Brazilian opponent. Once on the mat, T.J. also looked to be the more competent and aggressive grappler according to the fight numbers. In real time, it is understandable how most of the viewing audience scored this fight for Dillashaw. Still, the split-decision loss stands as a huge black eye over the new reign of the 135-pound champion.

The main issue with making this bout is the fact that neither Raphael Assuncao nor T.J. Dillashaw are major names in the mainstream MMA community. The UFC is in dire need of developing a new stable of stars and while Dillashaw has the potential to get to a high point, he’s not there yet. That means that the Team Alpha Male standout should expect to defend his title during free televised events across the Fox networks in order to grow his notoriety before being placed on a Pay-Per-View card. If the bout against Assuncao is made, the UFC would have to work to create a solid card that would draw attention for their developing champion.

When T.J. Dillashaw stepped into the Octagon on May 24, he was ranked in the 11th spot on the UFC’s official bantamweight rankings. Raphael Assuncao, the last man to defeat the eventual title bearer, was sitting firmly at No. 3. A twist of fate provided Dillashaw with a title shot and now Raphael is looking up at a man he defeated less than two years ago. The UFC should pounce on this chance to create the rematch. With the proper booking and promotion, this fight would serve to make either a star out of T.J. or further an intense rivalry.

 

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TJ Dillashaw on UFC 173 Win, Cruz, Faber and Return to the Octagon

Last week, I followed TJ Dillashaw as he prepared for his UFC 173 bout against Renan Barao. He was one of the biggest underdogs ever to participate in a championship bout, and few gave him a chance of making it out of the first round, much less pu…

Last week, I followed TJ Dillashaw as he prepared for his UFC 173 bout against Renan Barao. He was one of the biggest underdogs ever to participate in a championship bout, and few gave him a chance of making it out of the first round, much less pulling off the historic upset.

In my time spent with Dillashaw, I saw a man completely unfazed by the task ahead of him, as though he had no idea what the fans and oddsmakers were saying.

He was relaxed, loose and absolutely confident that he’d be taking the title back to Sacramento. He spoke of all the things he’d need to get used to as bantamweight champion, such as spending fight weeks in the nicest hotel suites available instead of standard rooms.

Where did his confidence come from? How was he able to overlook the long odds he faced?

“Duane (Ludwig) always said he had the utmost confidence in me beating Barao. He isn’t going to blow smoke up my butt when he tells me what he believes. The way he went about it made me super confident getting in there,” Dillashaw says. “And then the rest of my team, Urijah, Joseph, Chad, they all tell me how good I am. Urijah really believed that I could beat Barao.

“Team Alpha Male really tuned up my confidence.”

Dillashaw was on to something. He went in the Octagon and beat Barao from pillar to post before finishing him in the fifth round to become the new bantamweight champion.

He knocked Barao down in the first round, then used the same tactics to befuddle the champion and keep him off balance in the second. He knew then that he had a chance to win. After a dominant third, he realized he’d won the first three rounds going away. Barao had nothing to offer him.

“After that, I was like ‘I’ve got this guy’s number. I can put it on him,’ Dillashaw says. “After the third, I knew I had him.”

The historic underdog hadn’t just defied the odds; he’d trampled all over them and then kicked them out the door. He’d dominated one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and turned in one of the single best performances in UFC history.

Dillashaw believes his footwork, which greatly resembled the stuff former champion Dominick Cruz used during his rise to the top, was too much for Barao. He danced backward and sideways and leaped forward with jabs; Barao, a devastating counter-striker, never figured it out.

“I got interviewed about Barao and Dominick a long time ago when I was working my way up the ladder, and I said that Dominick was the better fighter, but Barao was more dangerous, and he’d be a tough fight for Dominick,” he says. “But I knew that Dominick had the footwork to beat him. So, having that in my mind, I knew I had to step up my footwork, use good angles and keep him confused.”

Dillashaw went home with the belt and a $100,000 bonus check. He says he slept with the belt on, but it digs into his side, so it doesn’t work out.

He wore the belt in numerous media appearances this week; he is, for a moment, Sacramento’s most famous resident, and the whirlwind media tour that followed his win has kept him too busy to think. His tiny hometown of Angels Camp wants a piece of the Dillashaw action, as well.

“They want to throw some sort of parade,” he says. Parades, interviews and autograph sessions are part of his life now.

In three weeks, he will travel to Mexico to marry his longtime fiancee. They will depart on a short honeymoon, and then he’ll return to Las Vegas for the UFC Fan Expo, where he’ll meet thousands of the new fans he made last Saturday night. After that, he’d like a little downtime to relax and enjoy life. That enjoyment won’t include spending much of his newfound money, however.

“I’ve always kinda been a tight-ass, and I’ll probably continue to be one, even though I’ve got a little bit more cash,” he says with a laugh.

