Hector Lombard had, by fa,r one of the weirdest—and possibly worst—debuts in UFC history. The former Bellator champion was expected to walk into the Octagon and display his trademark punching prowess at UFC 149.Lombard was even believed to …
Hector Lombard had, by fa,r one of the weirdest—and possibly worst—debuts in UFC history. The former Bellator champion was expected to walk into the Octagon and display his trademark punching prowess at UFC 149.
Lombard was even believed to be next in line for a title shot if he could defeat Tim Boetsch. It was not to be, however, as Lombard looked nothing like himself outside of thwarting a number of Boetsch takedown attempts. The American Top Team fighter took to his Facebook account to explain the performance.
“I want to let all my fans know. I fought mu last fight injured. i wasnt 100% sure but i when to the doctors… I have a fracture sternum with a torn cartilage, i got this injure in training for my fight with Tim Boetsch. I have to be out of training for 6weeks i should never have fought like that, but i didnt want to let my fans and the UFC down, love you all.”
That seems like a fine explanation and sheds some light on why Lombard looked dreadful in his UFC debut. It was expected that Lombard would come out and put his detractors to rest with a win over a solid UFC fighter in Boetsch.
Instead, Lombard seemed content to literally stand in front of Boetsch and unload one power punch at a time. Boetsch was able to maneuver around the strong punches to land kicks that ultimately proved a decisive factor in the decision victory.
There was one bright spot for Lombard as he clearly hurt Boetsch with a kick to the midsection. However, Boetsch was able to recover and gather himself for the remainder of the fight. If there was one positive thought to take away from the fight for Lombard, it’s that Boetsch couldn’t take him down even with the painful injury that he had.
If Lombard does really sit out the next six weeks from training, that means we likely won’t see him until December or early 2013. Before UFC 149, Lombard was practically begging for a fight with Mark Munoz. Although UFC President Dana White already nixed the idea, a fight with Munoz makes a lot of sense.
Dominick Cruz has that same condition Chuck Liddell has, where part of his brain automatically switches into “I’M FIGHTING” mode when he’s watching other people fight, and he begins to lose control of his body. Fuel TV has released a revealing pair of behind-the-scenes clips shot backstage during last Saturday’s Faber vs. Barao fight. In the first one, Cruz is pacing back and forth like Burt Watson just told him it’s time to roll. The sound of the interim bantamweight title fight being introduced is enough to give Dominick some painful flashbacks.
As you’ll see in the next clip (after the jump), Jon Anik and Brian Stann were at the other end of that hall the whole time, and God knows what they must have made of the pacing thing. Cruz and Stann break down the action, and unsurprisingly, Dominick is unable to stand still. You get the sense that Cruz was pulling for Urijah to win. Did he see something in Barao that spooked him, or did he just want another opportunity to beat up his old rival?
Dominick Cruz has that same condition Chuck Liddell has, where part of his brain automatically switches into “I’M FIGHTING” mode when he’s watching other people fight, and he begins to lose control of his body. Fuel TV has released a revealing pair of behind-the-scenes clips shot backstage during last Saturday’s Faber vs. Barao fight. In the first one, Cruz is pacing back and forth like Burt Watson just told him it’s time to roll. The sound of the interim bantamweight title fight being introduced is enough to give Dominick some painful flashbacks.
As you’ll see in the next clip (after the jump), Jon Anik and Brian Stann were at the other end of that hall the whole time, and God knows what they must have made of the pacing thing. Cruz and Stann break down the action, and unsurprisingly, Dominick is unable to stand still. You get the sense that Cruz was pulling for Urijah to win. Did he see something in Barao that spooked him, or did he just want another opportunity to beat up his old rival?
Faber fans were completely devastated at UFC 149 last weekend. Fans were wildly anticipating an amazing rubber match between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. After Cruz was injured, fans were then hoping Faber would dominate.
