Tag: UFC 147

Marcos Vinicius vs. Wagner Campos: Vinicius Wins with Impressive TKO

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil fighter Marcos Vinicius withstood two rounds of being controlled on the ground by elite grappler Wagner Campos before exploding for a TKO win in the third round. The two TUF: Brazil teammates are both BJJ black belts, but C…

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil fighter Marcos Vinicius withstood two rounds of being controlled on the ground by elite grappler Wagner Campos before exploding for a TKO win in the third round.

The two TUF: Brazil teammates are both BJJ black belts, but Campos clearly was on an entirely different level than Vinicius.  Even so, Campos couldn’t finish the head-arm choke he locked in during the first round, and mysteriously gave up on it. 

During the second round, Campos tried to lock in a kimura, but Vinicius was able to defend against it. 

Instead, Vinicius landed hammerfists from the bottom, while staying active using upkicks to keep Campos aware of potential threats before simply trying to dive in.

Heading into the third round, Campos was up 20-18 on the scorecards, when Vinicius landed a flying knee to the body.  From there, he landed another knee and unleashed a number of big punches against his stunned opponent, with referee Herb Dean stopping the fight just 1:07 into the third and final round.

“First of all, this win was amazing,” Vinicius said in the octagon after the fight.  “I can’t even compare the feeling of being inside the (‘TUF’) house.  Now, I get to have my wife and my family with me.  This is truly a gift from God.”

I absolutely love when a fighter understands he is down on the scorecards and suddenly bursts out of nowhere to surprise his opponent. 

As the third round started, I expected to see Vinicius continue to fight off his back, as Campos would try to implement the same game plan that saw him succeed through the first two rounds.

The TKO finish for Vinicius helped him collect a $65,000 “Knockout of the Night” award from the UFC—and since the fight happened on the Facebook prelims, he likely gained a few new fans along the way. 

What’s next for the featherweight? 

If the UFC wants to keep him against Brazilian fighters, matchups between Vinicius and Felipe Arantes or Hugo Viana would be viable options.  The UFC plans on heading back to Brazil in the fall, and it would be a perfect time to showcase the lighter Brazilian weight classes again.

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UFC 147 Results: Top 10 Heavyweights in the UFC

The heavyweight division is the biggest division in MMA. While that is literally true, we are talking in terms of prestige. No prize is bigger than the UFC Heavyweight championship. Last night, highly ranked Fabricio Werdum made quick work out of …

The heavyweight division is the biggest division in MMA. While that is literally true, we are talking in terms of prestige. No prize is bigger than the UFC Heavyweight championship. 

Last night, highly ranked Fabricio Werdum made quick work out of once-beaten Mike Russow at UFC 147. Russow was 4-0 in the UFC and was working his way up the ladder. Despite his recent success, Werdum showed why he is one of the best in the world.

How did this win shake up the rankings? Let’s take a look. These are the top 10 heavyweights in the UFC.

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UFC 147: Is Rich Franklin a Middleweight Title Contender?

In the UFC 147 main event, Rich “Ace” Franklin emerged victorious after defeating Wanderlei Silva for a second time.The fight meant very little in terms of rankings or in either man’s career, but it was one of the best fights thus far into 20…

In the UFC 147 main event, Rich “Ace” Franklin emerged victorious after defeating Wanderlei Silva for a second time.

The fight meant very little in terms of rankings or in either man’s career, but it was one of the best fights thus far into 2012. Franklin endured a number of Silva flurries and even survived nearly being finished in the second frame.

It was also Franklin’s first fight since UFC 126 where “Ace” lost to the much bigger Forrest Griffin. Despite the long layoff, Franklin looked his normal self and is making people begin to take the ageing vet seriously at middleweight.

But how seriously should we take Franklin right now? Is he a serious title contender?

Barring some sort of crazy Dan Henderson-like career resurgence, the answer has to be a definite no. Franklin doesn’t have the power or skill set to compete with the upper-tier middleweights. He’s like the utility man in baseball—good at everything, but just not great.

He can give a number of middleweights a run for their money and certainly could surprise a few folks who’ve written him off due to the inconsistency in his career lately. But in no way, shape, or form should fans believe Franklin has another title run in him.

For one thing, Anderson Silva is still the champion and should he defeat Chael Sonnen, there’s no way the UFC could sell a third meeting between “The Spider” and Franklin. That’s not even considering how long it would take Franklin to be put “in the mix.”

Franklin is, at best, two fights away from being labeled a contender. On a normal fight schedule that’s the better part of a year and that’s not considering any injuries that may occur. As any older person will tell you, they’re not the same as they once were.

Franklin has had injury problems before—it’s what kept him out of action since last February. Not only is Franklin more susceptible to injuries, but his body will also take longer to heal from them. When you add in the fact that weight cutting only gets tougher as you age, Franklin definitely has the odds stacked against him.

We’ve seen a few fighters like Henderson and Couture find success at an older age but those stories are few and very far in between. Franklin is one of the most well-conditioned athletes in the UFC, a trait that has never failed him inside the Octagon, but getting into title contention is akin to NBA fans liking LeBron James.

It’s possible but it won’t be happening any time soon.

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Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin Results: Can Franklin Contend at 185?

Last evening we witnessed Rich “Ace” Franklin return to winning fashion in his unanimous decision victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 in Brazil. But now that Franklin captured his first win since UFC 115, the real questions start to flood in. What …

Last evening we witnessed Rich “Ace” Franklin return to winning fashion in his unanimous decision victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 in Brazil.

