Tag: UFC 139

UFC 139 Rua vs. Henderson: No Rematch Is Needed When Both Men Are Winners

Some have Dan Henderson as the winner. Others say Rua should have gotten the nod. The majority of fans and pundits say the fight was a draw. They saw Henderson winning rounds 1-3 and Rua capturing the last two rounds, with round five a dominant 10-8 sc…

Some have Dan Henderson as the winner. Others say Rua should have gotten the nod. The majority of fans and pundits say the fight was a draw. They saw Henderson winning rounds 1-3 and Rua capturing the last two rounds, with round five a dominant 10-8 score for the former UFC light heavyweight champion.

Before we get into who is wrong or who is right, let me begin by saying that this fight couldn’t have happened at a better time in both men’s careers.

At 41 years young, it seems as though Henderson has developed a strong second wind on a career that is already headed to the Hall of Fame. He has won his past four fights against pretty tough competition and looked good doing so.

Shogun seems to have bounced back from a devastating loss to current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones as well as some debilitating knee injuries that threatened to derail his once-mighty career. While his win over an uninspired Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 in Brazil was less than impressive, his performance against Henderson this past Saturday night clearly showed he still has the skill and more importantly the heart to remain competitive.

Getting back to the scoring of Saturday night’s main event: To be honest with you, it could have gone any of the three ways described above, and no one would be worse for wear. What both men did inside that Octagon is the stuff legends are made of and will never be forgotten by mixed martial arts fans as long as the sport is around. Henderson and Rua not only are supremely talented athletes, but are truly men motivated to put on performances like the one they put on at UFC 139.

If I was a trainer and had an up-and-coming fighter who was maybe lacking that something that wasn’t physical—whether it was his heart that was in question, or maybe the intestinal fortitude that is so very necessary to have in such a grueling sport—I would sit him down and make him watch Henderson-Rua over and over again.

This fight was more about heart and a will to win than it was about sheer physical talent. A fighter could have all the quickness, strength and athletic ability in the world, but without heart they have nothing.

Rua should walk away from this fight feeling as much a winner as Henderson. Maybe Henderson will enjoy the fruits of the victory by obtaining a title shot, but Rua should not and will not be slighted just because he has an “L” in the record books. Shogun fought back from adversity when all thought he was finished and almost managed to finish Henderson. There is no shame in the performance he displayed.

As far as a rematch is concerned, why tarnish what is considered one of the greatest fights of all time? There is no way they could possibly repeat the magic that we witnessed inside the Octagon in San Jose.

Take a look at the Urijah Faber-Jens Pulver bout from WEC 34 in June of 2008. Those two put on one hell of a fight, each man giving it their all for five rounds. They would meet again just six months later, and Faber won by choke in the first round. It was hard to watch after seeing the war the two had put on just a short time before.

That’s not to say that either Henderson or Rua would dominate the other should they meet again, but wouldn’t it be fairer to the fans and both fighters to remember the history that was made rather than trying to repeat something that was a once in a lifetime event?

Maybe somewhere down the line the two will meet again, Shogun is a former champion and Henderson seems to have earned a title shot. Who knows what could happen, but now is neither the time nor the place for these two warriors to do battle once again.

It’ll take a long time for their fight to really soak in, and it’ll be fun to reflect back on it whenever we feel the need. Why tarnish those memories when we should just sit back and enjoy them?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA Stock Market™ — ‘UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson’ Edition


(In a way, we were all the “Screaming PRIDE Lady” that night. / Photo courtesy of Esther Lin, MMA Fighting)

By Jason Moles

The suits on Wall Street keep whispering about a ‘Halloween indicator‘ and how now is not a time to sell; rather we should sit back and let our riches mount. Call it what you will, but millions watched UFC on FOX and UFC 139 and concluded the same thing: Most fighter’s stocks are rising steadily. Even if you’re not sure which is the true Fight of the Year from this weekend — Dan Henderson vs. Marucio Rua or Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler — you’ll know how to safeguard your hypothetical MMA portfolio’s worth after playing another round of ‘Buy, Sell, Hold’.

