Major fireworks were on the agenda when former WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje made his awaited UFC debut against No. 5-ranked veteran Michael “The Menace” Johnson in the main event of tonight’s (July 7, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 Finale from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the action did not fail to deliver. […]
Major fireworks were on the agenda when former WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje made his awaited UFC debut against No. 5-ranked veteran Michael “The Menace” Johnson in the main event of tonight’s (July 7, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 Finale from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the action did not fail to deliver.
No, it didn’t in any way, as “The Highlight” and Johnson threw down in what just may be the best fight of 2017 so far, with Gaethje being wobbled in the first and rocked in the second round thanks to the lightning-fast power punches of “The Menace.” But it was a pace that was unable to be sustained, as Gaethje never stopped walking forward as he ate every shot Johnson threw his way, no matter what.
Peppering the South Florida-based fighter with an endless assault of his trademark leg kicks and pinpoint punches, Gaethje hit Johnson with a big uppercut to turn the tide of the fight in the second round, following up with an endless onslaught of elbows and knees that left referee John McCarthy no choice but stop the bout as Johnson sat on the ground bloodied and exhausted.
It was a telling and thrilling bout where Gaethje delivered on his massive promise by doing everything he said he was going to do by pressing a ruthless pace with an endless amount of power shots, earning himself a ton of notoriety and a fight against a top lightweight like Edson Barboza, Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson, or even Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Watch the highlights of Gaethje’s thunderous UFC debut here:
Tonight’s (July 7, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 Finale is in the books from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the headliner, former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) champion Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje dove headfirst into the deep UFC 155-pound talent pool, wasting no time in battling No. 5-ranked Michael Johnson. The fight delivered […]
Tonight’s (July 7, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 Finale is in the books from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the headliner, former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) champion Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje dove headfirst into the deep UFC 155-pound talent pool, wasting no time in battling No. 5-ranked Michael Johnson. The fight delivered on its substantial promise, delivering perhaps the best fight of the year thus far after “The Highlight” and “The Menace” went to all-out war, with Gaethje winning by vicious second-round stoppage after being rocked twice himself.
Not to be outdone, the co-main event featured a tailor-made redemption story in former disgraced TUF competitor Jesse Taylor meeting TUF 19 finalist Dhiego Lima for a record $250,000 grand prize. Taylor used his vaunted wrestling to submit
The TUF 25 finale’s fighters will appear to answer questions from the media in the post-fight press conference starting shortly after the main card. Watch it streaming live here:
A women’s bantamweight bout has been scrapped from tonight’s (July 7, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 Finale from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the last minute. Jessica Eye’s fight against the debuting Aspen Ladd is off, as ‘Evil’ revealed on her official Instagram page: Fight is off ???????? A post shared by Jessica […]
A women’s bantamweight bout has been scrapped from tonight’s (July 7, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 Finale from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the last minute.
Jessica Eye’s fight against the debuting Aspen Ladd is off, as ‘Evil’ revealed on her official Instagram page:
The UFC confirmed the bout’s calling off, describing the reason as an illness for Ladd that most likely had something to do with cutting weight.
Eye vs. Ladd was supposed to open the FOX Sports 1 preliminary card beginning at 7 p.m. ET, but now Tecia Torres vs. Juliana Lima at women’s strawweight will move up to that prelimnary card from the Fight Pass prelims.
Here is a full updated schedule and lineup for the TUF 25 Finale beginning soon:
Main Card (FOX Sports 1, 9 p.m. ET):
Michael Johnson vs. Justin Gaethje Dhiego Lima vs. Jesse Taylor – “TUF 25” tournament final Marc Diakiese vs. Drakkar Klose Jared Cannonier vs. Nick Roehrick Brad Tavares vs. Elias Theodorou Marcel Fortuna vs. Jordan Johnson
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET):
Angela Hill vs. Ashley Yoder Tom Gallicchio vs. James Krause C.B. Dollaway vs. Ed Herman Juliana Lima vs. Tecia Torres
One of the year’s most anticipated UFC title fights is reportedly off of July 8’s UFC 213. Following a week full of rumors, it appears that bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has been forced out of his match with former champ TJ Dillashaw due to a back injury. “No Love” went to Germany to receive treatment, […]
One of the year’s most anticipated UFC title fights is reportedly off of July 8’s UFC 213.
Following a week full of rumors, it appears that bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has been forced out of his match with former champ TJ Dillashaw due to a back injury.
“No Love” went to Germany to receive treatment, and recently tweeted that he had returned before a Twitter battle with “The Viper” broke out. Speculation was that he could not fight in July, something he seems to have confirmed on his personal Facebook profile (via BJPenn.com). The champ said he still had four weeks of recovery to go before he could even resume training:
“4 more weeks of recovery! Then I can slowly start to train and test it out.”
He was then asked if he could fight at UFC 213, and replied he unfortunately could not make it:
“No I’m not fighting on the 8th. This has been my dream to get to the top and I want to have longevity!”
Unfortunate news for fight fans to say the least, as many have been anticipating the bout after the heated build-up on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25.
