After coming out of his UFC 180 win over Jake Ellenberger no worse for the wear, TUF 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum will be given next to no time off before receiving a(nother) huge step up in competition.
UFC officials announced earlier this evening that Gastelum has been booked to take on top welterweight contender Tyron Woodley at UFC 183: Diaz vs. Silva. As was the case with his bout against Elenberger, the fight will receive co-main event status.
Gatelum’s first round submission over Ellenberger last weekend improved his professional record to a perfect 10-0, while the 14-3 Woodley recently rebounded from a one-sided beatdown at the hands of Rory MacDonald with a first round starching of Dong Hyun Kim at Fight Night 48.
Gastelum is easily the greatest prospect to come out of The Ultimate Fighter since the early seasons, but does anyone think he can handle a legitimate top 3 opponent like Woodley? Give us a shout in the comments section.
After coming out of his UFC 180 win over Jake Ellenberger no worse for the wear, TUF 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum will be given next to no time off before receiving a(nother) huge step up in competition.
UFC officials announced earlier this evening that Gastelum has been booked to take on top welterweight contender Tyron Woodley at UFC 183: Diaz vs. Silva. As was the case with his bout against Elenberger, the fight will receive co-main event status.
Gatelum’s first round submission over Ellenberger last weekend improved his professional record to a perfect 10-0, while the 14-3 Woodley recently rebounded from a one-sided beatdown at the hands of Rory MacDonald with a first round starching of Dong Hyun Kim at Fight Night 48.
Gastelum is easily the greatest prospect to come out of The Ultimate Fighter since the early seasons, but does anyone think he can handle a legitimate top 3 opponent like Woodley? Give us a shout in the comments section.
(The same can be said about their understanding of the English language, it appears.)
You guys, I don’t want to instigate anything, but it sounds like Tyron Woodley *might* just be ducking Hector Lombard.
On the heels of a first round TKO of Dong Hyun Kim, Woodley has quickly rebounded from the three round drubbing he suffered at the hands of Rory MacDonald in June, and is in a prime position to receive another highly-ranked opponent. Enter Hector Lombard, currently ranked #6 (if UFC rankings are your thing) and riding back-to-back wins over Nate Marquardt and Jake Shields since dropping to welterweight. A fight with the #3 ranked Woodley makes sense for both men given their current trajectories, but Woodley isn’t having any part of it.
As things of this nature usually are, word of Woodley’s hesitance was first made public by Dana White during the UFC 177 media scrum:
I called Woodley and said, ‘Here’s what your teammate just said, and he wants this fight bad.’ And he said, ‘He can say whatever he wants, he’s about him and he’s always been about him. This fight doesn’t work for me and my brand.’ He started telling me all the reasons why he doesn’t want this fight and I just said, ‘Whatever kid, whatever.’ He wants nothing to do with Hector. Hector wants this fight, Woodley does not.
It’s not good for his brand? Is Woodley even aware that Lombard is the king of rebranding? That’s “Shower There” Lombard you’re talking about, so show some goddamn respect!
(The same can be said about their understanding of the English language, it appears.)
You guys, I don’t want to instigate anything, but it sounds like Tyron Woodley *might* just be ducking Hector Lombard.
On the heels of a first round TKO of Dong Hyun Kim, Woodley has quickly rebounded from the three round drubbing he suffered at the hands of Rory MacDonald in June, and is in a prime position to receive another highly-ranked opponent. Enter Hector Lombard, currently ranked #6 (if UFC rankings are your thing) and riding back-to-back wins over Nate Marquardt and Jake Shields since dropping to welterweight. A fight with the #3 ranked Woodley makes sense for both men given their current trajectories, but Woodley isn’t having any part of it.
As things of this nature usually are, word of Woodley’s hesitance was first made public by Dana White during the UFC 177 media scrum:
I called Woodley and said, ‘Here’s what your teammate just said, and he wants this fight bad.’ And he said, ‘He can say whatever he wants, he’s about him and he’s always been about him. This fight doesn’t work for me and my brand.’ He started telling me all the reasons why he doesn’t want this fight and I just said, ‘Whatever kid, whatever.’ He wants nothing to do with Hector. Hector wants this fight, Woodley does not.
