Tag: UFC 146

UFC 146: Why All the Fuss with the Heavyweights? Frank Mir Says It Best

The UFC rolled out what can be termed “Heavyweight Royalty” at the UFC 146 press conference today from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. President Dana White was on hand to answer questions and he was flanked on both sides by six of the biggest and badd…

The UFC rolled out what can be termed “Heavyweight Royalty” at the UFC 146 press conference today from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

President Dana White was on hand to answer questions and he was flanked on both sides by six of the biggest and baddest fighters on the planet. Top-10 UFC heavyweights Roy Nelson, Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Frank Mir and Antonio Silva were all in attendance to promote UFC 146, which will take place on May 26th from the same venue where they sat today.

The fighters on hand answered many different questions about their upcoming fights against each other and the new-and-improved depth in the heavyweight division. The May card is being billed as one of the best heavyweight fight cards in the history of the promotion. 

World and UFC Champion Junior Dos Santos will defend his title against monster striker Alistair Overeem, while two former champions Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir will battle for the next shot at the title. 

“After this card it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out,” President Dana White stated. 

The event has an “Elimination Tournament” feel to it, with very intriguing consequences for the future of the division, although it wasn’t made that way by design.

“There are so may factors in making fights and this one just lined up as an all heavyweight card,” White said.

In a heavyweight fight, it is often feast or famine. You get a brief slug fest of fireworks ending in a devastating knockout or submission, or you get two tentative and out-of-shape men who are weary to engage.

A question was asked if having this many heavyweights on one card is a risky thing for the quality of entertainment that fans are expecting to see.

“There is a concern there, but if you look at the last few fights that these guys up here have had, they weren’t boring. Yes it’s possible, but not likely,” White acknowledged.

It is very true that fight fans have a particular obsession and admiration for the heavyweights of the sport. Fans rarely get more excited than they do leading up to an elite heavyweight clash.

Why is that? Why the popularity over the lighter and smaller divisions?

Each fighter at the table gave the obvious cookie-cutter answer that people like finishes and “heavyweight’s finish fights. People like the knockout.” While that is all very true, it was veteran Frank Mir who once again articulated it best.

“When a lot of fans see a 135-pound elite fighter, if you are a 220-pound man you are still thinking ‘I could still kick his ass,’ but we’re the heavyweights….if you are thinking that you are stupid,” Mir said.

Frank Mir often says it best, and I see him holding the title before 2012 is done.

 

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA Editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.

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UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Overeem Live Streaming Pre-Fight Press Conference Video

The UFC will try something a little different when it travels to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. to present UFC 146. The main card will be nothing but heavyweight bouts for the May 26 event, with the main event seeing Junior dos Santos in…

The UFC will try something a little different when it travels to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. to present UFC 146. The main card will be nothing but heavyweight bouts for the May 26 event, with the main event seeing Junior dos Santos in his first title defense.

Dos Santos’ opponent will be former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

Dos Santos captured the heavyweight crown on November 12, 2011, when he knocked out Cain Velasquez in 64 seconds at UFC on FOX 1. Following that fight, Dos Santos underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus, an injury he suffered while training for the Velasquez bout.

Overeem will enter the bout following a first-round stoppage victory as well. In his first bout in the UFC, Overeem faced former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, dispatching him at the 2:26 mark of the first stanza. Overeem hurt Lesnar badly with a kick to the liver and forced the TKO stoppage after delivering strikes to the crumpled Lesnar against the cage.

Before Dos Santos and Overeem meet, the winner will know who his next opponent will be, as Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez will face off in the event’s co-main event. The winner of that bout will be next in line for a shot at the winner of the night’s main event.

Also appearing on the main card:

Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Silva

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane del Rosario

Stefan Strive vs. Mark Hunt

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UFC 146: Breaking Down the Battle Between Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos

Junior Dos Santos said something interesting this week.“I think it’s the ultimate test for my striking,” Dos Santos said. “He’s a very strong guy, good, but I trust in myself a lot and I try for the knockout in all of my fights. Regar…

Junior Dos Santos said something interesting this week.

