Tag: UFC 139

UFC 139 Results: All the Wars Haven’t Caught Up to Wanderlei Silva Yet

For all the Wanderlei Silva fans out there, UFC 139 rekindled a last great hope: all those wars might not have caught up with The Axe Murderer just yet. With his back against the wall and a daunting task at hand, that of a guaranteed brawl against form…

For all the Wanderlei Silva fans out there, UFC 139 rekindled a last great hope: all those wars might not have caught up with The Axe Murderer just yet.

With his back against the wall and a daunting task at hand, that of a guaranteed brawl against former Strikeforce standout Cung Le, Silva came out measured but still swinging and won in vintage fashion to keep the wolves from his door for another day.

But it was the way that Wandy beat Le that has to give people that hope. At a time when most people would tell you that he’s chinny and should be retired, Silva ate the best that Le could offer—a barrage of spinning back fists, wheel kicks, and general wackiness—and he came back to win by knockout.

While UFC commentator Joe Rogan didn’t like the stoppage, there’s no doubt it was justified. Silva had Le badly hurt and was dropping hammer fists while Le laid motionless and feebly attempted a single leg. That image, of Le face-down with Silva securing a win, became instantly timeless for fans of the Brazilian.

It’s been a long time since fans got to watch Silva take a guy’s best and come back to win. His last win, over Michael Bisping, was a clinical performance and showed a side of Silva not often seen, but Bisping didn’t threaten him much. Before that, he beat Keith Jardine, but Jardine never really got off in the fight.

At UFC 139 Cung Le threw his best, hit a lot of it and couldn’t stop Wanderlei Silva.

What this means for the lovable warrior is unknown at this point. It doesn’t get him in contention, maybe doesn’t even put him in the top-10, but for a guy that many thought was one punch away from retirement coming into tonight, it’s really two wins in one.

And for his fans, knowing that he might still have some miles on that chin after all the years of going to war, it’s a pretty big win as well.

Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 139. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the November 19 fight card, from pre-fight predictions to in-fight coverage, results and post-fight analysis.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 139 Results: What We Learned from Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le

Former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva picked up one of his biggest victories in recent memory after defeating former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le in the co-main event of UFC 139.Silva was dropped in the first round but survived and ca…

Former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva picked up one of his biggest victories in recent memory after defeating former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le in the co-main event of UFC 139.

Silva was dropped in the first round but survived and came back to finish Le with a barrage of punches and knees in the second. The stoppage came just seconds before the end of the round.

 

What We’ll Remember about This Fight:

With Silva having gone 2-7 in his last nine fights before this fight, it was good for newer mixed martial arts fans to see him get a much-needed victory over an exciting opponent like Le.

The former Sanshou champion didn’t get to have the Octagon debut he would have liked, but there’s always tomorrow, and he may look twice as good in his next fight. He had his moments in this fight, but Silva was able to overcome the adversity and get the stoppage in a memorable performance.

 

What We Learned from Silva:

Silva showed that he still has what it takes to stay in there with a dangerous striker and not get knocked out by the first punch that lands clean. His 36-second knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 136 will be forgotten after this performance, and he saved his career from coming to a crashing halt with the win.

What We Learned from Le:

Le showed some good things in the fight, and it was similar to his first fight with Scott Smith. He was having success early on with his dynamic striking, but his cardio ultimately began to fail until he was stopped. He won’t ever be a champion, but he will be able to fight and compete with the top 10 fighters and contenders in the division.

 

What’s Next for Silva:

The UFC needs to do whatever they can to get Silva on the February card in Japan. A possible opponent for him could be Alan Belcher, who recently came back after an extensive layoff to defeat Jason MacDonald.

 

What’s Next for Le:

Le will have to make a choice of whether nor not he still wants to fight. He vacated the Strikeforce title and never had intentions of defending it. He also took part in several movie roles over the past two years, which may have cost him the training necessary to compete at the highest level in MMA.

 

Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 139. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the November 19 fight card, from pre-fight predictions to in-fight coverage, results and post-fight analysis.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Dana White Wouldn’t Have Wanted Dan Henderson-‘Shogun’ Rua Fight on FOX

Filed under: UFCSAN JOSE, Calif. — Five rounds of bloody, back-and-forth action. That’s what UFC president Dana White got out of Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139, and what he must have hoped he would get out of Junior dos Santos and …

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Five rounds of bloody, back-and-forth action. That’s what UFC president Dana White got out of Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139, and what he must have hoped he would get out of Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez for the UFC’s FOX debut last weekend, right?

Not so fast, said White, who admitted that while the 64-second heavyweight scrap on FOX didn’t offer much chance to build up the ratings, a brutal 25-minute fight like the UFC 139 main event would have had some negative consequences for the organization’s network debut.

“If you could have like a [Rua-Henderson] type fight on TV, I mean, imagine what the [ratings] number would get to,” White said. “But that’s not the fight you want for your first time on network television.”

With a peak of 8.8 million viewers, White has reason to be pleased with the first FOX offering. Following the UFC 139 press conference he confirmed rumors that he celebrated the ratings milestone by leaping up on a table in the UFC offices and sending all his employees home early.

