Roy Nelson is a little worse for wear after his “Fight of the Night” battle with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 143. Although “Big Country” managed to go the distance, he was essentially battered by “Vai Cavalo” for 15 minutes. Werdum effectively outboxed and …
Roy Nelson is a little worse for wear after his “Fight of the Night” battle with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 143.
Although “Big Country” managed to go the distance, he was essentially battered by “Vai Cavalo” for 15 minutes.
Werdum effectively outboxed and out grappled the season 10 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” with his most vicious shots coming from knees thrown inside the clinch.
Although Nelson refused to quit, Werdum definitely did some damage on Nelson’s face.
On Sunday, Nelson tweeted:
“Here is the cut from me head butting werdum’s knee in the 1st. My face is fine, forehead is a little sore. lockerz.com/s/181044602#fb“
With the win, Werdum improves to 4-2 in the Octagon, with his losses coming at the hands of UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos and former title holder Andrei Arlovski.
On the other hand, Nelson is just 1-3 in his past four fights, with his sole victory coming at the expense of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 137.
While Nelson’s toughness and iron chin cannot be questioned, his skills certainly can be.
Should Nelson finally commit to a drop to light heavyweight, or is it just finally time to admit that the fun-loving fighter is never going to be considered an elite talent?
UFC 143 is done and dusted, and the major winner of the night was Carlos Condit. He had a brilliant game plan, perfectly executed it and looked amazing. He used a vast array of weapons, and his conditioning was impressive. He avoided getting trapped in…
UFC 143 is done and dusted, and the major winner of the night was Carlos Condit. He had a brilliant game plan, perfectly executed it and looked amazing. He used a vast array of weapons, and his conditioning was impressive. He avoided getting trapped into Diaz’s fight, and I think the win is what matters.
The people complaining should realise that Condit was clever avoiding brawling with Diaz, and it’s like complaining about Chad Mendes taking a striker down.
Anyway, this slideshow is about looking at who each fighter on the main card will fight next.
Before UFC 143, Georges St-Pierre mentioned how he hoped Nick Diaz would beat Carlos Condit so that the two could fight each other.In an interview with MMAJunkie.com, St-Pierre admitted he wanted to fight Nick Diaz as badly as when he wanted a title sh…
Before UFC 143, Georges St-Pierre mentioned how he hoped Nick Diaz would beat Carlos Condit so that the two could fight each other.
He also admitted how dangerous Condit was in the article. St-Pierre knew that there was a possibility that Diaz wouldn’t win the fight.
He lavished praise on Condit as a fighter and a human, but in the end admitted that he wanted him to lose. St-Pierre is usually a stoic professional, so the admission is a bit of a shocker.
St-Pierre didn’t get his wish, as it turned out. Condit was able to convince the judges that his leg strikes and attacks from the outside were the more effective method of attack.
Before the fight, when the article was published, St-Pierre even stated that Diaz would bring out the best in him.
Instead, Condit won, which brought a question with it. Can St-Pierre find the same motivation?
St-Pierre is one of the most successful champions in the UFC because he is a professional and is one of the best at what he does. History shows that he has been able to find the motivation to take on all comers and succeed.
History also shows that he has lost when he has faced an underdog opponent.
When St-Pierre had his first run with the title, he faced Matt Serra, who had been a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter. Few gave Serra a real shot at winning, which is why it was such a shock when Serra came back and knocked St-Pierre out in the first round.
St-Pierre let himself get lax in the fight for just a moment, and it cost him.
Serra isn’t considered to have been on the same level as Condit is currently, but the fact is that St-Pierre had a certain fight he was hoping to get, and it eluded him.
How he handles that disappointment will affect his motivation for the fight with Condit. It should be enough for him to want to keep the belt and defeat a fighter like Condit.
But St-Pierre did state that he wanted Diaz as much as he wanted a shot at the belt. It might mentally weaken him to the point where he gets caught again.
When St-Pierre comes back, he will have to face a serious opponent who earned the right to face him. It just won’t be the one he wanted.
Life is filled with disappointment, but if St-Pierre doesn’t take Condit seriously, it might include St-Pierre also being disappointed with his performance.
Matthew Hemphill writes for the MMA and professional wrestling portion of Bleacher Report. He also hosts a blog elbaexiled.blogspot.comthat focuses on books, music, comic books, video games, film and generally anything that could be related to the realms of nerdom.
Following his two-point deduction of Alex Caceres in the preliminary card (FX) at UFC 143, Herb Dean’s reputation as being the best referee in MMA could be brought in to question, and rightly so. Caceres unintentionally caught Edwin Figueroa in t…
Following his two-point deduction of Alex Caceres in the preliminary card (FX) at UFC 143, Herb Dean’s reputation as being the best referee in MMA could be brought in to question, and rightly so.