“I think it’s the ultimate test for my striking,” Dos Santos said. “He’s a very strong guy, good, but I trust in myself a lot and I try for the knockout in all of my fights. Regardless of him being a striker or not, I’m going for the knockout.”

Now, he might just be trying to cause confusion by saying one thing when he has every intention of doing the other, but trying to predict what will happen in this fight is difficult. Alistair Overeem is a K-1 Grand Prix winner and that puts him right at the top of the tree when it comes to kickboxing.

His stand up is not good by MMA standards—it’s good by any standard. He is one of the few fighters in the sport who you can look at and say ‘there is maybe no-one in the world better at doing that than him’.

Brock Lesnar was like a rabbit in the headlights and had no answer for Overeem’s assault of punches, knees and kicks. Dos Santos is definitely not as good a kickboxer, but he is a better boxer. His hands are fast enough for him to have pursued a pro career had he chosen to.

So, when Dos Santos says he is going to stand with Overeem he might well be telling the truth. After all it’s difficult to finish a fight with a punch or knee (although as Lesnar discovered, not impossible) but very easy to do the same thing with a single punch.

Plus, Overeem could be overconfident. As a K-1 champion he probably won’t be worrying too much about getting knocked out, if anything he will be hoping that he can keep the fight standing long enough to launch his brutal offense.

Even though Dos Santos has a brown belt in BJJ he is not a fighter known for shooting for takedowns, if the fight does end up in a grappling situation he can handle himself, but he doesn’t necessarily need to be the one to take it there.

People take one look at Overeem’s K-1 credentials and assume that he doesn’t have much by way if BJJ, but they are definitely wrong. He’s got plenty of submission wins and favors standing guillotines, kimuras and armbars.

He’s not a novice on the ground, but like Dos Santos, he is also not too much of a wrestler. It’s the sort of fight where one of the fighters might decide to shoot for a takedown just for the sake of surprise.

Will both men back their stand up skills and leave the ground game for later? Or will tactics come into play, and the boxer or kickboxer attempt to defy expectations by doing something a little bit different. A stand up war would be the best possible outcome for the fans and I have a feeling that, just this once, what the public wants might be what the public gets.

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Junior Dos Santos Says He Aims to Knock Out Alistair Overeem

According to Fightersonlymag, undisputed UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos intends to KO Alistair Overeem when the pair lock horns at UFC 146.
“The preparation has already begun. I have been training har…

According to Fightersonlymag, undisputed UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos intends to KO Alistair Overeem when the pair lock horns at UFC 146.

“The preparation has already begun. I have been training hard for the fight and feeling very well. Now it is the moment to become strong to stand the heavy workout and get 100 per cent ready to the fight,” he said.

“I think is the biggest test for my striking. It was not by chance that he [Overeem] was the champion in K-1, that is the greatest striking event in the world. He is a very strong guy but I rely on myself and I look for the knockout in all the fights; I come in to perform. Regardless of if he is good on the feet or not, I will go to knock him out.

“Jiu-jitsu is Plan B. I am a mixed martial artist, I train everything and I am well prepared to fight standing or on the ground. If I think it is necessary to take the bout to the mat, this is going to happen.”

“Cigano” Dos Santos (14-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) won the heavyweight crown in November of 2011 by dispatching Cain Velasquez in the opening stanza of their main event clash at the inaugural UFC on FOX show.

However, Cigano also sustained a knee injury during that fight.

Following successful surgery, it looks like the heavy-hitting Brazilian native Brazil is nearly back to his fighting best.

Meanwhile, Overeem (36-11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), a former Strikeforce and Dream heavyweight champion and fellow behemoth, rose to the rank of No. 1 contender after brutally dismantling former MMA fighter Brock Lesnar in a title elimination bout at UFC 141—a contest which was also his debut for the Zuffa-based promotional outfit.

When these two giants of mixed martial arts collide at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas on May 26, Dos Santos will attempt to make a first successful defense of his title, while Overeem will be looking to capture UFC gold in only his second outing for the company.

 

For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.

