File this one under “least surprising info of the day.” Following back-to-back losses to Brian Stann and Demian Maia at UFC 130 and 136, repectively, word has it that Jorge Santiago has been released by the UFC for the second time. The American Top Team standout’s original run took place back in 2006, where he scored a quick knockout over the now deceased Justin Levens before ending up on the highlight reels of Chris Leben and Alan Belcher for all eternity.
File this one under “least surprising info of the day.” Following back-to-back losses to Brian Stann and Demian Maia at UFC 130 and 136, repectively, word has it that Jorge Santiago has been released by the UFC for the second time. The American Top Team standout’s original run took place back in 2006, where he scored a quick knockout over the now deceased Justin Levens before ending up on the highlight reels of Chris Leben and Alan Belcher for all eternity.
“The Sandman” was given another shot at the big time at UFC 130, where he was put to bed by Brian Stann in a Fight of the Night effort. At UFC 136 Santiago found himself grounded en route to a unanimous decision loss to Demian Maia and subsequently given the boot, which we warned him would happen. Santiago will likely be headed back to Japan, where he should consider changing his nickname to “Godzilla” because the man is scary as hell, until he comes to America.
Just think of the captions that a lesser journalist would come up with. Seriously, just think it this time.
You had to see this one coming. Three weeks out from his unanimous decision defeat to Tim Boetsch at UFC 130, the UFC has decided to part ways with TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove. After defeating Ed Herman to win The Ultimate Fighter 3 back in 2006, Grove has gone 6-6 in the UFC, including losses to Patrick Cote, Mark Munoz and Demian Maia. Aside from Ed Herman, the only fighter that Kendall Grove holds a win over who is still fighting in the UFC is Alan Belcher, who he defeated by D’Arce choke back at UFC 69 in April of 2007.
Just think of the captions that a lesser journalist would come up with. Seriously, just think it this time.
You had to see this one coming. Three weeks out from his unanimous decision defeat to Tim Boetsch at UFC 130, the UFC has decided to part ways with TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove. After defeating Ed Herman to win The Ultimate Fighter 3 back in 2006, Grove has gone 6-6 in the UFC, including losses to Patrick Cote, Mark Munoz and Demian Maia. Aside from Ed Herman, the only fighter that Kendall Grove holds a win over who is still fighting in the UFC is Alan Belcher, who he defeated by D’Arce choke back at UFC 69 in April of 2007.
Kendall Grove is the third winner of The Ultimate Fighter to get fired by the UFC, joining the likes of Travis Lutter and Efrain Escudero. Interestingly enough, Grove is the first TUF winner to be released from the UFC simply due to poor performance. Escudero was released by the UFC after missing weight by four pounds before his loss to Charles Oliveira. Meanwhile, Travis Lutter was released by the UFC after, well…being Travis Lutter. Not to mention any names, but somefighters should take this firing as a wakeup call: Winning The Ultimate Fighter does not guarantee job security.
Three weeks after dropping his second straight fight, Kendall Grove has been released by the UFC.
The Season 3 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” broke the news on his Facebook page. Grove suffered a unanimous decision loss to Tim Boetsch at UFC 130 last month. Before that, he dropped a decision to Demian Maia at the TUF 12 Finale in December.
He becomes the third TUF winner to be cut by the promotion. Season 8 winner Efrain Escudero and Season 4 winner Travis Lutter also were released by the organization.
Grove (12-9, 1 NC, 7-6 UFC), from Hawaii, has fallen into a rough stretch in the UFC’s middleweight division the last year, dropping three of his last four fights. His only win was a split decision over Goran Reljic at UFC 116 last July. He did, however, have a Fight of the Night performance in a loss to Mark Munoz at UFC 112.
Grove has not won consecutive fights since a split decision over the late Evan Tanner at the TUF 7 Finale in June 2008 and a TKO of Jason Day at UFC 96 in March 2009.
After winning TUF 3 with a unanimous decision victory over Ed Herman in June 2006, Grove won his next two UFC fights. But since that three-fight UFC winning streak, he has been up and down, going 4-6.
Now that we’re halfway through a six-week stretch featuring a UFC or Strikeforce event every weekend, it might be time to take a deep breath, drag out a semi-retired recurring feature, and assign some totally meaningless scores to some of the notable trends and fighters we’ve seen lately. Who’s up, who’s down, and by how much? Well…
The UFC heavyweight division+113
Some have already labeled Shane Carwin’s loss at UFC 131 the “end of an era” for gargantuan heavyweights. (Didn’t last long, did it?) At the top of the division, we’re left with two guys who are smaller, faster, and better-conditioned than their predecessors; Velasquez vs. Dos Santos could be an all-time classic. Meanwhile, prospects like Travis Browne and Dave Herman continue to add depth at 265.
Cageside monitors-98
Nope, the judging in this sport still sucks, and the problem doesn’t appear to be technological. When you have shit for brains, every angle is a bad angle.
Now that we’re halfway through a six-week stretch featuring a UFC or Strikeforce event every weekend, it might be time to take a deep breath, drag out a semi-retired recurring feature, and assign some totally meaningless scores to some of the notable trends and fighters we’ve seen lately. Who’s up, who’s down, and by how much? Well…
The UFC heavyweight division+113
Some have already labeled Shane Carwin’s loss at UFC 131 the “end of an era” for gargantuan heavyweights. (Didn’t last long, did it?) At the top of the division, we’re left with two guys who are smaller, faster, and better-conditioned than their predecessors; Velasquez vs. Dos Santos could be an all-time classic. Meanwhile, prospects like Travis Browne and Dave Herman continue to add depth at 265.
