Tag: UFC 149

Urijah Faber Focused & Determined to End Renan Barao’s Win Streak

You would be hard pressed to find another fighter more ambitious than Urijah Faber. The Team Alpha Male leader is a jack of all trades with a strong mind for business and an unflappable drive to accomplish his goals. He also happens to be one of the be…

You would be hard pressed to find another fighter more ambitious than Urijah Faber.

The Team Alpha Male leader is a jack of all trades with a strong mind for business and an unflappable drive to accomplish his goals. He also happens to be one of the best 135 pound fighters on the planet, and at UFC 149 he will have the opportunity to check “UFC champion” off his list.

When MMA needed it most, Faber was amongst a handful of fighters who helped push the sport to the next level. While Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz were carrying the UFC flag, Faber was at the helm of the WEC showing the world the excitement which came from the lighter weight classes. Faber didn’t just compete in the WEC; he was the king of the WEC—dominant and undisputed.

Like all fighters, “The California Kid” has faced ups and downs in his career. Losses to Mike Brown, Jose Aldo and Domick Cruz have stung him; but every time he’s stumbled, Faber has bounced back stronger and more determined.

Now he turns his focus to rising star Renan Barao, and the young Brazilian is the only thing standing between him and a dream realized.  Faber told Bleacher Report, “Becoming a UFC champion would mean a lot[…]I started this sport almost nine years ago and when I first started I wrote down on a piece of paper that I wanted to be either a Pride or a UFC world champion.The WEC title was almost justification of that dream but I still didn’t have the exact title I wanted. This is a huge opportunity and I’m ready to take advantage of it”

The clash between Faber and Barao represents a battle between the proven and the capable. Faber has been a champion and knows what it takes to remain at the top, whereas Barao has scrapped his way up the rankings to the upper tier of the bantamweight division.

While Barao has built momentum, Faber believes he’s never faced the type of test he is going to bring into the Octagon.  Faber said, “He’s never been in there with a guy like me[…]I’m not saying he doesn’t belong, it’s just that we haven’t seen it yet. We are going to get a real gauge of where Barao is at on Saturday. I’m looking to take his win streak out from under him. I don’t mind being the guy who says, ‘this is the top level and either you’re here or you aren’t.'”

“We are pretty closely matched across the board[…]I have a small advantage in wrestling, stamina and strength. His kicks and knees are probably his advantage. Everything else is close.”

“I think my speed matches up well but we are going to find out Saturday. You never really know that type of thing until you are standing in front of somebody. As soon as we are right there I think he’s going to be surprised to find out how fast I am.”

Due to the rash of injuries which has plagued the card for UFC 149, the match up for the interim bantamweight title was moved to the main event. In addition to the delay, the shuffling of opponents against the backdrop of a big fight would be enough to rattle a lesser fighter, but Faber has never been one to shy away from the spotlight, “I like to be one of the guys the UFC comes to come to the rescue[…]I’ve been a team player with them and always do my due diligence with media and things of that nature. Plus I always put on a show. That is the most important thing. I go out there and fight with heart and tenacity. I never give up and that’s something you are going to get from me every single time and the UFC knows that.”

“I’m going to be looking for the kill and trying to finish the fight from the get-go. I’m going to try to be really creative in this one. He’s a guy who brings it and I’m going to make sure I’m a step ahead. I’m ready for anything.”

Urijah Faber knows the task ahead will not be easy, but he wouldn’t appreciate reaching the destination if the journey wasn’t challenging. That is simply Urijah Faber’s way and what has motivated him to push himself to be the best fighter, entrepreneur, author and champion he can be.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 149 Fight Card: Should Brian Ebersole Be Fighting Twice in Under a Month?

After earning his 50th career mixed martial arts victory, one would think that journeyman welterweight Brian Ebersole would enjoy some time away from the Octagon.Instead of resting on his laurels, the 31-year-old MMA vet will look to have his hand rais…

After earning his 50th career mixed martial arts victory, one would think that journeyman welterweight Brian Ebersole would enjoy some time away from the Octagon.

Instead of resting on his laurels, the 31-year-old MMA vet will look to have his hand raised for the second time in less than a month as Ebersole prepares to take on James Head at this weekend’s UFC 149.