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Photos: Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller Trains for UFC 146 Fight With C.B. Dollaway

By Anton Gurevich

One of the fighters testing his skills at UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Overeem will be Jason “Mayhem” Miller, fighting the Octagon veteran C.B. Dollaway. Miller is undoubtedly one of the most colorful characters in MMA, entertaining audiences as the host of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, and as a coach on TUF 14. In his last fight, Miller was TKO’d by Michael “The Count” Bisping at the TUF 14 Finale, drawing fire from UFC President Dana White, who harshly criticized Miller for his performance. This time, Mayhem will look to prove his critics wrong.

LowKick.com photographer Scott Hirano was at Mark Munoz’s REIGN Training Center in Orange County, California, to deliver the following photo-report of Mayhem Miller’s preparations for Dollaway. Please make sure to follow Scott on Twitter @ScottHirano. Mayhem Monkeys can follow their leader @MayhemMiller.

Check out the rest of this gallery on Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com!

By Anton Gurevich

One of the fighters testing his skills at UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Overeem will be Jason “Mayhem” Miller, fighting the Octagon veteran C.B. Dollaway. Miller is undoubtedly one of the most colorful characters in MMA, entertaining audiences as the host of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, and as a coach on TUF 14. In his last fight, Miller was TKO’d by Michael “The Count” Bisping at the TUF 14 Finale, drawing fire from UFC President Dana White, who harshly criticized Miller for his performance. This time, Mayhem will look to prove his critics wrong.

LowKick.com photographer Scott Hirano was at Mark Munoz’s REIGN Training Center in Orange County, California, to deliver the following photo-report of Mayhem Miller’s preparations for Dollaway. Please make sure to follow Scott on Twitter @ScottHirano. Mayhem Monkeys can follow their leader @MayhemMiller.

Check out the rest of this gallery on Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com!

UFC 146 Fight Card: Does UFC Need Alistair Overeem to Beat Junior Dos Santos?

In the clash between titanic heavyweights Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, the UFC would benefit more from the latter fighter winning. In fact, it’s crucial to the UFC’s success in Europe that Overeem does win. The UFC has had big plan…

In the clash between titanic heavyweights Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, the UFC would benefit more from the latter fighter winning. 

In fact, it’s crucial to the UFC’s success in Europe that Overeem does win. 

The UFC has had big plans for Europe. 

First it conquered the UK (and Ireland) and turned the British Isles into a veritable MMA hotbed. It then used the UK as a springboard to Europe proper, holding shows in Germany and soon Sweden. The UFC also plans to expand the brand’s presence in Europe by holding events in Spain, Italy and France.

Part of succeeding in a new territory is having “home grown” fighters for the native fans to root for (or, to put it in more realistic terms, purchase tickets/tune in for).

If Overeem beats Dos Santos and captures the UFC heavyweight championship, this problem will be solved. The Europeans will have more than a notable fighter—they’ll have a UFC champion.

Overeem’s hypothetical victory will also help the UFC in Europe in other ways besides giving the organization a marketable European superstar. It’ll help them fill the roster with European fighters down the road.

As it stands now, there simply aren’t that many great European fighters for MMA fans across the pond to love and admire. The high-echelon European fighters in the UFC are Michael Bisping, Alistair Overeem and Alexander Gustafsson. Then there are some mid- to low-level Europeans like Stefan Struve, Vladimir Matyushenko, Alessio Sakara and others.

That’s quite a small amount of Europeans to stretch into several different European cards. 

However, if Overeem wins at UFC 146, European youth will have an MMA champion to look up to, to daydream about being the same way American kids daydream about being Tom Brady or Peyton Manning (or perhaps even a jilted Tim Tebow).

Overeem’s win can and will popularize MMA in Europe, which will mean more people will train, which will mean the UFC will eventually have more European fighters to market there ,which will get more people to train. It’ll be a positive feedback loop that practically guarantees the UFC success.

However, that’s only if Alistair Overeem wins at UFC 146. 

So when you’re watching the clash of the two powerful heavyweight strikers, know there’s more at stake than just the belt; the timetable of the UFC’s success in Europe is at stake. 

If Overeem loses, the UFC will still eventually triumph but at a slower rate, while an Overeem victory will be the catalyst that finally makes the UFC and MMA a force in European sports.

 

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