Stephan Bonnar: Buy

It’s hard to believe that any TUF veteran could take nearly a year off from the sport and return with the engine firing on all cylinders, but Stephan Bonnar did just that. The BJJ schooling he dished out was almost as surprising as his apology to Josh Koscheck for making those damn shirts. Even that wasn’t the most unexpected thing to happen; one judge gave the ‘American Psycho’ a 30-25 victory. Grab hold of any unclaimed stock before he starts getting big fights and Dana declares him “in the mix.”


(In a way, we were all the “Screaming PRIDE Lady” that night. / Photo courtesy of Esther Lin, MMA Fighting)

By Jason Moles

The suits on Wall Street keep whispering about a ‘Halloween indicator‘ and how now is not a time to sell; rather we should sit back and let our riches mount. Call it what you will, but millions watched UFC on FOX and UFC 139 and concluded the same thing: Most fighter’s stocks are rising steadily. Even if you’re not sure which is the true Fight of the Year from this weekend — Dan Henderson vs. Marucio Rua or Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler — you’ll know how to safeguard your hypothetical MMA portfolio’s worth after playing another round of ‘Buy, Sell, Hold’.

Stephan Bonnar: Buy

It’s hard to believe that any TUF veteran could take nearly a year off from the sport and return with the engine firing on all cylinders, but Stephan Bonnar did just that. The BJJ schooling he dished out was almost as surprising as his apology to Josh Koscheck for making those damn shirts. Even that wasn’t the most unexpected thing to happen; one judge gave the ‘American Psycho’ a 30-25 victory. Grab hold of any unclaimed stock before he starts getting big fights and Dana declares him “in the mix.”

Kyle Kingsbury: Sell it like a dog with fleas

When Kyle Kingsbury comes to mind, so does the letter ‘O’ – as in Outclassed, Outworked, and Oxymoron. Not once did this guy look like he belonged in the Octagon despite his four-fight win streak since losing his UFC debut against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor at the Ultimate Fighter 8 finale. Do not let critics scare you into keeping an underperforming stock by calling you a prisoner of the moment. After all, this is mixed martial arts where you’re only as good as your last fight.

Martin Kampmann – Buy

While some would argue that Martin Kampmann should be riding a five-fight win streak right now — with his previous decision losses to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez falling somewhere between “questionable” and “straight bullshit” — the truth is that the Hitman was one pitch away from being struck out. Just like baseball, MMA has its own set of unwritten rules, one of which is ‘three losses and you’re cut’, unless you’re Dan Hardy. Thankfully for the Danish fighter, he decoded the opponent’s signals, managed to hit a solid line drive, and made it on base. Keep your eye on this guy; big things are on the horizon.

Rick Story – Hold, Please

There are still a few chapters yet to be written about Rick Story‘s mixed martial arts career. What seemed at first to be a low comedy is now looking more like a familiar tragedy. The hype train derailed after Story was dominated by late replacement Charlie Brenneman at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry. Being fully aware that Story took that fight a little less than a month after defeating Thiago Alves, I still don’t like this investment at the moment because everything has to go right to make the stock go to the next level, and that’s a very tough call in this particular environment. Maybe he should listen to Joe Rogan going forward; at least he could tell Rick that giving up your back in the third round is not the wisest decision.

Urijah Faber – Buy it like they’re giving it away from free

Dominic Cruz will defend his Bantamweight title against “The California Kid” in a rubber match after Urijah Faber took out top contender Brian Bowles via submission. If it seems like we’re experiencing deja vu it’s because these two took Fight of the Night honors this past summer at UFC 132, a mere four months ago. Faber methodically picked his opponent apart and managed not to break his hands in the process. Kudos are in order. It won’t matter if he beats Cruz this time around just as it won’t matter if he never wins a belt in the UFC. People love this guy and so should you. TCKUF is MMA’s version of MEG.

Brian Bowles – Dump it like a Kardashian

Brian Bowles‘ calm acceptance of not being “one of the cool kids” is like me being okay with not being nominated for Journalist of the Year in the sense that any other reaction is complete nonsense and no amount of objection to the contrary would do a damn bit of good. The fear of breaking his hands again alone is enough to make the former champion hesitant and uncomfortable fighting the same style that lead to him headlining fight cards. I doubt he will ever be a legitimate contender again; for this reason I’m dumping all BB stock I own and suggest you do likewise.