Faber fans were completely devastated at UFC 149 last weekend. Fans were wildly anticipating an amazing rubber match between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. After Cruz was injured, fans were then hoping Faber would dominate Barao for the Interim Bantamweight Belt, so they could finally see who was the better of the two fighters who have had a bitter feud since WEC days. However, this may not happen for a while. Once again.
I personally was hoping Faber would beat Barao by unanimous decision. However, the outcome was the exact opposite. Now Faber must work his way through champion contendership fights, to get a change at the Bantamweight champion, be it Cruz, Barao, or a new fighter. After reviewing the fight, and reading comments, I discovered Urijah Faber had actually broken his rib in the first round. It is important to realize first of all Urijah was an excellent loser. He really was. This was his exact tweet:
“Congrats 2 @RenanBaraoUFC. He’s a tough dude. Broke my rib in the 1st with a great knee. Thank u 4 all the support.”
Clearly, if Faber had broken his rib in the first round, he would have to fight through 25 minutes with a broken rib. Seeing as he barely landed any punches, this could be why. He must have been in immense pain, but as a warrior tried to push through it throughout the fight. We don’t know if this broken rib is what caused Faber to lose the fight, but if so it is a consequence of fighting that must be accepted before entering the ring. Cruz and Faber fans can only hope that Cruz will keep his belt, and one day soon Cruz and Faber can finally determine the better fighter and settle their feud.
I like Tim Boetsch for a bunch of reasons, really, but the main thing I enjoy about him is that he’s a direct talker. By that, I mean that if you ask him a question, he’s going to give you a straight answer. He doesn’t dance around questions and he doe…
I like Tim Boetsch for a bunch of reasons, really, but the main thing I enjoy about him is that he’s a direct talker. By that, I mean that if you ask him a question, he’s going to give you a straight answer. He doesn’t dance around questions and he doesn’t give the standard fighter-speak boilerplate response of “I just want to compete and I’ll fight whoever the UFC puts in front of me.”
Boetsch scored the biggest win of his career over Hector Lombard last Saturday night at UFC 149. Does that make him a contender? He certainly has a strong case. He’s 4-0 at middleweight, and his last two wins (Lombard and Yushin Okami) were against title contenders.
But the top of the middleweight division is packed. Chris Weidman, Brian Stann, Alan Belcher and Michael Bisping are all laying claim to the contender’s throne and there’s a chance that Rashad Evans could drop down to middleweight and bypass all of them. Boetsch, despite his two big previous wins, is on the outside looking in.
But Boetsch isn’t in a hurry, telling Inside MMA on Monday night that all he has to do is keep up his winning ways and he’ll eventually get a title shot:
For me, when a guy runs his mouth and there’s high expectations, it’s part of fighting. I’ve find that I’m kind of the opposite of that. I wanna perform, and maybe that’s why I’m not on the radar, and everybody’s not talking about me. But, if I beat enough people, it’s gonna be hard to ignore me, and it’s gonna be hard to deny me that title shot.
I’m not sure who they’re gonna put in front of me, after a win over Hector, after a win over Okami, but whoever they put in front of me, next, I’ll get the win. I think I match up great (with Anderson Silva). He struggles with wrestlers, and I’m a wrestler that also can do a lot of damage with my fists and kicks and submissions. I haven’t been showing my submission game much, but we’ll save that for the world championship. If I need to submit Anderson Silva, I know I can.
I’m not sure about the idea of Boetsch submitting Anderson Silva. I mean, anything can happen in MMA, and it often does. But attempting to submit Silva doesn’t seem like the best kind of game plan for Boetsch to focus on.
But we’re a long way from even discussing game plans at this point. Boetsch will need one more big win to be considered for a title shot, so what’s next for the burly middleweight? Vitor Belfort wants to fight Weidman, but Weidman doesn’t seem to like that idea very much. Belcher wants to fight Belfort, and his camp is attempting to goad the Brazilian into accepting the fight. And Bisping and Stann are scheduled to square off in September.
One of these guys is going to be left out in the cold, and they’ll need an opponent. To me, Boetsch taking on any of those top names makes sense.
