Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. Two men who helped build the UFC into what it is today. Both former light heavyweight champions. Locked in a sure-to-be intense battle that will end with Ortiz walking off into the sunset after an illustrious career. At …
Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. Two men who helped build the UFC into what it is today. Both former light heavyweight champions. Locked in a sure-to-be intense battle that will end with Ortiz walking off into the sunset after an illustrious career. At least, that is what the fight is being billed as. As with any high-profile fight, this one has UFC President Dana White “rounding up” when it comes to the actual impact of this bout.
For a variety of reasons, this fight is simply not a big deal. Both Griffin and Ortiz are in a position in their careers where this was not a fight that they should have made, and the inevitable efforts to portray this fight as something other than a gimmick fight should not be taken seriously.
Whether or not the fight proves to be a successful main or co-main event financially (the UFC 148 card is not completely arranged yet), it remains a sideshow.
The UFC’s middleweight division has suddenly become one of the more intriguing in the organization, despite the fact that Anderson Silva has dominated the weightclass for half a decade. Longtime contender Michael Bisping has been on the verge of …
The UFC’s middleweight division has suddenly become one of the more intriguing in the organization, despite the fact that Anderson Silva has dominated the weightclass for half a decade.
Longtime contender Michael Bisping has been on the verge of a title shot for quite a while, but unable to get that big win that pushes him into a title bout. After losing to Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2 in January, he’ll have to win a few more before he gets a crack at the belt.
On the flip side, Tim Boetsch has been on a tear since dropping to middleweight in early 2011, taking out Kendall Grove and Nick Ring in his first two bouts and scoring a huge come-from-behind knockout of former title contender Yushin Okami at UFC 144 this February.
The winner of this UFC 148 bout will be on the shortlist of title contenders in the division and could be a win away from scoring their first chance at a UFC belt.
Yesterday, the UFC announced that top bantamweights Renan Barao and Ivan Menjivar are now scheduled to meet at UFC 148. Barao, who was initially scheduled to meet Jeff Hougland at the event, confirmed the switch on his Twitter account by saying “Menjivar is my new opponent at UFC 148. I know him.” Brevity is the soul of wit, people.
Don’t be surprised if the winner of this fight meets the winner of UFC 148’s (expected) main event clash between Urijah Faber and champion Dominick Cruz. Both fighters are 3-0 in the octagon, with Menjivar coming off of a wild, back and forth fight against John Albert at UFC on FUEL, which saw “The Pride of El Salvador” take home a first round rear-naked choke victory and Submission of the Night honors. Meanwhile, Barao has gone twenty nine straight fights without a loss. His most recent fight was a dominant performance against Scott Jorgensen at UFC 143, which saw him take home a unanimous decision victory.
Yesterday, the UFC announced that top bantamweights Renan Barao and Ivan Menjivar are now scheduled to meet at UFC 148. Barao, who was initially scheduled to meet Jeff Hougland at the event, confirmed the switch on his Twitter account by saying “Menjivar is my new opponent at UFC 148. I know him.” Brevity is the soul of wit, people.
Don’t be surprised if the winner of this fight meets the winner of UFC 148′s (expected) main event clash between Urijah Faber and champion Dominick Cruz. Both fighters are 3-0 in the octagon, with Menjivar coming off of a wild, back and forth fight against John Albert at UFC on FUEL, which saw “The Pride of El Salvador” take home a first round rear-naked choke victory and Submission of the Night honors. Meanwhile, Barao has gone twenty nine straight fights without a loss. His most recent fight was a dominant performance against Scott Jorgensen at UFC 143, which saw him take home a unanimous decision victory.
While Rich Franklin is getting ready for UFC 148, his mind may be far, far in the future. In an interview with MMAWeekly Radio, Franklin spoke about his good recovery from a shoulder injury and his workout in preparation for the upcoming middleweight f…
While Rich Franklin is getting ready for UFC 148, his mind may be far, far in the future.
In an interview with MMAWeekly Radio, Franklin spoke about his good recovery from a shoulder injury and his workout in preparation for the upcoming middleweight fight against Cung Le. Not only does he feel good about the fight, but the move back down to middleweight seems to be a welcome change, especially after a history of moving between middleweight and light heavyweight.
“You don’t really have a home,” Franklin says. “Your body is constantly having to adjust to different weights, so this should help stabilize things for me. Hopefully, this is where I’ll finish my career.”
To Franklin, that career still includes a run for the middleweight title:
That would be my Cinderella story. It would be great. I had one chance at that and fighting in my hometown and all that kind of stuff to regain my title, swing and a miss, strike one. I moved up to 205 and never really quite put things together at 205, swing and a miss, strike two. So hopefully this would be the way to end it.