Most fighters Ebersole’s age would steer clear of fighting in back-to-back bouts will little time to rest and recover, especially considering that his last fight was a three-round affair against a budding young prospect in TJ Waldburger.  But much like Ebersole’s unorthodox fighting style, the self-proclaimed “Bad Boy” doesn’t like to play by the rules.

Ebersole isn’t like the other 30-somethings in the sport. 

Instead of teetering with a gatekeeper status or slowly sinking into retirement fighting on the regional scene, Ebersole is seriously making a run at something special while in the UFC.  His unorthodox striking style and humorous nature have transformed Ebersole into a very endearing and intriguing figure.

Despite this, he will have to fight to keep his name in the spotlight.  Any opportunity to get back in the cage will aid Ebersole in climbing the divisional ladder, so booking a pay-per-view card bout on short notice is a virtual must.

Let’s face it, nobody expected Ebersole to continue his winning ways when he joined the UFC.  But his four straight wins since joining the promotion and his entertaining style have made him into a dangerous veteran in the welterweight division.

A perennial underdog, Ebersole has cartwheel kicked his way into legitimacy as an emerging threat, but will have to keep his streak going if he wants to become more than just a motivational storyline.

Head will be a difficult challenge, as the young welterweight owns big wins over the likes of Papey Abedi and Gerald Harris.  However, his relative inexperience when compared to Ebersole’s resume will be a major advantage for the “Bad Boy.”

What Ebersole brings to the table that people shouldn’t discount is his ability to break the norm.  Finally finding his footing at a point in his career where most others are in the middle of or past their prime, Ebersole has made a career out of taking the tougher path.

Head’s going to be a hard guy to beat, but Ebersole wouldn’t have it any other way.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 149 Fight Card: Which Fight Will Steal the Show?

This Saturday, the UFC makes its first trip to Calgary in Canada, as the interim bantamweight title is on the line between former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber and Renan Barao.In the co-main event, former Bellator middleweight champion, Hecto…

This Saturday, the UFC makes its first trip to Calgary in Canada, as the interim bantamweight title is on the line between former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber and Renan Barao.

In the co-main event, former Bellator middleweight champion, Hector Lombard, squares off against Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch.

Many fans expect those two fights to be absolutely fantastic. Faber and Barao have a combined 54 wins and 40 finishes in those wins. That’s pretty insane.

Lombard and Boetsch have a combined 46 wins and 36 finishes.

All of these guys have lots of fights, and I wouldn’t expect any of them to go the distance.

However, with all that in mind, the fight that will steal the show will be a welterweight battle between Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole and James Head.

Ebersole fought recently, back at UFC on FX 4, where he earned a decision win over TJ Waldburger just four weeks ago.

Head is not a familiar name to many fans, but he could be a threat in the welterweight division. He went 7-2 as a middleweight—including a win over Gerald Harris, which got him into the UFC—but after losing his UFC debut, he dropped to welterweight where he submitted Papy Abedi in the first round.

Ebersole is on an 11-fight win streak and is 4-0 in the UFC. He has said that after this fight he will drop to the lightweight division, and look to make a run there.

Head is looking to get his first win over a top UFC competitor to really be able to call himself a threat in the division.

Both of these fighters are well rounded, and able to finish a fight anywhere it goes. Ebersole has been in some insanely entertaining fights in his time in the UFC, and I wouldn’t expect Saturday night to be any different.

 

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on Twitter @TimMcTiernan.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 149 Fight Card: Brian Ebersole Will Get Second Win in 30 Days vs. James Head

Brian Ebersole has the opportunity to accomplish a rare feat in today’s UFC landscape—with a win over James Head at UFC 149, Ebersole would have two wins within the span of 30 days.Ebersole was victorious in a UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida bout wi…

Brian Ebersole has the opportunity to accomplish a rare feat in today’s UFC landscape—with a win over James Head at UFC 149, Ebersole would have two wins within the span of 30 days.

Ebersole was victorious in a UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida bout with TJ Waldburger by unanimous decision on June 22, and felt good enough to step in for the July 21 UFC 149 card for an injured Claude Patrick to take on Head.