It’s not good for his brand? Is Woodley even aware that Lombard is the king of rebranding? That’s “Shower There” Lombard you’re talking about, so show some goddamn respect!
Woodley expounded upon his decision to turn down a possible fight with Lombard while on Inside MMA.
I always like to do the fights that make the most sense. Especially from American Top Team, my goal is to be the No. 1 guy, the world champion. It is a goal for my team to be No. 1. I’m an avid believer of ‘no strap, no scrap,’ so if there is not a world title on the line I’m not open to fight guys from ATT.
Okay, so Woodley doesn’t want to fight a teammate/friend. I can respect that. I fundamentally disagree with any fighter who claims to “want to be the best” while refusing to fight a teammate, but I can understand where Woodley’s coming from I suppose. American Top Team is a tightly run ship, so I hear, so surely Lombard feels the same way, right?
We’re not friends. He just comes to use the gym. He doesn’t even live here. It’s not a difficult decision at all.
That doesn’t make sense anyway. I’m going to make him be the next Dana White. Is that fair? I don’t think that’s fair at all. You’ve got to do what the company wants you to do. I understand that once you get injured, there’s no way you can fight. Whoever you have to fight, you have to fight. Period.
I’ll be more than ready, and I’ll say again: We ain’t friends.
Ah, so they’re not friends, and Hector doesn’t even consider Woodley a true member of ATT. Looks like Woodley needs to purchase a copy of He’s Just Not That Into You, amiright ladies?
It’s hard to fault Woodley for his loyalty to his team, even when a supposed teammate has stated an outright desire to fight him, but on the other hand, “The Chosen One” isn’t exactly in the position to start picking and choosing the terms of his fight, and certainly not when it’s calling for a title shot. Even champions oft have little say over who they will fight next (especially if they fight at under 170 lbs), so Woodley’s refusal to fight Lombard and wait it out is presumptuous to say the least.
Considering that Dana White has already labeled Tyron as a guy who “chokes in big fights” (whether it’s true or otherwise), I don’t think it would be good for Woodley’s “brand” if “unwilling to fight” was added to that list.
Cung Le just fought Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 48 in Macau, though it looks like he just dived into the business end of a wood chipper face-first.
Le performed great for a 42-year-old, but ultimately succumbed to a knee and follow-up punches from Bisping (read a full re-cap here). The TKO wasn’t the most shocking part of the fight, however. No, that was Le’s mangled face–specifically his right eye.
You can use “hamburger meat” or whatever term you’d like. We prefer to think of it as the real-life version of Oberyn Martell’s face at the end of his duel with Ser Gregor Clegane. Take a look after the jump:
(The before shot. / Photo via Getty)
Cung Le just fought Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 48 in Macau, though it looks like he just dived into the business end of a wood chipper face-first.
Le performed great for a 42-year-old, but ultimately succumbed to a knee and follow-up punches from Bisping (read a full re-cap here). The TKO wasn’t the most shocking part of the fight, however. No, that was Le’s mangled face–specifically his right eye.
You can use “hamburger meat” or whatever term you’d like. We prefer to think of it as the real-life version of Oberyn Martell’s face at the end of his duel with Ser Gregor Clegane. Take a look:
Is this the worst post-fight face we’ve ever seen? Maybe not the WORST but it’s certainly the worst in 2014 so far. Be sure to get lots of ice, Cung Le! We hope the scars won’t ruin your acting career.
By the way, other fights happened on the card too. Here are the results:
MAIN CARD
Michael Bisping def. Cung Le via TKO (punches and knee) at 0:57 of round 4
Tyron Woodley def. Dong Hyun Kim via TKO (punches) at 1:01 of round 1
Zhang Lipeng def. Brendan O’Reilly via unanimous dec. (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Ning Guangyou def. Jianping Yang via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3) and winner of TUF China.
PRELIMINARY CARD
Wang Sai def. Danny Mitchell via Unanimous Dec. (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Alberto Mina def. Shinsho Anzai via TKO (hammer fists) at 4:17 of round 1.
