LAS VEGAS — UFC middleweight Michael Bisping showed up to the TUF 14 Finale weigh-ins looking like a man in a foul mood, and his disposition only got worse from there. The crowd at the Palms casino erupted in boos every time the Brit’s name was mentioned, and it didn’t help matters when he came in 1/4-pound over the middleweight limit for his bout with Jason “Mayhem” Miller on Saturday night.
Even after stripping down behind a towel, Bisping was still over the mark, leaving him with an hour to cut the weight. After putting his clothes back on he stormed out of the room, though Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer said it was his understanding that Bisping would be coming back soon to weigh in again.
Before Bisping left, however, Miller jabbed him one last time in his post-fight remarks, telling fans that the time for talking was over and adding, “Now boo this man!” The fans, not surprisingly, obliged. When UFC color commentator Joe Rogan asked the crowd to show a little love for Bisping, the fighter remarked that he “couldn’t give a [expletive] about getting [expletive] love. All I care about is smashing this [expletive]’s head in.”
Then he turned his attention on the still jeering crowd, telling them “[Expletive] you all,” before extending his middle finger to the fans on his way off the stage. And with that, Bisping was gone.
Full weigh-in results are below.
Main card (Spike TV)
Michael Bisping (186.25)* vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (185.5)
Diego Brandao (145) vs. Dennis Bermudez (146)
John Dodson (134) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (135.5)
Yves Edwards (155) vs. Tony Ferguson (155.5)
Johnny Bedford (136) vs. Louis Gaudinot (136)
Preliminary card (Facebook)
Marcus Brimage (143) vs. Stephen Bass (145)
John Albert (136) vs. Dustin Pague (136)
Josh Ferguson (134) vs. Roland Delorme (136)
Josh Clopton (144) vs. Steven Siler (146)
Dustin Neace (145.5) vs. Bryan Caraway (145)
* Upon his return to the scale, Bisping made the 186-pound limit.
LAS VEGAS — UFC middleweight Michael Bisping showed up to the TUF 14 Finale weigh-ins looking like a man in a foul mood, and his disposition only got worse from there. The crowd at the Palms casino erupted in boos every time the Brit’s name was mentioned, and it didn’t help matters when he came in 1/4-pound over the middleweight limit for his bout with Jason “Mayhem” Miller on Saturday night.
Even after stripping down behind a towel, Bisping was still over the mark, leaving him with an hour to cut the weight. After putting his clothes back on he stormed out of the room, though Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer said it was his understanding that Bisping would be coming back soon to weigh in again.
Before Bisping left, however, Miller jabbed him one last time in his post-fight remarks, telling fans that the time for talking was over and adding, “Now boo this man!” The fans, not surprisingly, obliged. When UFC color commentator Joe Rogan asked the crowd to show a little love for Bisping, the fighter remarked that he “couldn’t give a [expletive] about getting [expletive] love. All I care about is smashing this [expletive]’s head in.”
Then he turned his attention on the still jeering crowd, telling them “[Expletive] you all,” before extending his middle finger to the fans on his way off the stage. And with that, Bisping was gone.
Full weigh-in results are below.
Main card (Spike TV)
Michael Bisping (186.25)* vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (185.5)
Diego Brandao (145) vs. Dennis Bermudez (146)
John Dodson (134) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (135.5)
Yves Edwards (155) vs. Tony Ferguson (155.5)
Johnny Bedford (136) vs. Louis Gaudinot (136)
Preliminary card (Facebook)
Marcus Brimage (143) vs. Stephen Bass (145)
John Albert (136) vs. Dustin Pague (136)
Josh Ferguson (134) vs. Roland Delorme (136)
Josh Clopton (144) vs. Steven Siler (146)
Dustin Neace (145.5) vs. Bryan Caraway (145)
* Upon his return to the scale, Bisping made the 186-pound limit.
Filed under: UFC, NewsLAS VEGAS — In case you couldn’t tell by watching him fight, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is something of a Wanderlei Silva fan. Actually, maybe fan is the wrong word. Brandao’s more like a disciple, which is why h…
LAS VEGAS — In case you couldn’t tell by watching him fight, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is something of a Wanderlei Silva fan. Actually, maybe fan is the wrong word. Brandao’s more like a disciple, which is why he was thrilled to hear that his fellow Brazilian and MMA inspiration has been following his run on the UFC’s reality show.