Cageside monitors-98
Nope, the judging in this sport still sucks, and the problem doesn’t appear to be technological. When you have shit for brains, every angle is a bad angle.
Demian Maia-184
Ugh. Bro, nobody wants to see you kickbox your way to another decision. Submitting people used to be Demian’s gimmick — and it was a great one. But he hasn’t been able to do that since UFC events were still numbered in the double-digits. Maia is officially a stepping stone in the middleweight division, and it’s a shame to see it.
Sam Stout+250
Meanwhile, Hands of Stone scored the first stoppage victory of his five-year, 11-fight UFC career at “Dos Santos vs. Carwin,” snapped a seven-fight decision streak in the process, and gobbled up his sixth performance bonus, like a boss.
Meaningless rumors-322
That’s the last time you fool us, Internet. THE LAST TIME.
Michihiro Omigawa-62
Yeah, he got his win bonus, but officially he’s 0-4 in the Octagon now. You know who else went 0-4 in the Octagon? Tiki Ghosn. You’re in good company, Michi.
The Ultimate Fighter+138
Season 13 might have been a drag, but with the booking of Bisping vs. Mayhem in the coaching slots and the debut of bantamweights and featherweights on the show, we’ll actually have a reason to watch this thing again.
Trying to win a fight off your back-241
Miguel Torres couldn’t do it against Demetrious Johnson, and Anthony Pettis couldn’t do it against Clay Guida. Top-game rules in this sport. Resistance is futile.
Joe Rogan+300/-300
…depending on your feelings about the word “cunty.”
Quinton Jackson+276
Beats up Matt Hamill, earns a title shot, and mock-motorboats Karyn Bryant without getting pepper-sprayed. Alpha.
Brian Stann+437
An American hero who’s now a legit threat at middleweight. Stann TKO’d former Top-10 fighter Jorge Santiago on Memorial Day, picking up his second Fight of the Night bonus in his last three fights.
Guys who get ranked in the Top 10 by dominating local talent in Japan, then get squashed the first time they fight in (or return to) the Octagon-602
See above.
Heavyweight Roy Nelson says he might reconsider his stance on fighting under unfavorable conditions.
Nelson, who has received criticism for his UFC 130 loss to Frank Mir two weeks ago, was aware he was sick going into his May 28 fight against Mir and was later diagnosed with walking pneumonia after the fight. However, he didn’t want to withdraw from the fight and lose out on a payday as well as having to sit out another few months waiting for another fight.
“I knew i wasn’t 100 percent, but the fight still has to go on,” Nelson said Monday on The MMA Hour. “The show still has to go on cause we are still entertainment.”
Walking pneumonia is a milder form of pneumonia, an infection of the lung, and while it generally does not require hospitalization, some of the symptoms are sore throat, headache and loss of energy.
Nelson said he lost energy within the first minute and compared the way he felt during the Mir fight with how Shane Carwin infamously fell apart in his championship bout against Brock Lesnar in July 2010. Nelson had not been that fatigued in a fight since his first career loss against at a BodogFight event in December 2006 in St. Petersburg, Russia — a fight he also entered with an illness.
Shortly after the fight, UFC president Dana White was critical of Nelson’s performance and met with Nelson to say, “The fat thing was funny for a minute. It’s not funny anymore.”
No stranger to criticism of his physique throughout his career, Nelson told White the same thing he’s been telling everyone else, that he’s fought in this shape his entire career.
When asked about the meeting on The MMA Hour, Nelson danced around the question, joking he and White had a casual get together to discuss movies and what’s good to eat around the UFC offices.
Nutritionist Mike Dolce has also reached out to help Nelson, but Nelson says he will instead consult with partners in his gym, including guidance for bulking up from multiple-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler.
Nelson considers his poor conditioning in the Mir fight an isolated incident and one he hopefully won’t repeat in the future. Nelson points to recent instances where elite athletes in the sport such as Lesnar and Jon Jones who have withdrawn from a fight rather than fight injured or sick.
After all, a loss will stay on his record and hurt his ranking within the organization.
“I need to be more business savvy, as Rashad [Evans]’ would say, ‘I have a brand to worry about,” Nelson said, who fell to 15-6 in his recent loss.
That’s something he’ll likely have to remind himself if he’s ever in a situation again where he won’t be able to perform to the best of his abilities.
Nelson says, “The one thing that always sucks about me is that I’m just a fighter and I just love to fight.”
How about that picture? If that doesn’t tell you I am moving up in the world then I don’t know what does! The Hot Seat is back and this time we will focus on UFC 131: Carwin vs. Dos Santos which will take place this Saturday night from Vancouver.
Dos S…
How about that picture? If that doesn’t tell you I am moving up in the world then I don’t know what does! The Hot Seat is back and this time we will focus on UFC 131: Carwin vs. Dos Santos which will take place this Saturday night from Vancouver.
Dos Santos was originally scheduled to face former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar with the winner getting the next shot at current champion Cain Velasquez, but Lesnar was once again felled by diverticulitis and forced to withdraw from the bout.
So in steps the returning Shane Carwin, the former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion who himself is coming back from neck surgery. Carwin was scheduled to take on UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo, but jumped at the opportunity to participate in a number one contenders bout.
I recently had an opportunity to interview Carwin and he is as focused as ever and ready to move one step closer to winning the heavyweight title. He is very confident and for good reason, he hits like a mack truck. He is one of the sports truly good guys and deserves all the success he attains.
Three weeks after dropping his second straight fight, 
Heavyweight