“I hear all kinds of rumors about, oh, I heard he was flipping out after the fight and all this [expletive],” White said. “No, I wasn’t flipping out and yes, I did jump on a table and send everybody home. I was pretty excited.”

But as much as hardcore fans might have liked to see something on par with the Henderson-Rua scrap on network TV, White suggested it might have been too violent for mainstream FOX viewers to handle right off the bat.

“I said it before and I’ll say it again: if I could go back in a time machine and do the FOX fight over again, it would be done the same exact way. Exactly the same way. The hardcores can bitch about that fight, I could care less what they think about that fight. I don’t care. And people are like, ‘Oh, you don’t care what the fans think?’ No, I do not care what you think. That fight had to go the way that it went because none of you guys understands what goes on behind the scenes. If that fight that happened tonight went on FOX for the first time ever, let me tell you what, I would not be having a good time these last five or six days.”

That’s because, White said, the UFC is “still in the education process” when it comes to introducing mainstream sports fans to his product. Even with the quick, bloodless debut, White said there were still opponents who didn’t want it on network TV.

“These people come out of nowhere, attacking this sport, literally saying that it should go away, that we shut down the UFC and this thing should go away,” said White. “That’s realistic. But those are the kind of people that come after you. It’s crazy.”

But as White has been repeating ever since the FOX debut, the UFC still needs to “ease into” the mainstream rather than charging in with a bloody battle like Henderson-Rua, which might be hard for the uninitiated viewer to stomach. Just don’t expect that easing process to last very long, according to the UFC president.

“In my opinion, we eased into it already. We did it, we put the first fight on FOX, now we’re going with four fights. And the more fights you do, the more chance you have to have one of these.”

In theory, maybe. In practice, you could put on MMA fights for years and not see anything like what Hendo and Rua produced on Saturday night. That’s what makes it so special, whether the mainstream viewer is ready for it or not.

 

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UFC 139 Results: Urijah Faber Earns Title Shot by Choking out Brian Bowles

Former WEC title holders Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles battled for the next shot at current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz.  Both fighters have lost to Cruz in the past. Faber, the former featherweight champ, went five round with Cruz in July bu…

Former WEC title holders Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles battled for the next shot at current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz.  Both fighters have lost to Cruz in the past.

Faber, the former featherweight champ, went five round with Cruz in July but ultimately fell short.  A win over Bowles would give “The California Kid” another crack at UFC gold.

For Bowles, the fight is an opportunity to regain the momentum he lost in losing to Cruz.  Bowles was forced to retire from the bout with a broken hand.  The Georgia-based fighter hoped to make it three straight wins against Faber.

Faber landed the first significant strike, a right leg kick.  Faber ducked under a right hand from Bowles and flurried.  Bowles landed a right hand, but Faber seemed unfazed.  Faber landed an uppercut.  Bowles connected with a kick to the body.  Faber delivered a barrage of punches and Bowles returned it.  Faber landed to the body.  Faber muscled Bowles against the cage, but ate a knee in the process.  Faber scored with a takedown, but Bowles threatened with a guillotine.  Faber looked to posture up from inside the guard of Bowles.  Bowles delivered upkicks as the round closed.

Bowles flurried to start the middle stanza.  And uppercut and knee from Faber sent Bowles crashing to the mat.  Bowles survived and tried to return to his feet.  Faber threatened with a guillotine.  Faber dropped an elbow and then latched onto a guillotine that forced Bowles to tap.

With the win, Faber earns a third fight against champion Dominick Cruz.  Talking with Joe Rogan, Faber declared, “Dominick, you can run, but you can’t hide.”  Faber expressed how tough Bowles was, but he wanted to showcase his hands.

Official Result: Urijah Faber def. Brian Bowles by submission (guillotine choke). Round 2, 1:27

Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 139. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the Nov. 19 fight card, from pre-fight predictions to in-fight coverage, results and post-fight analysis.

Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com.  For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.

Dana White Considers UFC 139 Main Event One of Top 3 Greatest Fights in MMA History

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Watch below as UFC president Dana White looks back Saturday night’s instant classic between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua, plus talks about what’s next for them, the Cung Le vs. Wanderlei Silva fight, what’s next for Urijah Faber and more.

 

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Watch below as UFC president Dana White looks back Saturday night’s instant classic between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua, plus talks about what’s next for them, the Cung Le vs. Wanderlei Silva fight, what’s next for Urijah Faber and more.

 

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Urijah Faber Pushes for Opportunity to Coach Opposite Dominick Cruz on TUF 15

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Watch below as Urijah Faber discusses his big win over Brian Bowles at UFC 139, fighting Dominick Cruz next and why he thinks it would be a good idea to coach TUF opposite his long-time rival.

 

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Watch below as Urijah Faber discusses his big win over Brian Bowles at UFC 139, fighting Dominick Cruz next and why he thinks it would be a good idea to coach TUF opposite his long-time rival.

 

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