While Franklin’s title fight won’t happen anytime soon, UFC 148 is likely to be a similar rallying point for a few of the biggest names in UFC who are returning from losses, including the light heavyweight winner between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz. The same may be said for Franklin’s opponent, Cung Le, who is coming off of his November ’11 loss to Wanderlei Silva.
Perhaps the greater question beyond a simple victory in this fight, the one that will determine Franklin’s potential route to a middleweight title fight, is whether or not the UFC will be interested in investing in it. According to Franklin, the organization proved once already that they had little interest in keeping him at 185. But given his work at 205, as hard to decipher as it may be (he has won 3-of-6 light heavyweight fights since his middleweight victory over Travis Lutter in 2008), a move to a more comfortable weight is promising.
Moreover, a rematch against Anderson Silva could prove interesting, especially with the implicit understanding that Franklin has Silva penciled in as part of that title run. It’s hard to argue that Franklin can win a rematch, but if Franklin’s performance from now on is satisfactory enough, more than a few fans may favorably receive the bout.
Regardless, this makes the upcoming Franklin vs. Le fight that much more important. It’ll likely be a good stand-up match between the strikers, regardless of the victor. But if it proves to be an exciting victory for Franklin, his Cinderella story may happen yet.
Michael Bisping doesn’t mince words.It’s a trait that makes him one of the best interviews in the sport as well as one of the UFC’s most-hated fighters.Bisping joined the illustrious Gareth A. Davies on the ESPN UK Podcast and discussed several interes…
It’s a trait that makes him one of the best interviews in the sport as well as one of the UFC’s most-hated fighters.
Bisping joined the illustrious Gareth A. Davies on the ESPN UK Podcast and discussed several interesting tidbits, including a comparison between his UFC 148 opponent Tim Boetsch and Mark Munoz.
I have never really looked at Mark Munoz and thought he looked like a particularly dangerous opponent. His ground and pound looks good, his wrestling doesn’t look all that dangerous, his stand up is suspect and he’s got a weak chin. I think Tim Boetsch is probably a harder fight.
I’m sorry, but I have a hard time taking someone seriously when they say Mark Munoz’ wrestling doesn’t look all that good.
We all know Munoz has some of the best wrestling in the sport, with the pedigree in amateur wrestling to back it up. His entire ground and pound game—which I will admit has become the most-feared aspect of his game—is predicated on his ability to effortlessly control his opponents on the ground.
It may not look like much, but it takes an enormous amount of skill and strength to do what Munoz does to his opponents on the ground.
I don’t know if Boetsch is a harder fight than Munoz.
Both fighters hit very hard and both are very strong, but I think Munoz’ wrestling game gives him an advantage over Boetsch.
Bisping also revealed that he turned down an offer to fight Cung Le at UFC 148.
That’s a good move on his part. Le is coming off a knockout loss to Wanderlei Silva, and it would have been a step back for Bisping to go in the cage with him.
Bisping lost his last bout to Chael Sonnen, but looked great in the fight and it was much closer than the judges’ scorecards let on.
He should be inching his way towards a title fight, not away from one, and Le would have been a big step back in terms of his contending for the title.
The UFC announced a pair of interesting newly signed welterweight match-ups today.
First, Zuffa announced via UFC.com that a barnburner main event between 170-pound contenders Martin Kampmann (19-5) and Jake Ellenberger (27-5) will cap off “The Ultimate Fighter Live” finale June 1 on FX. Both fighters are known for their heavy hands and solid chins, but Kampmann may hold a slight edge on the ground.
The 29-year-old Danish fighter has seven submission victories on his resume, accounting for 29 percent of his 74 percent finishing rate and has never tapped out in the cage. Ellenberger has only five submission wins in 32 fights, which adds up to 16 percent of his 52 percent rate of stoppage. Regardless of stats, the bout should be an entertaining one.
The UFC announced a pair of interesting newly signed welterweight match-ups today.
First, Zuffa announced via UFC.com that a barnburner main event between 170-pound contenders Martin Kampmann (19-5) and Jake Ellenberger (27-5) will cap off “The Ultimate Fighter Live” finale June 1 on FX. Both fighters are known for their heavy hands and solid chins, but Kampmann may hold a slight edge on the ground.
The 29-year-old Danish fighter has seven submission victories on his resume, accounting for 29 percent of his 74 percent finishing rate and has never tapped out in the cage. Ellenberger has only five submission wins in 32 fights, which adds up to 16 percent of his 52 percent rate of stoppage. Regardless of stats, the bout should be an entertaining one.
Hopefully the weight cut doesn’t sap Demian of his strength and energy, because this has all of the makings of a classic style match-up between striker and grappler.
While Rich Franklin is getting ready for 