While many fighters would shirk the idea of such a quick turnaround, Ebersole is the kind of fighter that embraces the short layoff and will use the opportunity to gain even more momentum. Despite the shortened preparation period, Ebersole is heavily favored to come out on top.

How do we know that Ebersole can win two fights within a month’s time?

He’s been there before.

In 2011, Ebersole won a fight against Hamish Robertson on January 29 outside of the UFC before turning around less than 30 days later to pick up a UFC victory over highly respected Chris Lytle on February 27. While Ebersole’s competition may be a bit stiffer with back-to-back UFC fights, Ebersole should be up to the challenge.

Ebersole may be the most underrated fighter in the UFC. With a record of 50-14, it’s easy to look at Ebersole as a journeyman who doesn’t pose a serious threat.

However, Ebersole’s stock has never been higher in his career.

He finds himself in the midst of a four-fight win streak in the UFC and an 11-fight win streak since his last loss in 2008. His last loss? A submission loss to Hector Lombard—a fighter many expect to be the next challenger to Anderson Silva‘s title.

Ebersole has been playing the role of gatekeeper effectively since coming to the UFC in 2011, and Head should join the list of opponents that Ebersole has bested. With 14 wins by knockout and 20 wins by submission, Ebersole can finish the fight anywhere and has much more experience than Head, who is entering his third UFC fight with an 8-2 record.

With recent wins over TJ Waldburger, Claude Patrick, Dennis Hallman and Chris Lytle, Ebersole is more than deserving of a marquee matchup with a big-name opponent in the welterweight division.

Perhaps taking out two talented welterweight prospects within 30 days of each other will be enough to launch Ebersole into the top-ten welterweight discussion.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Clements Is Good at Taking Beatings and Is Ready to Give Riddle One at UFC 149

Sometimes it takes fighters longer than others to get to the UFC. Unlike his opponent at UFC 149, Matt Riddle, who’s fought his whole career in the UFC, it took Chris Clements seven years to get into the UFC.Clements (11-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) looks to contin…

Sometimes it takes fighters longer than others to get to the UFC. Unlike his opponent at UFC 149, Matt Riddle, who’s fought his whole career in the UFC, it took Chris Clements seven years to get into the UFC.

Clements (11-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) looks to continue his run in the UFC as he takes on Matt Riddle (6-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) to kick off the main card at UFC 149 on Saturday night.

It was a long, grinding road for Clements to get into the UFC. He made his debut at UFC 145 in April with a unanimous decision victory over Keith Wisniewski.

Clements holds the world record for the quickest knockout in MMA history when he knocked out Lautaro Tucas in three seconds in May of 2006. He attributes that to part of the reason why it took him so long to get to the biggest stage in MMA.

“A lot of it I think has to do with that world record,” Clements told Bleacher Report. “I think after I came onto the scene, I knock a guy out in three seconds.

“It was really hard for me to get fights. Especially from where I come from in Ontario, it was illegal for MMA and it’s not feasible. No one who sucks is gonna fight me after I just knocked a guy out in three seconds.

“So in order for a promoter to get somebody to fight me, that person is gonna have to be a higher-ranked guy, and they would have to pay him a lot more money to come. I’m not a local guy, either, so now they’re spending money on two guys who can’t sell tickets.

“It took me a long time to build up a record because I couldn’t get a fight. If I did get a fight, I would have to fight a bigger guy and it was usually last-minute.”

UFC 149 has gone through a lot of changes to the card. Clements was added to the card at the beginning of June to replace Thiago Alves and face Siyar Bahadurzada.

Then, Bahadurzada had to bow out at the beginning of this month, and Riddle stepped in. Clements feels Bahadurzada would have gotten up the title ladder much quicker, but feels Riddle has more game.

“They’re both great opponents for me,” Clements stated. “I think Siyar is a standup fighter. He’s around my height, he’s right handed, we both have a lot of power. But, he was more of a building guy. He was the guy that would launch me way up in the rankings.

“At the same time, I’m not one of those guys that’s trying to go up in the rankings. I just want to go in there and have fun. Put on exciting fights and more people want to watch me fight.