Caceres unintentionally caught Edwin Figueroa in the family jewels on two separate occasions: the opening stanza and in Round 2. The emphasis should be placed on unintentional, as that’s what it was. Now, if it had been a malicious attempt by Caceres to gain an advantage over Figueroa, then it would just be a case of great refereeing by Dean, but, as it turned, out it wasn’t.
The upshot of his two-point deduction has left “Bruce Leroy” with a 1-3 record in his UFC tenure, a decision nonetheless that could easily result in Caceres being released from the company if he’s not victorious in his next outing.
Rarely, if ever, is a fighter penalized two points after a second infraction. A point taken away is the norm, and a stern warning follows suit—none of which happened.
That said, his decision to call a halt to proceedings following Dan Henderson’s knockout of Fedor Emelianenko raised a few eyebrows. It was obvious that Fedor was compos mentis seconds before the stoppage. However, Dean chose to end the bout anyway, forgetting the fact that Fedor had never been stopped in his career before, meaning he should’ve been given the benefit of the doubt.
Still, it’s a decision that could be debated until the cows come home.
Herb Dean is still MMA’s premier referee. However, any more major hiccups akin to Caceres, then the jury will be out and the aforementioned accolade might just take a severe pounding.
Also, he doesn’t want to be placed in the same category as boxing’s world-renowned referee Joe Cortez, who seems to have a penchant for making some of the biggest officiating faux pas every so often.
For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.
Dustin Poirier has advanced from being a young fighter with potential, to someone who might one day fight for the title, to becoming an instant contender.It is hard for fighters like Poirier to get noticed in the UFC, partly because he campaigns at fea…
Dustin Poirier has advanced from being a young fighter with potential, to someone who might one day fight for the title, to becoming an instant contender.
It is hard for fighters like Poirier to get noticed in the UFC, partly because he campaigns at featherweight and partly because the promotion is stacked with famous fighters. That was the case at UFC 143 where Poirier didn’t even make it onto the main card.
He has been on televised undercards before, but never the main card.
A fight with Max Holloway shouldn’t have done anything to change that, either. Taking the fight on after two opponents dropped out should help his standing with the company, but it wasn’t supposed to do anything for his status as a contender.
Holloway was a newcomer to the UFC with Poirier being his first fight in the Octagon. It might have been different if Holloway were a seasoned veteran, but he isn’t.
Holloway only had four fights before he came to the UFC. None of them were with big names or in large promotions.
Poirier came in to get a win, collect a paycheck and score points with the bosses.
He had to face an unknown and win with no serious TV coverage. It was the worst kind of fight.
And then Poirier pulled off an armbar submission from the mount. The move was spectacular and won him submission of the night.
Bonuses help fighters collect money, but they are also like the Oscar’s as well.
Even if a fighter is in an undercard fight, if he can get himself a bonus, it is a major marketing point. It is like the little-known actor starring in the small indie film and scoring one of the coveted awards.
Thereafter he has the title “Oscar award winning” attached to his name. It becomes a selling point and gets more people to watch his movies.
The same goes for Poirier. Now whenever he is shown in a UFC promo, that submission is going to pop up, along with the fact that he won the submission of the night.
Even though the featherweight division is filled with good fighters, Jose Aldo, who holds the belt at that weight, is quickly running through them. If the UFC doesn’t want to move him to lightweight, they are going to need to find new competitors quickly.
Now that Poirier has won a bonus and extended his win streak to five fights in a row, he fits into that category.
He may not get a title shot in his next fight, but one thing is clear: The next time fans see Poirier, he probably won’t be on the undercard.
Matthew Hemphill writes for the MMA and professional wrestling portion of Bleacher Report. He also hosts a blog elbaexiled.blogspot.comthat focuses on books, music, comic books, video games, film and generally anything that could be related to the realms of nerdom.
UFC 143 is done and now every fan knows that Carlos Condit has a date with Georges St-Pierre down the road. The fight isn’t the most entertaining, especially not with the way that Condit fought, but it is relevant to the welterweight division.That isn’…
UFC 143 is done and now every fan knows that Carlos Condit has a date with Georges St-Pierre down the road. The fight isn’t the most entertaining, especially not with the way that Condit fought, but it is relevant to the welterweight division.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t fun fights that couldn’t be made from the winners and losers from UFC 143. There are plenty of matches that could be made which even the most hardened critic would enjoy.
Joe Silva does a great job of matching people in the UFC, but here are 10 fights he needs to make soon if he wants to keep fight fans happy.
Roy Nelson is a little worse for wear after his “Fight of the Night” battle with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 143.