Cung Le – Hold

I find it difficult to fault the Hollywood action star/three-time Wushu World Championships bronze medalist/2007 Kung Fu Artist of the Year/Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion/lover of many slashes for coming up short in his UFC debut. Those pesky Octagon jitters are real, knowmsayin? Questionable stoppage or not, Cung Le was not going to win that fight. It just wasn’t meant to be, which leads me to the rest of the fighters on the UFC 139 PPV…

Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Shogun Rua – Buy, Buy, Buy

Three former champions from PRIDE, Strikeforce, and UFC, all of whom are future Hall of Famers, looked defeat in the eyes and declared that they would not go down without a fight. “The Axe Murderer” got clipped, went down, and came back to welcome the aforementioned Cung Le to the big show the proper way — by punching and kneeing him into a bloody pulp. There’s a certain country in the Pacific Ocean that is just dying to see Wanderlei Silva return to the Land of the Rising Sun that will undoubtedly yield massive short term dividends.

Immediately after, Dan Henderson and Maurico “Shogun” Rua battled it out in what Dana White says is one of the top three fights in MMA history. Despite the initial reaction of the masses after seeing undefeated Michael Chandler choke out Eddie Alvarez for the Bellator lightweight championship, Hendo vs. Shogun is quite possibly the single best fight anyone has ever had the privilege of watching. Both men were rocked, bloodied, and generally pretty banged up entering the final round, one that never would have happened if Josh Rosenthal had his way. Henderson may have got the ‘W’, but both are winners in the eyes of the fans, even if some insist the fight should have been ruled a draw requiring an immediate rematch.

Load up on these fighters’ stock if you want to avoid being beaten with a stick — or worse! Until next time….

UFC 139 Photo Update: Cung Le’s Nose Almost Looks Like a Normal Nose Again

Cung Le broken nose UFC 139 Wanderlei Silva
(On the bright side, he’s now able to smell out of his eyeball. Props: MMAConvert)

Following his TKO loss at the hands (and knees) of Wanderlei Silva at UFC 139, Cung Le‘s nose rivaled Ryan McGillivray’s in terms of sheer cartoonish bustedness. Silva patted himself on the back after the fight, telling Karyn Bryant, “Right now with that nose, he’s going to make more money in Hollywood because now he looks like a more real fighter. He should thank me for making his nose look better.”

I’m sure the offers to play “Jacked-Up Looking Asian Gangster #2” are about to start flooding in. So what did Cung’s schnozz look like the next day? The big reveal is after the jump, via @CungLe185.

Cung Le broken nose UFC 139 Wanderlei Silva
(On the bright side, he’s now able to smell out of his eyeball. Props: MMAConvert)

Following his TKO loss at the hands (and knees) of Wanderlei Silva at UFC 139, Cung Le‘s nose rivaled Ryan McGillivray’s in terms of sheer cartoonish bustedness. Silva patted himself on the back after the fight, telling Karyn Bryant, “Right now with that nose, he’s going to make more money in Hollywood because now he looks like a more real fighter. He should thank me for making his nose look better.”

I’m sure the offers to play “Jacked-Up Looking Asian Gangster #2″ are about to start flooding in. So what did Cung’s schnozz look like the next day? The big reveal is after the jump, via @CungLe185.

cung le ufc 139 broken nose

The human body is an amazingly resilient machine, isn’t it? So now that we know Le didn’t have the juice to beat an aging legend, is there a place for him in the UFC? Should he get another fight lower on the middleweight ladder — or does he need a couple tune-up fights outside of the Octagon first?

UFC 139 Results: Would Dan Henderson Fare Better Against Silva or Jones?

At this point, your jaw is probably still unhinged after witnessing Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua’s epic fight Saturday night at UFC 139.An absolute instant classic.Neither guy slowed down or shut down, proving that will and a good chin can do wonders i…

At this point, your jaw is probably still unhinged after witnessing Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua’s epic fight Saturday night at UFC 139.