When he’s through relaxing, he’ll start training. He would like to return to the Octagon in late October. Raphael Assuncao is likely to be his next challenger, and that’s fine with Dillashaw, as he would like to even the score after dropping a loss to Assuncao in 2013. After that? More challengers await, and Cruz might finally be healthy enough to make a long-awaited return to fighting.

“I got to beat Barao, and it would be nice to beat Dominick. He was the champion when I first started fighting, so it would be nice to beat both of those guys,” he says.

He has come a long way since the first day he walked into Faber’s Ultimate Fitness and began training. Benavidez, Faber and others will tell you that Dillashaw is the fiercest and most competitive fighter in a gym that houses plenty of world-class talent. He was always considered a prospect to watch, but few could have seen him advancing this far, this fast. He is no longer a prospect; he is a champion.

“I definitely didn’t envision it happening this fast,” he says. “It’s been a crazy whirlwind, but everything has worked out the way it’s supposed to.”

 

All quotes were obtained firsthand.

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Duane Ludwig Brushes off Marlon Sandro Comments, Says Barao Wont Get Rematch

Team Alpha Male striking coach Duane Ludwig’s name is making headlines left and right after one of his pupils, T.J. Dillashaw, shocked the world and dominated Renan Barao at UFC 173 on Saturday. 
Fans, fighters and analysts alike appear to be…

Team Alpha Male striking coach Duane Ludwig’s name is making headlines left and right after one of his pupils, T.J. Dillashaw, shocked the world and dominated Renan Barao at UFC 173 on Saturday. 

Fans, fighters and analysts alike appear to be split on whether or not “The Baron” deserves an immediate rematch. 

Nova Uniao teammate Marlon Sandro blames the loss on a tough fight schedule that is nearly impossible to keep up with as a UFC champion, but Ludwig isn’t buying that excuse, based on his comments to Bloody Elbow.

“His last fight was with Faber, and it was a fairly quick fight. It’s not like he came out with injuries. It wasn’t like he came from a hard fight straight into another hard fight … I don’t think it’s fair for Barao to get an immediate rematch. That fight wasn’t even close, but then, who else is T.J. going to fight? Who is the Number 1 contender? It’s still Barao. I know he’s gonna need some time to recover, so I doubt he’ll be the next guy to challenge for the belt.”

Prior to getting outstruck and just plain outworked by Dillashaw, Barao boasted an unheard of 33-fight unbeaten streak, including a 7-0 mark inside the Octagon. 

UFC President Dana White hasn’t ruled out the possibility of booking Barao vs. Dillashaw II, but has also acknowledged that contender Raphael Assuncao deserves a crack at the belt, per FOX Sports. 

Dillashaw is 6-1 in his past seven fights, with his sole setback being a highly controversial split decision loss to Assuncao at UFC Fight Night 29 in October. 

Assuncao, the No. 3 bantamweight in the UFC’s official rankings, has been on a tear since dropping down to 135 pounds, winning six consecutive bouts in his new weight class. 

Barao has yet to comment on the stunning TKO loss, but his manager is already calling for a rematch in Brazil at UFC 179 in October, per MMA Fighting. 

Does Barao deserve a chance to prove he had an off night? Or should he go to the back of the line and give other contenders a shot at UFC gold?

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com

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UFC 173 vs. Bellator 120: Which Did More Web Traffic?

By Matt Saccaro

Despite the UFC’s legal team being among CagePotato’s most avid readers, we can’t convince them to give us any insights into the UFC’s PPV business. We can only judge a card’s interest by the PPV estimates that circulate a few weeks after an event has passed.

There’s another way to judge fans’ interest in a particular fight card though: Web traffic.

In between discussions about which IFL team was the best (I’m a huge Quad City Silverbacks fan), we at CagePotato headquarters started opining about how Bellator 120: Rampage vs. King Mo would compare to a low-level UFC PPV. Some of us said it’d bury an event like UFC 173: Barao vs. Dillashaw in terms of traffic, some of us said it would get buried.

Now that fight week(end) is over, we can jump into AnalyticsPotato mode and see which fight card wowed the web more. And to be clear, I’m using unique page views as the primary metric to judge interest. And by “coverage” we mean articles before/during/after the card that are about the card. Seems obvious but it’s important to be clear.

Earlier in the week, we reported on the CagePotato twitter that Bellator 120 received about 34% more traffic, but that calculation was made in error. There were a couple of articles in our UFC 173 coverage that I forgot to include in the tally. However, even with these pieces added, Bellator 120 still wins out. Bellator 120’s coverage, on the whole, received 11% more traffic than UFC 173’s.

Other random insights:

By Matt Saccaro

Despite the UFC’s legal team being among CagePotato’s most avid readers, we can’t convince them to give us any insights into the UFC’s PPV business. We can only judge a card’s interest by the PPV estimates that circulate a few weeks after an event has passed.