But now that Franklin captured his first win since UFC 115, the real questions start to flood in. What does this win mean for Franklin’s career? Is he back? Is he a legitimate contender for the middleweight belt? All of these questions are valid as Franklin has proven time and time again that he is in fact, an all-time great.

However, as the years go by, we rarely see Franklin, who’s fought just three times in the last three years. Like many aging stars, the injury plague has haunted Franklin, causing him time away from the Octagon.

But, if last evening’s win over Silva proved anything, it proved Franklin still has a lot left in the tank, right?

Not exactly.

In fact, Franklin’s time away from the Octagon has greatly affected his placement in the middleweight rankings, along with his caliber of opponent. In order to keep his reputable name alive, the UFC has matched Franklin with fading stars in Silva, Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, who hasn’t taken the center stage in nearly a year.

Franklin’s skill set and will to succeed still allows him to hang with “the best of the the best.” But, that doesn’t necessarily mean defeat “the best of the best.” There’s no denying that if Franklin wants to hang around for a few more years, he can.

The UFC loves him, and so do the fans and members of the media. However, no one should expect Franklin to return to championship fashion.

Franklin’s best days are long gone and they aren’t coming back.

 

For additional information, follow Garrett Derr on Twitter.

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Wanderlei Silva’s Gas Tank May Be Empty

Working to collect a TKO finish, Wanderlei Silva went for it all when he had Rich Franklin injured towards the end of the second round of their fight last night, in UFC 147.  The experienced Brazilian was extremely close to collecting the stoppage…

Working to collect a TKO finish, Wanderlei Silva went for it all when he had Rich Franklin injured towards the end of the second round of their fight last night, in UFC 147. 

The experienced Brazilian was extremely close to collecting the stoppage win when he dropped Franklin with powerful right hands, but he was unable to finish the very game American. 

Instead, Franklin was saved by the bell and was able to regroup, outstriking Silva in a standup battle the rest of the fight. 

After the second-round melee against Franklin, it looked like Silva gassed himself out, and for the rest of the fight he didn’t have the same type of tempo. 

It was interesting to see how the third round started, because if Silva had anything left, that would have been the best time to step up the pace and see if Franklin would crack. 

However, Franklin was able to find his range and regain his rhythm without Silva’s being able to increase the ferociousness of the pace again.

Through the next three rounds, Franklin seemed to be on autopilot, able to out-strike Silva in a back-and-forth fight. Franklin utilized good footwork and jab-and-boxing combinations to frustrate Silva and keep the Brazilian off balance. 

Until the late fifth round, Silva had a sluggish striking style and was unable to come close to finishing the fight again. 

In the closing minutes of the fight, when Silva decided to throw caution to the wind and brawl, Franklin was able to stun the Brazilian at the bell.

I’m impressed that both fighters were able to make it through all five rounds, but I’m not sure if Silva has anything left in his gas tank.

He’s still very interested in fighting and clearly has a desire to fight for his fans when he’s inside the cage. Also aiding him is that he still clearly has an instinct to pounce when he thinks he’s close to finishing an opponent.

However, he gassed himself trying to finish Franklin and was never really able to recover over the subsequent three rounds.

If he puts everything he has into a three-round fight, I’m not convinced he’ll be able to withstand a heavy amount of punishment and still provide a high level of offense against an opponent.

This puts Silva in a very confusing position as his legendary MMA fight careers draws closer to a finish.

Dana White said a rematch with Vitor Belfort seems unlikely right now, even though both fighters served as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. However, Silva seems anxious to fight in Brazil again, and he likely earned another chance to fight.

So we’ll have to see what the UFC wants to do with him.

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Silva vs. Franklin Results: Is It Time for Rich Franklin to Retire?

Rich Franklin has always taken the road less traveled in his MMA fighting career.A former math teacher in Ohio, Franklin has always kept his head down and let his hard work do the talking, an approach that helped him climb to the top of the middleweigh…

Rich Franklin has always taken the road less traveled in his MMA fighting career.

A former math teacher in Ohio, Franklin has always kept his head down and let his hard work do the talking, an approach that helped him climb to the top of the middleweight division and defeat Evan Tanner for the UFC title in June 2005.

There has never been a better role model for the sport.

Franklin accomplished the highest honor in securing UFC gold, and he will one day walk across the stage and accept his plaque from UFC President Dana White as an inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.

What else does he have to prove? Is it time for him to retire?

In October, Franklin will celebrate his 38th birthday. He is probably stronger mentally than he’s ever been in his entire career, but physically, things are slowly beginning to taper off for the former middleweight champ.

His chin and reflexes aren’t what they used to be. Despite Franklin’s incredible ability to recover, it doesn’t take much to put him on wobbly these days.

He continues to see improvement in his striking, but his overall speed and reaction time has steadily declined over the years.

Franklin is one of the hardest workers in all of MMA, but Father Time makes humans of us all.

With that said, Franklin still has much to offer the UFC and the middleweight division. It shouldn’t come as a shock if he even finds a way to climb back into title contention. There aren’t many middleweights out there with his size and experience.

He is certainly at his strongest at 185 pounds, and it’ll be interesting to see how he matches up against some of the other upper-echelon contenders.

People tend to get hasty about pushing fighters into retirement, but honestly, only the fighter and his camp can truly decide when it’s time to hang up the gloves.

It doesn’t look like Franklin plans on doing that anytime soon.

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