An absolute instant classic.

Neither guy slowed down or shut down, proving that will and a good chin can do wonders in a five-round UFC bout.  But beyond the obvious highlight-reel punches, a bloodied face and a stacked bank account, how exactly does Henderson stack-up against the likes of UFC champions Anderson Silva and Jon “Bones” Jones?

Regardless of what you may think a 41-year-old power wrestler is capable of against some of the world’s best fighters, Hendo has enough left in the tank to make a run at one of these UFC work horses.

Silva is currently the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the universe, and Jones isn’t too far behind him.  Both have similar unpredictable offenses that have proven deadly for nearly every top-contender in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. 

With that said, Henderson has always been regarded as one of the best fighters in the world, so why change that notion now?

Henderson has already faced-off with Silva for middleweight superiority back at UFC 82, ultimately losing in the second round via submission.  However, he was able to disrupt Silva on the feet to the point where he scored a take-down. 

The first round was ultimately a split, but Silva’s ground game proved more worthy than Henderson’s submission defense.

As far as Jones is concerned, it seems as if he’s poised to run the 205 lb. division for the foreseeable future, but his chin has never really been tested.  Henderson landed some vicious strikes on Rua this weekend, ones that could have knocked the light heavyweight champion off his block. (Jones did toy with Rua back at UFC 128, resulting in him becoming the youngest UFC champion ever.)

But almost every fan knows that the past doesn’t necessarily tell the future.  Henderson had Rua rocked in the first round Saturday, earlier than Jones had done.  Henderson also took a bunch of shots stretching over five rounds, something that Jones really hasn’t experienced throughout his UFC career.  

Think about it this way.  Over his past three fights, Jones has been exposed to a total of 30 strikes. 

Now that proves two things.  One is that Jones is that darn good.  To avoid serious damage from top-fighters like Rua, Rampage Jackson and Ryan Bader immediately secures his title as the most elusive fighter in the division. 

The other outlook is that Jones’ chin and ability to offensively attack after being smashed in the grill hasn’t been tested.  With Henderson being known as powerful striker, sometimes deliberately wild, his abilities could match up well with the light heavyweight champ.

On the other side of things, a rematch with Silva would be pretty damn entertaining.

After four years removed from their first battle in the Octagon, Henderson could fare better this time around.  Chael Sonnen proved that taking down Silva is the best plan possible, using wrestling and a crisp ground game to secure points by the bunches. 

Sonnen is one of the best wrestlers in the UFC, but so his Henderson.  Although, that was not the case Saturday as Henderson usually gets sucked into slug fests when it would benefit him more to bring the fight to the canvas.

So by standing and trying to land a heavy strike to Silva’s chin, which has been impossible to do, Henderson’s chances of capturing a revenge-win doesn’t look so good. 

However, if the wrestler is able to bring Silva to the ground, similar to Sonnen’s destruction of the champ at UFC 117, he may be able to secure a win early, something that would be much harder to do against a better ground specialist like Jones.

Whichever UFC champion you match Henderson against, they’ll easily surpass him in the stand-up department. 

Jones and Silva are easily two of the most prolific strikers in the world, using unorthodox kicks and quick punches to unload on their opponents.  Now while Henderson posses a lot of power in his hands, his inability to swiftly move around the ring and throw strikes with consistency would realistically diminish his opportunities to knock either guy down.

By calculating how good Jones and Silva are on their feet, Henderson’s chances of beating either one of them would seemingly come down to his ability to score takedowns.  Silva’s ground game has been sort of suspect (at least what we’ve seen), while Jones’ has proved helpful in the past. 

However, Silva is simply too good all-around to keep him on his back once you get him there, using his long reach to land strikes in the guard or lock in a submission using his top-notch Brazilian Jiu-Jistu.

What it would come down to is Henderson sticking to his game plan of bringing the fight to the mat.  While he does have the power to land a one-punch KO, Jones and Silva are too elusive on their feet to get into a tactical brawl with. 

So when you add into the mix that Jones is a stronger and bigger wrestler than Silva, it would likely benefit Henderson to take on the middleweight champion in a rematch for UFC gold.