“I want to fight like Wanderlei Silva,” Brandao said earlier this week. “That’s why I’m in MMA now, is Wanderlei Silva. The way he fights, he makes everybody in Brazil put their hearts in their mouths.”
Brandao was understandably ecstatic when he finally got to meet Silva in Vegas this week, and even more excited when he got a word of encouragement from “The Axe Murderer.”
“He told me to go kill the guy. I was so happy.”
But ‘happy’ isn’t a word most of his TUF 14 castmates would likely use to describe Brandao, who at times seemed almost dangerously intense. Some of his colleagues didn’t know how to take that, he said, but to Brandao it seemed like the only sensible approach to a sport that involves fighting other men in a cage.
“When I first get in the house, people think I’m crazy,” he said. “But I’m not crazy, bro. This is MMA. For me, it’s very serious. You can get hurt if you don’t train hard, aren’t focused. You can get [your] jaw broken, knee broken, armbar. I’m ready for that. I’m not crazy, I’m just focused on every fight.”
So far it’s yielded memorable results for the 24-year-old Brazilian. He ran through his competition on TUF, and is among the heaviest favorites on Saturday night’s finale fight card, where he’ll take on fellow finalist Dennis Bermudez, with Silva watching in the crowd.
The best part, Brandao said, is all the good he’ll be able to do for his family back home in Brazil with the money he’ll make for this fight, win or lose. They might not have gotten to watch his reality show stint along with the American audience, but they’ll reap the rewards along with him, he said.
“I feel very proud of myself. I’m going to be able to help my mom. She doesn’t know what’s going on now, but pretty soon she’s going to find out.”
(Brandao vs. Casteel @ Evolution 1, 10/30/10. Fight begins at the 1:58 mark and ends 40 seconds later. The ref is kind of a dick afterwards. Props: landsharkian)
As Johnny Bedford observed on Wednesday, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is not unbeatable; in fact, he entered the reality show with a journeyman’s record of 13-7. But when he’s on his game, he’s as dangerous a fighter as you’ll ever see. Here’s a video from Brandao’s pre-UFC career, in which he starches Michael Casteel with a counter right hook within the first minute of their fight. It’s that kind of power that could give Dennis Bermudez serious headaches when they meet up at the finale show tomorrow night in Las Vegas. Was Michael Bisping right to predict future UFC stardom for the Madman from Manaus?
(Brandao vs. Casteel @ Evolution 1, 10/30/10. Fight begins at the 1:58 mark and ends 40 seconds later. The ref is kind of a dick afterwards. Props: landsharkian)
As Johnny Bedford observed on Wednesday, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is not unbeatable; in fact, he entered the reality show with a journeyman’s record of 13-7. But when he’s on his game, he’s as dangerous a fighter as you’ll ever see. Here’s a video from Brandao’s pre-UFC career, in which he starches Michael Casteel with a counter right hook within the first minute of their fight. It’s that kind of power that could give Dennis Bermudez serious headaches when they meet up at the finale show tomorrow night in Las Vegas. Was Michael Bisping right to predict future UFC stardom for the Madman from Manaus?
Filed under: UFCLAS VEGAS — On Thursday morning at 9 a.m. the UFC PR staff spread this season’s Ultimate Fighter finalists out across two conference rooms at the Palms hotel and casino and introduced them to one of the less glamorous aspects of life i…
LAS VEGAS — On Thursday morning at 9 a.m. the UFC PR staff spread this season’s Ultimate Fighter finalists out across two conference rooms at the Palms hotel and casino and introduced them to one of the less glamorous aspects of life in a big time fight promotion: the dreaded pre-fight interviews.
“It’s going to be about an hour of talking,” UFC director of media relations Ant Evans explained as he sat TUF 14 bantamweight finalist T.J. Dillashaw down to begin a series of rapid-fire phone interviews. One look at Dillashaw’s face, and you could see he wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the idea.
It could be worse, Evans explained. He could be like Michael Bisping and “Mayhem” Miller, who had two or three hours of interviews scheduled. Somehow, this failed to raise Dillashaw’s spirits.
“It’s just so fast,” he told me later, once it was my turn to monopolize his time. “You’re used to not very much media attention at all, and suddenly it’s a lot.”