There’s another way to judge fans’ interest in a particular fight card though: Web traffic.

In between discussions about which IFL team was the best (I’m a huge Quad City Silverbacks fan), we at CagePotato headquarters started opining about how Bellator 120: Rampage vs. King Mo would compare to a low-level UFC PPV. Some of us said it’d bury an event like UFC 173: Barao vs. Dillashaw in terms of traffic, some of us said it would get buried.

Now that fight week(end) is over, we can jump into AnalyticsPotato mode and see which fight card wowed the web more. And to be clear, I’m using unique page views as the primary metric to judge interest. And by “coverage” we mean articles before/during/after the card that are about the card. Seems obvious but it’s important to be clear.

Earlier in the week, we reported on the CagePotato twitter that Bellator 120 received about 34% more traffic, but that calculation was made in error. There were a couple of articles in our UFC 173 coverage that I forgot to include in the tally. However, even with these pieces added, Bellator 120 still wins out. Bellator 120′s coverage, on the whole, received 11% more traffic than UFC 173′s.

Other random insights:

The time spent on page, an important and overlooked metric, was “virtually identical” for both Bellator 120 and UFC 173. Referral sources, too, were identical, with much of the traffic coming from search (Google) and social (Facebook and a bit from Twitter). This isn’t terribly surprising.

What does all of this mean, then?

At a glance, people are probably saying “The best Bellator has to offer only barely edges out a lower-level UFC card!” And that’s fair to an extent. But it’s worth noting that before the card, most of our UFC 173-related content wasn’t doing too well. There was very little hype around the event. Fans had a “how dare the UFC charge us for this crap” attitude about it. Even the live-blog was sub-par during the event. Once it was updated to reflect the huge upset that was TJ Dillashaw defeating Renan Barao, however, traffic on it exploded. The massive upset could’ve definitely helped UFC 173.

However, the same could be said for Bellator 120 since Will Brooks and Tito Ortiz upset Michael Chandler and Alexander Shlemenko, respectively. King Mo calling Bjorn Rebney a dick-rider didn’t hurt Bellator traffic either.

Alas, web traffic means little in terms of PPV buys. It’s highly likely that many people who read our post-fight Bellator coverage wanted to see if the event was a train wreck without having to pay for it. Furthermore, we’re just one website. A sample size of one isn’t much to go on. When asked on Twitter, some sites reported that their Bellator 120 traffic was far below expectations.

So, to get a clearer picture, we ran a Google trends comparison:

Interestingly, the search term “Bellator 120″ peaked the day after the PPV, indicating our theory above about most of the traffic coming from people who didn’t watch the PPV. And UFC 173′s peak was slightly higher than Bellator 120′s.

If anything is to be taken from this, it’s that Bellator is capable of generating at least as much Internet-interest (even if it derives from schadenfreude) from the fans as the UFC. Whether that’ll hold true for their future PPV outings is impossible to tell.

Duane Ludwig Says He’d Corner TJ Dillashaw in Fight Against Urijah Faber

Do we have a Team Alpha Male rivalry brewing? 
Sorry to get you all excited, but no, not really. Not yet, anyway. 
T.J. Dillashaw just defeated Renan Barao at UFC 173 to snag the bantamweight title, and already talks are heating up about a Te…

Do we have a Team Alpha Male rivalry brewing? 

Sorry to get you all excited, but no, not really. Not yet, anyway. 

T.J. Dillashaw just defeated Renan Barao at UFC 173 to snag the bantamweight title, and already talks are heating up about a Team Alpha Male battle for gold between the newly minted champ and the former challenger Urijah Faber. 

Faber, of course, is the head of Team Alpha Male. He’s their standout superstar, their golden boy. He founded the gym, and he keeps an eye out for new talent to bring in. 

Now, one of those fighters in Dillashaw has done what Faber himself failed to do on multiple occasions: he won UFC gold. 

Teammates or not, that has to sting Faber a little as a competitor, and now former Team Alpha Male head coach Duane Ludwig is prickling the wound by saying he’d corner Dillashaw in a potential showdown. 

Appearing on MMAjunkie.com Radio, Ludwig talked about a hypothetical bout between the camp’s top two bantamweight combatants (transcription courtesy of MMA Junkie’s Steven Marrocco).  

“T.J.’s my boy. I would (coach T.J. against Urijah),” Ludwig said. “This is one of the things about T.J. and Faber. They fight once or twice a week in the gym. Why not get paid for it?”

Throughout the rest of the interview, Ludwig went on to praise Faber for bringing so much talent to the camp and for giving him the opportunity to coach a stable of phenomenal mixed martial artists. 