Let’s hope he gets a chance to prove me right, or wrong. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 139 Results: A Victorious Michael McDonald Ranks Among Top 10 UFC Prospects

UFC 139 was downright awesome.It should have been the card featured on the UFC’s debut on FOX, but let’s just agree that Dana White dropped the ball on that one.Regardless, Saturday proved that even without a title bout on the main card, fireworks can …

UFC 139 was downright awesome.

It should have been the card featured on the UFC’s debut on FOX, but let’s just agree that Dana White dropped the ball on that one.

Regardless, Saturday proved that even without a title bout on the main card, fireworks can still go off.

Beyond the immediate showdowns that featured an epic fight between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua, a submission victory for Urijah Faber and a KO by Wanderlei Silva, the Spike prelims showcased one of the best prospects that the UFC has to offer.

Twenty-year-old Michael “Mayday” McDonald.

I’ve written about this kid a few times in the past, and everything I thought he’d be, he is.

McDonald has easily become one of the most explosive fighters in the bantamweight division, and with his age and room for improvement, he’s currently on the fast track to UFC supremacy.

With that said, alongside McDonald, here are the top 10 prospects in the UFC today.

Begin Slideshow

Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 139

Filed under: UFCWhat a weekend. If you were one of the people who decided that you’d had enough MMA lately and it was time to get out of the house on Saturday night and go see the new Twilight movie, let’s just say you got what you deserved.

The rest …

Filed under:

What a weekend. If you were one of the people who decided that you’d had enough MMA lately and it was time to get out of the house on Saturday night and go see the new Twilight movie, let’s just say you got what you deserved.

The rest of us were treated to an amazing UFC event (not to mention a great lightweight battle between Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez in Bellator), we didn’t even have to fight through a crowd of pre-teen girls to get a good seat.

Now that it’s all over and we’ve had a chance to clear our heads and think rationally again, it’s time to look at the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.

Biggest Winner: (tie) Dan Henderson and “Shogun” Rua
Centuries from now, when future generations attempt to learn about our culture by digging through the ruins of our athletic commission offices, the records they discover will only tell them that Hendo won a unanimous decision over Rua at UFC 139. What it won’t tell them is that, honestly, no one really lost that fight. Rua helped make it a classic by battling back from the brink of unconsciousness in almost every round. Hendo just couldn’t put the Brazilian away, and after twenty minutes of trying he barely had enough gas left to sputter across the finish line in the fifth. Personally, I gave Rua a 10-8 in that final round, which would have resulted in a draw. I know, I know — a tie is like making out with your sister while eating non-fat ice cream. Still, I think it would have been a fitting end, not that you can really be upset about any outcome after a scrap like that. Together, Henderson and Rua pushed each other to a new level of greatness. It was a collaborative effort that required both man’s mix of skill, toughness, and almost self-destructive resolve. Neither could have reached this height without the other forcing him to it, and for that the MMA world will forever remember both of them as equal partners in one of the greatest fights the sport has ever known.

Biggest Loser: Brian Bowles
This was his big chance to get back into a title shot, and he was simply outclassed by Faber. You can’t question his toughness. The sound of that uppercut he took was enough to make me reach up and make sure that my own teeth were still there, so I can’t even imagine how he battled through that. But when it came to launching an offense of his own, it was clear very early on that he just didn’t have much to threaten Faber with. It’s not a catastrophic end for the 10-2 Bowles, but it does knock him down the bantamweight ladder, making you wonder if he’ll ever get a meaningful title around his waist again. He’s probably still better than about 90 percent of the guys in the division, but the gap between Bowles and the top two men in the weight class is a chasm of talent that I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to find his way across.

Best, Slightly Troubling Redemption Story: Wanderlei Silva
There were definitely flashes of the old Wand in his TKO win over Cung Le. He took a few hard shots and stayed upright. He attacked with a ferocious, though measured aggression. In general, he proved that he’s not quite ready to be hauled off to the scrap yard just yet, which is a little bit worrisome, to be honest. It’s not that the win wasn’t a great one, or one that he needed in a bad, bad way. And not to get all double-rainbow on you, but what does it mean? Le’s never been known as an especially powerful striker, so it’s tough to tell if Silva’s ability to withstand his blows is necessarily proof that his chin is solid again. It’s not hard to imagine a situation where he interprets this victory as a sign that he’s back in the saddle and ready to brawl again, with the end result being several more bad knockouts before he once again faces the same difficult decisions. In a perfect world, maybe this would be the win that lets him go out on a high note. In the real world, he probably won’t be happy he takes a few more thumps on the skull.