That’s the case for all four of this year’s finalists. In general, bantamweights and featherweights don’t get as much love as the bigger fighters on the MMA scene, and the spotlight is even dimmer outside the UFC. After fighting their way onto the reality show and then earning a spot in the finals, they’re all finding out for the first time what it’s like to stand in the spotlight. Each has his own way of adjusting to this new life on fight week.
“The first time, I cried when I saw [myself] on TV,” said featherweight Diego Brandao. “It was crazy.”
Brandao’s opponent for Saturday night’s finale — Dennis Bermudez — played it a little cooler. In the next room over, sitting with his coach, Bermudez shrugged off the media pressure.
“I did a lot of high school newspaper articles for wrestling, stuff like that,” he said. “For me, it’s like a bunch of those, I guess.”
What he was happiest about was simply being out of the TUF house and free to move about, he said. People keep telling him that his career is about to be defined by how he performs against Brandao, who seems to have instilled a deep terror into most of his previous opponents, but Bermudez isn’t sweating it just yet.
“My mindset is, it’s another fight. People are like, it’s the biggest fight of your career. Well, it’s the biggest fight of my career right now. I’m sure I’ll have bigger fights later on.”
Bantamweight John Dodson — the only fighter who was all smiles even early in the morning, practically bouncing out of his chair with enthusiasm — is taking a similar approach. It’s not a must-win, he said. Especially not for a guy who’s really a natural flyweight, just waiting for the UFC to open the division up. The way he sees it, if he puts on an exciting fight, people will remember him regardless of whether he wins or loses.
For Dodson, the show was a bit of a mixed bag. He was painted as a traitor at times for sharing fight pairing news with the opposing team, and drew the ire of his coach, “Mayhem” Miller, who Dodson did a spot-on impression of as he mimicked Miller’s cry of, “Dodson, whyyyy!?!“
“I’m not going to lie, it’s still cool to have him talking about me,” Dodson grinned.
In fact, that’s his take on all the buzz surrounding his reality show stint. That’s why he thanked those who hated him most during the show’s run.
“People were asking me, why are you thanking the haters? It’s because, if I don’t have any haters, then it means I wasn’t doing anything right. There’s a reason people were talking about me.”
And while it’s nice to be talked about, both Dodson and Dillashaw are hoping that theirs is the fight that becomes the focus of the good kind of post-event talk rather than the bad. You can be a hero or a villain, but one thing these up-and-comers have learned is that you just can’t be boring.
“I don’t want to put this pressure on myself like I have to win this fight, because I really don’t,” said Dillashaw. “This sport’s for entertainment. I just need to go out there and put on a show. I’m going to win, but I’m going to put on an awesome show and go a hundred miles an hour.”
Just don’t tell him that reward for success is more interviews. You don’t want to send the poor guy in there with mixed emotions.
LAS VEGAS – MMA Fighting’s E. Casey Leydon continues his all-access fight journal with Jason “Mayhem” Miller just days before his UFC return at this Saturday’s TUF finale. Miller handles more press obligations, parts ways with his mustache, has some fun at a UFC photo shoot and participates in his first workout of the week. For part one, click here.
LAS VEGAS – MMA Fighting’s E. Casey Leydon continues his all-access fight journal with Jason “Mayhem” Miller just days before his UFC return at this Saturday’s TUF finale. Miller handles more press obligations, parts ways with his mustache, has some fun at a UFC photo shoot and participates in his first workout of the week. For part one, click here.
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting ExclusiveMichael Bisping thinks he has the best case to be the next challenger for middleweight champion Anderson Silva. After all, the thought goes, Mark Munoz has lost more recently than him, and Chael Sonnen already ha…
Michael Bisping thinks he has the best case to be the next challenger for middleweight champion Anderson Silva. After all, the thought goes, Mark Munoz has lost more recently than him, and Chael Sonnen already had his shot and failed to capitalize. But Bisping likely has to win twice more before finally getting the opportunity that has eluded him so far in his UFC career.
The first of those times comes on Saturday against the returning Jason “Mayhem” Miller, a rugged veteran who has spent most of the last few years as a mercenary for a host of promotions. Miller, last seen competing against and defeating Kazushi Sakuraba in DREAM over one year ago, will have the task of wiping off his ring rust against one of MMA‘s most active and well-conditioned middleweights.