Garbrandt then posted on his Instagram account that he had experienced a setback, but Dillashaw would eventually get the “a** whooping” he deserved:
With one of the summer’s hottest fights now apparently off, the UFC will scramble to find another title fight to promote alongside the women’s 135-pound rematch between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko.
UFC President Dana White recently said Conor McGregor would still fight in the UFC this year, and there’s not a time when the promotion needs him more.
There’s been much speculation as to whether or not UFC 213’s anticipated Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw fight will actually take place on the July 8 card from Vegas. The two bitter rivals have been going all-out to bash each other on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25: Redemption, with former champion […]
There’s been much speculation as to whether or not UFC 213’s anticipated Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw fight will actually take place on the July 8 card from Vegas.
The two bitter rivals have been going all-out to bash each other on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25: Redemption, with former champion Dillashaw’s team taking a commanding 5-0 lead.
The chance to settle those differences is in jeopardy although, as “No Love” went to Germany to receive special treatment for a back injury. He did so, and tweeted he was back in the United States yesterday. That’s when an all-out Twitter war with Dillashaw broke out after Garbrandt affirmed Dillashaw would get his:
Garbrandt took it to a new level responding to an article about “The Viper’s” view that he was ‘mentally weak,’ suggesting that Dillashaw had used PEDs during his run as champion and has not not knocked anyone out – or even down – in the year since:
Garbrandt responded by noting the show didn’t matter as much as their eventual match-up:
Just because you are winning a reality show don't get to confident we still will fight that's what matters more than winning a show ???????? https://t.co/s1ymfJ6YZi
Dillashaw then fired back with the insistence that Garbrandt was downplaying the importance of a venture all the fighters on their season of TUF had put their lives into what he called just a ‘reality show’:
I apologize to BOTH teams on Cody's behalf that all the hard work you put in for your careers and families was for a "reality show" #NoClasshttps://t.co/gPPPPnm9rx
So the beef between two of the world’s top bantamweights has been heightened to an all-new level; something it may not have needed in the first place.
But the real question is when the fight will actually take place based on “No Love’s” back issues are legitimately cleared up. With UFC 213 lacking a true main event and the UFC struggling for true top bouts in 2017, the promotion will be looking for one of their rising stars to make it to the octagon on time.
After winning the UFC bantamweight title from 135-pound legend Dominick Cruz in the co-main event of last December’s UFC 207, Cody Garbrandt is headed for a highly-publicized title bout with former champion TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas. Their bad blood comes from their well-documented history as onetime
After winning the UFC bantamweight title from 135-pound legend Dominick Cruz in the co-main event of last December’s UFC 207, Cody Garbrandt is headed for a highly-publicized title bout with former champion TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas.
Their bad blood comes from their well-documented history as onetime teammates at Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male, a camp where Dillashaw became the team’s first UFC champion – and also where Garbrandt reportedly knocked him out in training as a rising prospect. When Dillashaw split the team alongside former TAM head coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig; however, a dividing rift was created and “The Viper” became instant enemies opposite his old training partners and friends.
Photo Credit – Mark J. Rebilas for USA TODAY Sports
With Faber now retired, Garbrandt seems to have taken up the onus of defending Team Alpha Male’s name against a man they feel is a “snake” after he supposedly sold them out to take the higher payday at Colorado’s Elevation Fight Team. Riding high on one of the most impressive performances ever witnessed at 135 when he outclassed Cruz over five rounds, Garbrandt is quickly becoming one of the hottest rising stars in MMA.
But it wasn’t always like that, because while Garbrandt is undefeated in his professional MMA career, he lost two bouts in his amateur career, and one of them came when he was absolutely floored by Jerrell Hodge in the North American Allied Fighting Series (NAAFS) back in early 2012. Watch the shocking KO video right here:
Such a brutal stoppage loss will stick in a fighter’s mind, but while Cruz tried to point to the loss to Hodge as a sign of weakness, Garbrandt was quick to turn that around with his belief that the knockout only served to make him a much better and stronger fighter.
It’s hard to argue with that train of thought, too, as the ultra-exciting “No Love” has reeled off 11 consecutive wins against top competition, including nine by T/KO and seven in the first round. Garbrandt obviously displays knockout power that we’ve rarely if ever seen in the bantamweight division, and his rigorous commitment to training with TAM has paid big dividends for his all-around game during a meteoric rise to prominence as a young and marketable champion.
Photo by Mark J. Rebilas of USA Today Sports
And it couldn’t be at a more opportune time, either, as the UFC currently needs bankable stars arguably more than they ever have in their nearly 24-year history. Dillashaw brings some of the most confusing footwork along with amazing accuracy and an NCAA-level wrestling background, but Garbrandt showed he could easily withstand all the skills of “The Dominator,” who beat Dillashaw, albeit quite narrowly, in their early 2016 meeting.
MMA math rarely adds up, and the bad blood dynamic of this fight will certainly mean that emotions will be running high for both sides. The drama of the TV show has amplified that to a much greater degree as well, especially with Faber present as one of Garbrandt’s coaches.
Dillashaw will bring a unique challenge, that much is true, but it’s also one Garbrandt has seen before. So while the champ has been brutally knocked out before, he’s shown he has rebounded to become one the fast-rising stars in all of MMA.