In addition, Ludwig said he shared a “special bond” with Dillashaw, making it seem that he would show Dillashaw some preferential treatment under any circumstance. 

As a coach, that’s probably not right, and it will undoubtedly rustle some jimmies. 

Right now, there is zero indication that Faber and Dillashaw will ever fight, but the current champion has previously stated he would take on his teammate if the UFC made it worth his while.

After winning the belt, Dillashaw changed his tune and said he is not interested in a fight with Faber, but one has to wonder if the UFC can pull some strings and make this happen. 

If it ever comes to fruition, one thing is certain: Ludwig will shack up with Dillashaw, and Faber will receive the unique opportunity to face a friend, teammate and former coach all at once. 

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Renan Barao Doesn’t Deserve Immediate Rematch with T.J. Dillashaw

T.J. Dillashaw’s championship win over Renan Barao at UFC 173 created all sorts of interesting subplots around the UFC bantamweight championship.
Dillashaw has no shortage of contenders for his shiny new belt, which he’ll take back to Sacra…

T.J. Dillashaw’s championship win over Renan Barao at UFC 173 created all sorts of interesting subplots around the UFC bantamweight championship.

Dillashaw has no shortage of contenders for his shiny new belt, which he’ll take back to Sacramento on Monday when he leaves Las Vegas. The most prominent of these is Raphael Assuncao, who scored a razor-thin split decision over the new champion last October in Brazil. Assuncao was originally the man in line to face Barao, but an injury suffered in training prevented him from accepting the fight. Dillashaw got the nod, and the rest is history.

If Dillashaw had his way, Assuncao would be the next man standing across the Octagon. “I’d like to get my win back, yeah,” the new champion said at the UFC 173 post-fight press conference. The loss to Assuncao is one that eats away at the new champion, and likely will until he gets a chance to redeem himself.

If something happens to Assuncao, there are other options. Dominick Cruz is slowly working his way back from the longest injury hiatus in the history of mixed martial arts. The mere thought of Dillashaw and Cruz dancing around the Octagon, with all the angles and footwork and speed that would be on display, is enough to send shivers down the spine of any self-respecting fight fan. They are kindred spirits who have much in common, both in style and substance.

Takeya Mizugaki waits in the wings. He was originally scheduled to face Dillashaw in this event, but was left to face and beat Francisco Rivera when Dillashaw answered the championship call from Sean Shelby. Mizugaki has five wins in a row, but probably still needs another win. Still, he’d do in a pinch.

And there is a small subset of fans who believe Barao, the dethroned champion, deserves an immediate rematch. To them, I say nay! Barao will be in the title picture again, and soon, but the idea of giving him an immediate shot at Dillashaw after what transpired at UFC 173 is ludicrous.

I am fine with rematches of championship fights, but only in specific situations.

A rematch should be granted when a long-time champion loses his belt

Anderson Silva is a perfect example; he held the belt for nearly seven years before losing to Chris Weidman. That is an extensive track record of excellence, and it rightly earned Silva an immediate rematch.

Barao has been the “official” bantamweight champion since February. Most have considered him the real champion since he captured the interim belt in 2012, because we had no idea if Cruz would ever return to unify the belts. Still, even if you count the interim title reign, Barao has been champion for less than two years. He defended the title three times before losing to Dillashaw. That’s not remotely comparable to Silva’s track record.

A rematch should be granted if it’s a close fight, if there is a poor judging decision or the ending is a fluke

Here, you can point to Silva again. His first loss to Weidman could be blamed on Silva’s decision to showboat. Or the rematch between Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn, which came about because Edgar was awarded a questionable decision during their first fight. Or Edgar vs. Benson Henderson, where Henderson won a questionable decision of his own in the first fight.

Dillashaw vs. Barao was not questionable. Dillashaw won all five rounds and finished Barao emphatically in the final frame. Many of us gave Dillashaw a 10-8 first round. It was not close, not ever, and there was no controversy.

I was told early last week that Barao was undergoing a bad weight cut. At a media gathering on Thursday, he looked drawn and pale. Many will point to that weight cut as a reason why the “real” Barao didn’t show up on Saturday night, and they might be right.

But a weight cut is within Barao’s control. It is not the same as suffering a knee injury and moving forward with the fight to help the UFC out of a bind. It is Barao’s choice to walk around significantly bigger than even teammate Jose Aldo, who fights in a weight class 10 pounds heavier than Barao.

Barao is not deserving of an immediate rematch. He was overwhelmed and dominated. There was no fluke and no bad decision, and Barao hasn’t built up the kind of years-long title reign that makes him deserving of an immediate return fight. He shouldn’t go to the back of the line, of course. He needs to win just one fight, and then he can step back in the cage with Dillashaw.

But there is simply no reason for Barao to leapfrog Assuncao, who has earned his shot and deserves his opportunity.

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