Bisping (21-3) is currently considered about a 2-to-1 favorite to win.
The fight matchup is intriguing given their personal strengths, Bisping as a kickboxer and Miller as a grappler. But it’s far from a striker vs. ground specialist matchup, too, as both are well-versed in the all-around game.
Bisping’s success mostly stems from his three things: his stamina, work rate and complete game. While he is not elite in any one category, he melds his skill sets together well into a well-rounded arsenal. At the heart of it is his kickboxing.
He doesn’t have traditional one-strike knockout power, but his ability to press his opponent from bell to bell makes him a tough matchup because it slows you down from getting truly comfortable against him. That is borne out in the statistics. According to FightMetric, Bisping is in the top 10 all-time in strike differential, a key stat which shows your ability to dole out punishment while avoiding return fire.
Given his volume, that stat is even more impressive, as Bisping’s 4.59 strikes landed per minute also ranks him among the top 10 in UFC history. Meanwhile, his opponents only connect on 29 percent of strikes against him, once again putting him in the top 10.
Simply put, he spends a lot of time hitting people and not getting hit. This is where most people will inject a Dan Henderson joke at his expense, but the fact remains that the highlight-reel punch lies as a statistical aberration, one not surprisingly pulled off by one of the sport’s historical greats.
Despite having no roots as a wrestler, Bisping has also been very good in that department, taking down opponents on 53 percent of tries while stopping opponents on 58 percent of tries against him. He is also excellent at getting back to his feet off a takedown, a skill that may be key against Miller, who does his best work on the ground. Bisping’s also never been tapped out, so even if Miller does manage to hold him down for an extended period of time, he’s no easy pickings in the submission department.
Despite having been in the sport as a pro for over a decade, Miller (24-7, 1 no contest) is just 30 years old — two years younger than Bisping. The colorful fighter is willing to fight anywhere but is best known for his excellent ground skills, with 14 of his wins coming via tapout.
Perhaps because he’s not known for power, Miller gets a bad rap for his standup. The bottom line when it comes to striking is whether or not it’s effective, not how pretty it looks. Miller can be unconventional at times, but he does have underrated fundamentals that allow him to connect at a 50 percent percentage, a better rate than Bisping (40 percent).
It’s on the mat where he shines though. Because of Miller’s fun-loving personality, it’s easy to underrate him, but he’s been a high-level grappler for years, even before receiving his black belt in 2010. You may recall that in his November 2009 match with submission wizard Jake Shields, he had Shields in a rear naked choke to end round three but time ran out on him.
That bout is also important for other reasons though. It remains the last time Miller faced top-quality competition. After that, he fought little-known Tim Stout in a Strikeforce fight that was put together on short notice, and then he faced a 41-year-old Sakuraba who had lost three of his last five.
Because of that, how he will respond to being thrust into top competition again is anyone’s guess. On one hand, it’s been a long time. On the other, he’s had quite a bit of time to work on improvements.
When their respective styles meld, Bisping should have the advantage because of his active standup. It’s never going to be easy to out-point him on the judges’ scorecards when he throws and lands as much as he does. His underrated wrestling should also keep the fight up enough to stay away from Miller’s strength. The five-round limit shouldn’t be an issue for either, as both are known to be well conditioned and shouldn’t have a problem going the distance.
A 25-minute fight is a near-lock in this one. Bisping doesn’t have the raw power to put away Miller, who has only been TKO’d once in his career, and Miller isn’t likely to keep Bisping on the mat long enough to submit a fighter who has never tapped. That’s going to leave a mostly standup battle, and Bisping has the greater possibility of impressing the judges with his quantity, quality and pace. Bisping via decision.
LAS VEGAS — UFC middleweight Michael Bisping showed up to the TUF 14 Finale weigh-ins looking like a man in a foul mood, and his disposition only got worse from there. The crowd at the Palms casino erupted in boos every time the Brit’s name was mentioned, and it didn’t help matters when he came in 1/4-pound over the middleweight limit for his bout with Jason “Mayhem” Miller on Saturday night.
LAS VEGAS — In case you couldn’t tell by watching him fight, 
LAS VEGAS — On Thursday morning at 9 a.m. the 