Wanderlei Silva proved that he was able to turn the clock back at least one more time on Saturday night at UFC 139. Instead of getting knocked out and finally being forced out of the Octagon, he was able to weather the storm of Le’s kicks and com…
Wanderlei Silva proved that he was able to turn the clock back at least one more time on Saturday night at UFC 139. Instead of getting knocked out and finally being forced out of the Octagon, he was able to weather the storm of Le’s kicks and come back with a spectacular knockout.
The strike that landed might have been chance, but Silva showed a veteran’s wisdom and held back just long enough to find his openings while not letting Le recover.
Silva might want to retire with this win, as he still seemed to start slowly, but if he does want to continue fighting, then he certainly will do so with a large amount of fanfare. It is obvious that Silva is one of the most exciting fighters to step foot in the cage.
However, if he did retire, it would be depressing, but not the end of the world. That is because there are other exciting fighters in the Octagon who could entertain the masses.
UFC 139 might have been the event that flew under many people’s radar, but the main event delivered in a big, big way. Now the MMA Wrap-Up returns to examine the questions of Dan Henderson and “Shogun” Rua‘s greatness, and ask where it falls among the great achievements of our time. Or, you know, something like that.
UFC 139 might have been the event that flew under many people’s radar, but the main event delivered in a big, big way. Now the MMA Wrap-Up returns to examine the questions of Dan Henderson and “Shogun” Rua‘s greatness, and ask where it falls among the great achievements of our time. Or, you know, something like that.
Another week, another two-hour edition of The MMA Hour. Here’s who will be stopping by this time around:
* UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will discuss his health and Urijah Faber‘s win at UFC 139, which sets up a trilogy match between the two.
* Strikeforce featherweight fighter Ronda Rousey will look back at her win over Julia Budd on Friday night and ahead to what’s next for her.
* Mike Chandler, the new Bellator lightweight champion, will discuss his instant classic win over Eddie Alvarez on Saturday night.
* Veteran Canadian TV host Michael Landsberg will discuss his bizarre interview with Chael Sonnen last week on TSN’s Off The Record.
* And we’ll go “5 Rounds” with MMAFighting.com’s Ben Fowlkes and Heavy.com’s Jeremy Botter on one of the greatest weekends in MMA history.
Of course, we’ll also be taking your calls as we recap UFC on FOX and look ahead to UFC 139, so give us a shout at: 212-254-0193, 212-254-0237 or 212-254-0714.
*** You can also stream the show live on your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.
Another week, another two-hour edition of The MMA Hour. Here’s who will be stopping by this time around:
* UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will discuss his health and Urijah Faber‘s win at UFC 139, which sets up a trilogy match between the two.
* Strikeforce featherweight fighter Ronda Rousey will look back at her win over Julia Budd on Friday night and ahead to what’s next for her.
* Mike Chandler, the new Bellator lightweight champion, will discuss his instant classic win over Eddie Alvarez on Saturday night.
* Veteran Canadian TV host Michael Landsberg will discuss his bizarre interview with Chael Sonnen last week on TSN’s Off The Record.
* And we’ll go “5 Rounds” with MMAFighting.com’s Ben Fowlkes and Heavy.com’s Jeremy Botter on one of the greatest weekends in MMA history.
Of course, we’ll also be taking your calls as we recap UFC on FOX and look ahead to UFC 139, so give us a shout at: 212-254-0193, 212-254-0237 or 212-254-0714.
*** You can also stream the show live on your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.
If for some reason you missed UFC 139 Saturday night, you missed out on what was easily the best Ultimate Fighting Championship cards of the year and one of the best in the promotion’s history.Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua put on an epic war that many a…
If for some reason you missed UFC 139 Saturday night, you missed out on what was easily the best Ultimate Fighting Championship cards of the year and one of the best in the promotion’s history.
Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua put on an epic war that many are already proclaiming as one of the best mixed martial arts fights of all time. For a solid five rounds, these two warriors showed everyone watching what the sport of MMA is all about.
Also on the card, Wanderlei Silva turned back the clock and showed the killer instinct that fans have not seen for years when he was able to TKO hometown-favorite Cung Le in their middleweight showdown.
Urijah Faber made quick work of former WEC champion Brian Bowles and earned another shot at reigning bantamweight champion Dominic Cruz in the process.
In other action, veteran Martin Kampmann edged out a decision against Rick Story, and Stephan Bonnar was able to grind out a decision over Kyle Kingsbury.
Despite whether or not they won or loss, how did each fighter perform?
2011 has not been the year of Ryan Bader, but Saturday night’s victory over Jason Brilz at UFC 139 should be a great boost in his confidence as he heads into 2012. “I finally found the right way to train and the right people,” Bader t…
2011 has not been the year of Ryan Bader, but Saturday night’s victory over Jason Brilz at UFC 139 should be a great boost in his confidence as he heads into 2012.