Yuta Sasaki def. Roland Delorme via submission (RNC) at 1:06 of round 1
Colby Covington def. Wang Anying via TKO (punches) at 4:50 of round 1.
Royston Wee def. Yao Zhikui via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Milana Dudieva def. Elizabeth Phillips via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
UFC Fight Night 48 is underway at the CotaiArena in Macau, featuring Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le in the main event, Tyron Woodley vs. Dong Hyun Kim in the co-headliner, and a bunch of non-wiki randoms making up the rest of the card. You don’t care about those guys and neither do we. Fortunately, our Fight Pass correspondent Barry “Bear” Siragusa is going to liveblog the top two fights starting around 10 a.m. ET, and plug in results for the rest. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let us know how you feel in the comments or on twitter @cagepotatomma.
UFC Fight Night 48 is underway at the CotaiArena in Macau, featuring Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le in the main event, Tyron Woodley vs. Dong Hyun Kim in the co-headliner, and a bunch of non-wiki randoms making up the rest of the card. You don’t care about those guys and neither do we. Fortunately, our Fight Pass correspondent Barry “Bear” Siragusa is going to liveblog the top two fights starting around 10 a.m. ET, and plug in results for the rest. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let us know how you feel in the comments or on twitter @cagepotatomma.
MAIN CARD RESULTS THAT WE DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT
Zhang Lipeng vs. Brendan O’Reilly
Ning Guangyou vs. Jianping Yang
PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
Wang Sai def. Danny Mitchell via Unanimous Dec. (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Alberto Mina def. Shinsho Anzai via TKO (hammer fists) at 4:17 of round 1.
Yuta Sasaki def. Roland Delorme via submission (RNC) at 1:06 of round 1
Colby Covington def. Wang Anying via TKO (punches) at 4:50 of round 1.
Royston Wee def. Yao Zhikui via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Milana Dudieva def. Elizabeth Phillips via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
P.S. Before you start filling my inbox with death threats. To be clear, it’s not a submission unless someone taps. Wang Anying did not tap to strikes. Give the dude some credit. It was a TKO.
Hi CP people. Bear the zombie here. I’ll be doing this live because I have a new born in the house and, lets face it, I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. You lucky bastards will be sleeping and reading this later. Enjoy your coffee, close your robe for gods sake, and let’s do this.
Well, we have been party to some of the worst judging in the history of MMA. Pearson vs. Sanchez quality stuff.
First up (that we care about):
Tyron Woodley vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Tyron Woodley: (16-3 MMA) Is the current #3 ranked Welterweight in the world. He recently dropped a #1 contender fight to Rory MacDonald at UFC 174. Wanting to get back in the saddle quickly he replaced an injured Hector “Showeather” (yes, seriously) Lombard in Macao against Dong Hyun Kim. Sponsored by Dude Wipes… Just so that is said.
Dong Hyun Kim (19-2 MMA) Is currently the #9 ranked Welterweight in the world. On a four fight win streak. He has notable wins over Nate Diaz, Matt Brown, TJ Grant and Erick Silva.
It has been nearly two weeks since Michael Brown was shot dead by Ferguson, Missouri police, and the general public still knows next to nothing about the circumstances surrounding his death. No police report has been released, journalists have been detained, and clashes between police and protesters continue to erupt as the eyes of the world look on. Making things all the worse is the fact that some members of the community, whether out of outrage or plain selfishness, have taken to looting and destroying local stores in a misguided response to the overbearing incompetence being displayed by their police force.
The chaos in Missouri has weighed especially heavy on welterweight contender Tyron Woodley, a Ferguson native who has been forced to watch the destruction of his hometown from afar while preparing for his co-main event matchup against Dong Hyun Kim at this weekend’s Fight Night 48: Bisping vs. Le card in Macau. In an attempt to keep the distractions at a minimum, Woodley’s coach has banned him from accessing social media of any kind. Still, the turmoil is all too real for Woodley, who compared Ferguson to Iraq when speaking with FoxSports:
Woodley was in town last week and drove through his neighborhood one morning after an ugly night of unrest. He couldn’t believe what he saw: auto-parts stores, Walmarts, meat markets and beauty salons, all torn apart by looting.