“Matt Riddle is a great guy for that at the same time as well. Stylistically, I think me and Siyar would have been an easy fight to figure out. Where Matt has a little bit more game, but Matt is not great at anything. He’s more well-rounded, but he’s not a superior striker like Siyar is. He is more well-rounded and you don’t know what he’s gonna do.”

Clements respects everything that Riddle has in done in the cage, but he is ready to take a beating in order for him to give Riddle one and secure a victory in his home country.

“I like Matt as a fighter,” Clements stated. “He’s a good character and he keeps a smile on his face. He seems to enjoy being in there, kind of like myself. He comes to fight, the same as I do.

“I think he is a great opponent, especially since I’m expecting a big bonus at the end of the night against a guy like him. He can go out there, give it to him and he’s gonna keep trying to come back and get more. He’s good at taking beatings and I’m good at giving beatings.”

UFC 149 takes place on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Clements vs. Riddle fight is on the main card, and you can see it live only on pay-per view starting at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

You can listen to the entire interview with Chris Clements here.

You can also follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 149: Hector Lombard vs. Tim Boetsch Tactical Breakdown

In the furor surrounding the cursed UFC 149 card, the Octagon debut of Hector Lombard, the would-be challenger to Anderson Silva’s 185-pound title, has been largely overlooked. The Cuban’s bout with “The Barbarian” Tim Boetsch m…

In the furor surrounding the cursed UFC 149 card, the Octagon debut of Hector Lombard, the would-be challenger to Anderson Silva’s 185-pound title, has been largely overlooked. The Cuban’s bout with “The Barbarian” Tim Boetsch may not transcend the sport, but there is no doubting its title implications. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Saturday night’s Co-Main Event.

Let’s be clear from the outset. This is not a “gimme” for the Tyson-esque former Bellator middleweight king. Tim Boetsch has been on a tear recently, and will enjoy a significant size advantage over Lombard.

Sure, “The Barbarian” was beaten from pillar to post in his last fight, against the interminably underrated Yushin Okami, but his mental toughness and hammer-like right hand carried him to perhaps the biggest win of his career—much to Joe Rogan’s excitement.

How should Hector Lombard approach a fight against an opponent who will doubtless dwarf him in the cage? Why, with his usual brand of unbridled aggression, of course. It is the only way he knows how to fight, and it just so happens to be the most effective approach against Boetsch.

Lombard should start the fight as though he has dinner reservations. Given his occasional stamina issues, the cartoonishly muscular Cuban should seek to end Boetsch’s night early. And when one considers the power Lombard carries in his fists, a quick finish is not beyond the realm of the possible.

As always, it is easy to sit here and speculate as to how a fighter should approach his job, but the reality is that Lombard will need to get inside on “The Barbarian,” running the risk of getting clipped on the way in.

I would prescribe kicks in order to close the distance, but Lombard is perhaps more likely to throw a head-butt before he resorts to a nuanced kicking game. He will have to be lucky or hope his chin holds up while he wades in with haymakers.

There is also the slim possibility that the former Olympic judoka will take advantage of his world class clinch game, relying on throws and trips to put Boetsch on his back. Strangely, this does not appear to be Lombard’s modus operandi, so this is only marginally more likely than the aforementioned kicking scenario.

On the other side of the cage, Boetsch needs to get off to a faster start than is the norm. One gets the feeling that Lombard will be less charitable than Okami.

He cannot expect to take a pounding for a couple of rounds on Saturday and still remain conscious, unless he plans on making a comeback from the afterlife this time—Joe Rogan may explode if that occurs. Boetsch must not to get caught cold.

Boetsch’s game has never been subtle, but he might have to bank on a little technique this weekend. Now, I am not suggesting the tank-like Maine Wrestling Hall of Famer turn into Floyd Mayweather, but it wouldn’t hurt to put a little distance between himself and the walking muscle.

If the fight does turn into a Greco match against the cage, that might very well favour “The Barbarian,” despite being the less credentialed clinch-technician. He can use his size and strength to wear on Lombard, which could pay dividends towards the end of the fight.

Although this is a tough test for the former Bellator champ, he will likely find success at some point in the fight. And with his power, the smart money should go on a first- or second-round TKO for Lombard.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com