“I finally found the right way to train and the right people,” Bader told MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant Saturday night after his victory.
A former The Ultimate Fighter winner, Bader struggled to get into the win column this year after an amazing start to his career that saw him at 12-0 heading into 2011. Back-to-back losses to current and former UFC light heavyweight champions Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz saw him drop to 12-2 heading into 139.
He knew that something had to change if he hoped to continue to climb the ladder in the UFC and even possibly if he hoped to stay employed by the world’s largest MMA organization.
“Coming in with two losses, I haven’t won this year, and you don’t want a third loss anytime,” Bader admitted regarding his feelings heading into his fight with Brilz on Saturday night. “There’s a lot of pressure to win. I really had to kind of put it in the back of my head and say that, ‘You keep that pressure knowing that you have to go out there and fight hard, but you don’t let it get to you. You don’t let it let you fight differently.’ “
Bader fought through the pressure and earned a first-round knockout victory over Jason Brilz, utilizing his powerful punching to catch his opponent and finish him early.
“A lot of guys go out there and fight not to lose and that changes everything up. You don’t fight like you normally do. So I went out there and try to do every time and knock him out, and it ended up happening. So I’m confident in that.”
Bader made quite a few changes to his training for this fight, but it may have been an unexpected one that gave him the confidence to get back into the win column. He started using his old theme song again, a remix of the original “Darth Vader” Star Wars song.
“I found [the song] on the internet. It’s the Rage Against the Machine of it and I was like, ‘I’ve gotta’ roll with this,” he told Bryant.
He didn’t get to use the song in his last couple of fights against Ortiz and Jones, and he joked that the lack of his usual entrance song may have played a part in the outcomes, both losses.
Maybe it’s his theme song or maybe it’s that his skills have been refined. Whatever it is, Ryan Bader appears to have his confidence back, and that’s a very, very dangerous thing for the light heavyweight division.
Expectations weren’t exactly through the roof leading up to UFC 139, which took place in San Jose, Calif. in front of a sold-out HP Pavilion.But, as we’ve seen, expectations have little to do with how an event plays out.This statement held true as one …
Expectations weren’t exactly through the roof leading up to UFC 139, which took place in San Jose, Calif. in front of a sold-out HP Pavilion.
But, as we’ve seen, expectations have little to do with how an event plays out.
This statement held true as one of the greatest events in mixed martial arts unfolded right before our eyes on Nov. 19, 2011.
When action began, UFC fans who tuned in for the live pay-per-view event got to witness one of the best performances of the night from 20-year-old Michael McDonald, who attacked Alex Soto early in the first round.
McDonald landed a huge right, sending Soto to the ground before finishing him off with good with a series of vicious strikes at just 0:56 of Round 1.
In the very next fight, fans witnessed similar excitement as Ryan Bader bounced back from two consecutive defeats by knocking out Jason Brilz just 1:17 into the very first round.
As the fight card progressed, those in attendance and watching live saw one of the most dominating and closer performances of the night as Stephan Bonnar outlasted Kyle Kingsbury while Martin Kampmann snuck out a split decision victory.
And just when fans thought it couldn’t get any better, enter three more fights.
Urijah Faber came out of the gates swinging for the fences against opponent Brian Bowles in an attempt to earn himself another bantamweight title fight.
While Faber made an impact in Round 1, it wasn’t until the second frame where he landed a huge uppercut followed by a knee that sent Bowles to the ground.
Just 1:27 into the second round, Faber secured a guillotine choke that led him to victory and earning himself Submission of the Night.
In what would end in Co-Fight of the Night, Wanderlei Silva entered the Octagon for what many believed to be his last fight against UFC newcomer Cung Le.
It appeared this was the case as Le controlled action early, landing an extremely effective spinning backfist as Silva appeared to be hurt. However, Silva proved his critics wrong with just seconds remaining in the second round as he dropped Le with a combination of strikes and knees.
“The Axe Murderer” finished his opponent via technical knockout with just 11 seconds remaining in Round 2.
In the final match of the evening, Dan Henderson made his return to the UFC to take on highly dangerous Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
It was Henderson who dominated action early in what will be arguably the fight of the year and one of the greatest bouts of all time. Henderson continued to impose his will on Rua throughout the second and third round until the bout was flipped upside down.
When the fourth round began, it was Rua who came out swinging for the fences as he demonstrated new life.
“Shogun” began pounding away on Henderson with rights and lefts but simply could not finish him.
In the fifth and final round, the two mixed martial arts legends exchanged blows until Rua found himself on top, swinging away on Henderson.
The final bell rang as the historical bout came to a close.
Dan Henderson was declared victorious via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47).
Despite having little expectations, UFC 139 will more than likely go down as the best event of 2011.
The action-packed event finished with five decisions, four knockouts and three submissions. While the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been around for quite some time, it’s hard to remember a bout better than this.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that UFC 139 was the greatest event of all time.
Another week, another two-hour edition of 
2011 has not been the year of