“If I put this video on the Internet, you wouldn’t even believe it,” Woodley said. “It’s so horrible.
“It’s almost like they’re at war. It’s like Iraq. … The best thing I can do from this far away is support the positive. There’s nothing wrong with protesting, to peacefully assemble, but also be sure it’s peaceful.”
(Photo via Getty.)
It has been nearly two weeks since Michael Brown was shot dead by Ferguson, Missouri police, and the general public still knows next to nothing about the circumstances surrounding his death. No police report has been released, journalists have been detained, and clashes between police and protesters continue to erupt as the eyes of the world look on. Making things all the worse is the fact that some members of the community, whether out of outrage or plain selfishness, have taken to looting and destroying local stores in a misguided response to the overbearing incompetence being displayed by their police force.
The chaos in Missouri has weighed especially heavy on welterweight contender Tyron Woodley, a Ferguson native who has been forced to watch the destruction of his hometown from afar while preparing for his co-main event matchup against Dong Hyun Kim at this weekend’s Fight Night 48: Bisping vs. Le card in Macau. In an attempt to keep the distractions at a minimum, Woodley’s coach has banned him from accessing social media of any kind. Still, the turmoil is all too real for Woodley, who compared Ferguson to Iraq when speaking with FoxSports:
Woodley was in town last week and drove through his neighborhood one morning after an ugly night of unrest. He couldn’t believe what he saw: auto-parts stores, Walmarts, meat markets and beauty salons, all torn apart by looting.
“If I put this video on the Internet, you wouldn’t even believe it,” Woodley said. “It’s so horrible.
“It’s almost like they’re at war. It’s like Iraq. … The best thing I can do from this far away is support the positive. There’s nothing wrong with protesting, to peacefully assemble, but also be sure it’s peaceful.”
Days out from one of the biggest fights of his career, Woodley knows that there is little he can do to help the neighbors, friends, and family members involved in the protests. Rather than devote too much of his attention to the plight of his hometown and risk losing focus on Kim in doing so, Woodley says that all he can do is try to serve as a role model to the people of Ferguson in these unstable times:
The best thing I can do for my city this far away is go out and show that someone who’s from that environment is doing something with their life — has a college education, is a pro athlete, a stunt actor, a gym owner, an entrepreneur. I am all of those things, and I’m from Ferguson.
There’s no denying that the events transpiring in Ferguson have reached far beyond the city’s limits, which hasn’t exactly made it easy for Woodley to avoid reading up on the situation. As he told BloodyElbow:
I was all in to it, reading and following up. A lot of the people involved were people I’ve seen, are in my high school, my friends, or family members. I went to that gas station many times to fill up and my house is literally two minutes from there, so it hits very near at home.
Our world in general is pretty f-ed up right now, but you have to be able to put that away and be focused thinking of the task at hand.”
(What the hell? Why does Dana White look small next to a welterweight? I thought he was 7’4″, 560 pounds, and able to transform into a monster truck at will?? / Photo via Dana’s Instagram)
Coming in to replace Lombard will be Tyron Woodley, who now has a chance to redeem himself after stinkin’ up the joint at UFC 174, where he spent three rounds being outboxed and clowned by Rory MacDonald. To put it another way, Woodley is doing his required penance on Fight Pass, but an impressive victory against DHK could put him back in the mix. Any predictions for this one?
(What the hell? Why does Dana White look small next to a welterweight? I thought he was 7’4″, 560 pounds, and able to transform into a monster truck at will?? / Photo via Dana’s Instagram)
Coming in to replace Lombard will be Tyron Woodley, who now has a chance to redeem himself after stinkin’ up the joint at UFC 174, where he spent three rounds being outboxed and clowned by Rory MacDonald. To put it another way, Woodley is doing his required penance on Fight Pass, but an impressive victory against DHK could put him back in the mix. Any predictions for this one?