UFC 149 was the first event to be held in Canada in 2012. Support for the UFC in Canada is surging, and the fans always bring enthusiasm and high spirits to the events. The head.
UFC 149 was the first event to be held in Canada in 2012. Support for the UFC in Canada is surging, and the fans always bring enthusiasm and high spirits to the events. The head of the UFC hope to create a phenomenon there, declaring MMA a top sport in Canada, right after hockey. Events like UFC 149, however, deteriorate the high potential of the sport.
The card was in upheaval from the start. Injury after injury caused numerous fighters to drop out, causing Joe Silva and Dana White to constantly make alterations. The performances at the event were lackluster, and didn’t generate nearly enough excitement to live up to their hype. And most notably, as Dana White notoriously complains about after events, the horrible jobs of the referees. Personally, nothing angers me more than bad calls or timing by the refs. If my favorite fighter loses due to a KO or a fair decision, he wasn’t the best man in the ring that night. But I become infuriated when I see a ref miscall a move, stop a bout too soon, or allow two fighters to wall and stall.
A huge mistake occurred during the first bout of the main event when Matt Riddle orchestrated a kick to Chris Clements’ body. It was completely legal, and Riddle could have potentially finished the fight. However, Josh Rosenthal, the referee for the fight, thought that the body kick was in fact a kick to the groin, and gave Clements time to recovery for the seemingly “illegal move.”
Dana White openly expressed his anger: “It’s a kick to the body, and Rosenthal jumps in the middle because he thought it was a kick to the groin,” White said. “Come on. You’re standing right there. Open your eyes. Pay attention – this is what you’re getting paid to do. You choose to do this. If you don’t want to do it 100 percent, don’t do it. Go do something else. The fight could’ve been ended right there. That’s a situation where he doesn’t see it, stops the action, gets half-assed in there instead of making a clear, decisive decision. And what if Riddle lost the fight after that at a point where he had him hurt to the body with a beautiful kick? And he jumps in the middle.”
Another main event bout between Cheick Kongo and Shawn Jordan created dissatisfaction among fans. Referee Yves Lavigne allowed the two fighters to stand in a clinch for the majority of three rounds without doing any work. The bout ended in a very lackluster decision win that generated a displeased audience. Perhaps the most aggravating referee mishap, was that of a preliminary bout between Ryan Jimmo and Anthony Perosh. Jimmo made his UFC debut Saturday night, and he had one memorable entrance. He knocked out Perosh in 7 seconds, a tie for the fastest knockout in UFC history. The mistake that was made was once again by referee Josh Rosenthal. He was a significant distance away from the fighters, and it took him longer to declare the official end of the fight. Had he been closer like he should have been, Jimmo could have had the record for the fastest knockout. In essence, Rosenthal’s mistake screwed Jimmo out of, hypothetically, the best UFC debut in history.
All in all, what does this mean for the sport? Dana White has stated numerous times that he has no jurisdiction over the calls of the referees or the referees in general. The promotion and state deal with the referees. But how long can the originally criticized sport handle such dissatisfaction by fans? Dana White knows the detrimental effects it has for the fans, and yet he is powerless. I feel as if the sport needs to have more competent referees, or ones that can at least make calls that are fair for the bout. The UFC, being a relatively new promotion in terms of sports, has been scrutinized in the past for numerous reasons, and current issues like this hurt their potentially growing fan base, and their attempt to revitalize the sport. Whatever actions are taken, something needs to be done, because Dana White has been advocating this problem for quite too long.
It’s time to step into the Octagon once again as we take a look at the battle between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao in the main event of UFC 149, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain. The broadcast bega…
It’s time to step into the Octagon once again as we take a look at the battle between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao in the main event of UFC 149, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.
The broadcast began with action from the welterweight division, as Chris Clements took on Matthew Riddle.
The only fight of the broadcast that didn’t go the distance was a very entertaining encounter.
Riddle put on a dominating performance in the ground game. Whenever he took the fight downstairs he seemed able to transition at will, and there didn’t seem anything Clements could do about it.
Clements’ best moments came with his striking. It was a nice display from the home country boy, but it was Riddle who had the best shot of the fight. He was also on the end of a strange refereeing decision.
When Riddle connected with a body kick in the first round, Clements doubled over in pain. The referee thought that the kick had gone south of the border and stopped the action, even though he was right on top of the fighters. If Riddle had been allowed to continue, he could have got the finish there and then.
He did get the finish in the third round. After some more tremendous grappling he synched in an arm triangle choke while they were still standing, quickly taking it to the ground as Clements tapped within seconds to give Riddle the submission win.
The welterweight action continued with Brian Ebersole and James Head.
This certainly proved to be an interesting encounter.
Ebersole put in his usual eccentric performance. His striking was okay, and at one point he targeted Head’s thigh with a couple of punches. But whenever he went for a takedown, Head successfully defended more often than not.
Head looked okay if unspectacular. Like his opponent, his striking was okay and his takedown defence was sound. But whenever Ebersole left his neck out when he went for a takedown, the obvious tactic would have been to go for a guillotine, but it was a tactic he missed out on, time and time again.
With neither man able to get the finish, the decision went to the judges, and Head took the split decision.
The big boys of the heavyweight division were up next as Cheick Kongo went up against Shawn Jordan.
This is another of those fights that fits firmly into the interesting category.
For three rounds, these two put on a battle of clinches against the fence, and although it was technically sound, it was also somewhat unspectacular.
Kongo had the most success with this tactic as he defended against Jordan’s takedowns, time and time again, but it says a lot about this fight that the best part of these clinches came in the first round, when a stray elbow from Jordan caught Kongo in the family jewels while the Frenchman had his back.
There were a couple of striking exchanges, and at one point, Jordan took the guard when Kongo failed in his attempt to take his man’s back. But the guy did absolutely nothing when he had the advantage.
With the fight going the distance, more work went the judges’ way and Kongo took the unanimous decision.
The penultimate fight featured middleweight action as Hector Lombard faced Tim Boetsch.
This one wasn’t much better. For the majority of this fight Lombard stood flat footed in front of Boetsch. At least Boetsch looked a little more active as he bounced around.
The exchanges were okay but they were hardly inspiring. The best exchange came in the second when Lombard connected with a kick to the body that had Boetsch in some trouble.
Lombard did manage to score with a big takedown, but that was about it, and given his reputation, his performance was a little disappointing.
Once again the judges were called into action as Boetsch took the split decision.
The main event saw Urijah Faber taking on Renan Barao for the Interim Bantamweight title.
The story of this one was simple. Barao put in a dominating performance through the five rounds. His punching was top-notch and his kicking was even better as he targeted Faber’s lead leg throughout.
The damage he was causing was apparent for all to see as Faber’s leg turned the sort of colours it shouldn’t.
Faber had his moments, but once the leg damage was done, he was clearly second best. Although this fight was entertaining, the one thing It was missing was that big combination or exchange—the sort of action that would have had the crowd on their feet in anticipation of a big finish.
The finish wasn’t forthcoming though, which meant more work for the judges. Their final act of the evening was to give Barao the unanimous decision.
In conclusion, head honcho Dana White described this show as embarrassing. I would have described it as disappointing.
While the Riddle/Clements opener (my fight of the night) and the Barao/Faber fights were okay, the three fights in the middle were definitely lacking, and when the fans in attendance send down a constant steam of boos that sound like a baritone vuvuzela during the fights then you know that something’s wrong.
So for the first time in ages I’m left with a feeling of disappointment after watching a UFC show, and that’s why, for what could be the first time ever, I’m giving a UFC show the thumbs down.
Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for over 12 years now!
Hector Lombard had, by fa,r one of the weirdest—and possibly worst—debuts in UFC history. The former Bellator champion was expected to walk into the Octagon and display his trademark punching prowess at UFC 149.