Best Case for a Rubber Match: Urijah Faber
“The California Kid” did all the right things this weekend. Not only did he dispatch Bowles in impressive fashion, he also talked up his rivalry with champion Dominick Cruz. Before their second fight he was content to play the cool kid and let Cruz look like the one driving the animosity. After losing the decision, Faber now seems genuinely irked and hungry for a decisive showdown, which is exactly what the 135-pound division needs right now. Faber likes to make Cruz out to be a point-fighter who’s learned how to game the judges, but that’s a little too dismissive. The champ has real skills, and Faber knows it. What’s still unclear is if he has an answer for those skills, but we should find out soon enough. Faber better make the most of this shot. If he loses, it’s likely the last one he’ll get.

Least Likely to Complete His Full UFC Contract: Cung Le
He told us a few days before the fight that he signed a six-fight deal with the UFC and planned to make the most of it, but I have a hard time imagining that after his performance this weekend. It’s not that he looked bad, but his style and his age are both working against him. Le is 39 years old and this was only his third fight in the last two years. Most of his prior MMA career has been spent out-kicking overmatched opponents, but he won’t get such cozy treatment in the UFC. After showing up on the scales with a physique that’s starting to show its age, then getting his face smashed in by Silva, it’s very possible that he might soon decide he’s better off making his money on the movie set than the Octagon.

%VIRTUAL-Gallery-139928%

Most Deserving of a Step Up: Michael McDonald
The 20-year-old bantamweight looked flawless in a quick destruction of late fill-in Alex Soto. His striking is crisp, his poise is impressive (especially considering his youth), and the UFC obviously sees the potential in him. I know Dana White probably doesn’t want to rush his development and get him crushed, but at 14-1 and with three UFC bouts under his belt, he’s ready to move up to the next level of competition and take his spot on the main card.

Narrowest Escape: Martin Kampmann
Not that he didn’t deserve to win — he did. But if I’d just been screwed by the judges at least once, maybe even twice in my last two fights, I might have been a little worried about letting them decide my fate a third time. Fortunately for Kampmann, they got it right this time (Dana White claimed that the judge who scored the fight with Story had actually meant to score it for Kampmann) and he’s finally back in the win column. It’s about time.

Worst Display of Professionalism: (tie) Shamar Bailey and Nick Pace
They both came in over the mark at Friday’s weigh-ins, then both ended up on the losing end in Saturday’s fights. As strategies for ensuring some degree of job security in the UFC go, that’s about as bad as it gets. Bailey came in at 158 pounds for a 155-pound fight, while Pace clocked in at 141 for a fight at 135. That smacks of disrespect for your opponent and yourself, and it also costs you a significant chunk of your purse. Making weight is part of being a professional, and it should be a given at this level. If you can’t do it — and if you make things worse by following it up with a loss afterward — then you won’t be at this level for long.

Most Surprising: Stephan Bonnar
It’s not that he dominated Kyle Kingsbury on the mat for most their fight. That was something many people saw coming. But his public apology to Josh Koscheck in his post-fight interview? Now that was a shock. If you don’t know, Koscheck and Bonnar got into it over Bonnar’s decision to use a very Koscheck-like image and design for his Trash Talkin’ Kids t-shirt line. Koscheck didn’t approve, Bonnar didn’t much care, and Koscheck sued him when he went ahead with the plan. Despite the disparity in weight, a feud seemed to be simmering there, but Bonnar squashed it by apologizing in the cage and admitting that Koscheck was right all along. That was the right way to play it, and it proves once again that Bonnar is one of the genuine good guys in this sport. Koscheck? He’s not winning any awards for congeniality, but he’s okay too, I guess.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments