Tag: UFC 149

Shawn Jordan Looking to Capitalize on Biggest Opportunity of His UFC Career

More than any other event in recent memory, UFC 149 has been ravaged by injuries. Every scheduled matchup on the original lineup has either been scrapped or altered, and the organization has scrambled to hold the ship together as July 21st approaches.A…

More than any other event in recent memory, UFC 149 has been ravaged by injuries. Every scheduled matchup on the original lineup has either been scrapped or altered, and the organization has scrambled to hold the ship together as July 21st approaches.

Amidst all the chaos, opportunity came knocking for Shawn Jordan, and it’s a challenge he’s looking forward to answering.

The former LSU fullback turned UFC heavyweight faces the biggest test of his young career when he steps into action against veteran Cheick Kongo this Saturday night.

The French powerhouse was originally slated to face Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. After “Big Nog’s” physicians deemed that the injury he suffered at UFC 140 was not fully healed, the former Pride champion was forced to withdraw, and the UFC tapped Jordan to take his place.

Jordan is coming off a successful debut, in which he earned a stoppage victory over Oli Thompson at UFC on FX 2 in Sydney, Australia. In the bout he was able to use pressure and his heavy hands to put his opponent away in a second-round stoppage.

Rather than take measured steps up the divisional ladder, Jordan is eager to test his skills against a fighter with the experience Kongo brings into the cage.

“My manager called me about the fight at one o’clock in the morning, and I was half asleep,” Jordan told Bleacher Report. “I didn’t hesitate for a second to take this fight. How could you say no? It’s a huge opportunity. It’s a jump up in competition, and Cheick is well known. He’s been around for a long time, and he’s a great fighter. I used to watch him back before I ever started fighting.

“It’s exciting, and that’s why I’m in the sport. I want to compete against the best guys I could possibly fight. I’m really looking forward to it because this is a fight that could move me up, and that is where I want to keep going.”

In addition to being the more experienced fighter, Kongo’s striking skills will also be an advantage in the bout. Throughout his career the Frenchman’s length and range have been two of his biggest assets.

It is when his opposition works its way inside that Kongo has been known to struggle.

“This is one of those matchups where you have two big heavyweights who both have knockout power,” Jordan said. “Stylistically, I think it is going to come down to who can adapt the quickest to the other guy’s style. Kongo is taller and has more reach on me, but I think it’s a great matchup.

“It could very well come down to who gets their punches off first and imposes their game plan. I have no problem going to the ground if that’s where we are going to go, but it’s exciting to get in there and bang with a guy who’s been fighting in this sport forever.

“I’m coming out to fight, and it’s going to be exciting. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to compete against a great athlete. I want to show that I belong in the UFC, and this is going to be fun.”

As Jordan enters the third year of his professional fighting career, he is still making adjustments to fighting on the biggest stage in mixed martial arts. As a former standout at a perennial powerhouse college football program, though, Jordan has plenty of experience with passionate fanbases.

He understands that the fans make the MMA world go round, and it is something he appreciates.

“There are pretty big differences as far as the fanbases are concerned,” Jordan said. “At LSU the fans are great. They know everything about you and they are extremely supportive. They want you to do well, look out for you, and they still keep up with me now in my fighting career. There is a huge market of fans in this sport, whereas in football the fans are particular to one university or city.

“In football it’s not as intimate because you are one person on a team of 40-70 guys who are all contributing to one game. The fans have more people to spread things over. When it comes to fighting, it’s just you and your opponent. That creates a more personal situation. You are either praised or criticized for your individual performance, rather than how it would be in a team competition.”

While the bout with Kongo will be only Jordan’s second showing inside the Octagon, he sees a bright future in the UFC heavyweight division.

Over the past year, the competition level has grown considerably. With the influx of fighters coming over from Strikeforce and a handful of prospects battling their way up the ladder, Jordan believes the division is going to experience some changes in the near future.

“The heavyweight division is stacked right now, and it’s only going to improve,” Jordan said. “There are so many great fighters right now, but I think we are going to see a difference the more transition athletes come into the sport. It will change the fighting style in the future.

“We already have some guys like myself and Lavar Johnson who came from a football background. Travis [Browne] came from a basketball background, and they are big, athletic guys with power. They have more to offer than just being tough, and it’s changing things.

“A bunch of talented fighters and great competitors came over from Strikeforce. It’s getting tougher and tougher to win, and it’s only going to get harder as the division grows.

“It’s great to be a part of this division and it’s only going to get more exciting as it develops.”

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Fantasy MMA: Kountermove Looks to Claim Its Share of a Billion Dollar Industry

Mixed martial arts, famously, is among the fastest growing sports in the world. Its appeal is universal and obvious—after all, who doesn’t want to see a rip-roaringly good fight? If you raised your hand, please go immediately to an emergency room…

Mixed martial arts, famously, is among the fastest growing sports in the world. Its appeal is universal and obvious—after all, who doesn’t want to see a rip-roaringly good fight? If you raised your hand, please go immediately to an emergency room and make sure you’re still alive. Your soul, at least, may not be fully functional.

MMA is among the least complicated of all sports, a direct mano a mano competition as simple and pure as a foot race or a swim meet. Two athletes meet in a cage and one prevails. At its best, it’s a beautiful combination of the visceral and the intellectual, a game of chess swathed in blood. Its violence sings to us, and always has, a melody both bitter and sweet.

It’s a song the entire planet can understand with very little translation. The UFC has grabbed the mixed martial arts market in an iron grip, not only taking over the sport in America, but attempting to become the promoter of choice the world over.

Signing fighters, making bouts, becoming the next big thing in sports, is increasingly unlikely. The UFC beat us there and Lorenzo Fertitta has more money, Dana White more passion and Joe Silva more brains than any of us could hope to match. Opportunities to make a mark in this sport, at least in North America, at least financially, are few and far between.

At least in the real world.

In the real world, the UFC controls almost every significant and marketable athlete in the sport today. In the real world, that’s unlikely to change. But in the world of dreams, anything is possible. In dreams, you can pit your team of elite athletes against teams compiled by other fans worldwide. Without being Lorenzo Fertitta or Dana White or risking your 401K to promote a local show in a National Guard Armory.

It’s a premise that has made dream builders billions of dollars in the world of fantasy sports. Fans, it turns out, are interested in demonstrating expertise, in competition, in making money and in living out their own dreams of glory with professional athletes as their avatars.

Football, baseball, basketball, even hockey and golf, all have thriving fantasy sports leagues. Others too, no matter how obscure. If there are statistics to tabulate, there is probably a fantasy league somewhere online.

Of the major sports, only the combat arts have resisted the pull of fantasy. Statistics have never been the bread and butter of boxing or MMA, making it hard to design a compelling fantasy game.

Results in MMA are binary. It’s what makes combat sports the most black and white of all professional athletic competitions. In group sports we measure a variety of statistics, allowing that an athlete can have a superlative individual performance even if the team falls short. In combat, you win or lose. There are no “almosts.”

It’s simple and elegant and perfect. It’s also been a fantasy killer. Until now.

Kountermove, led by Aaron Ard with an assist from Fight Metric, has finally provided MMA fans with a fantasy game worth their time and money. Instead of just picking winners, the game allows for some skill and nuance. And that’s a pretty exciting development.

“We started Kountermove on the premise that playing fantasy MMA makes watching events in general more fun and engaging. And playing fantasy MMA against friends or colleagues does that in spades. Fantasy football has been doing this for years; it’s become a core part of the fan/entertainment experience,” Ard told Bleacher Report.

“When we first set out to start a fantasy MMA game, we noticed that fantasy MMA was mostly pick’em style games or other simulated gambling formats, which lacks a real game play strategy. If you just pick who’s going to win or lose, that’s not exciting enough. We wanted a more nuanced and sophisticated game, and I think that’s what we have done on with our site.”

Kountermove, a grassroots effort built with the power of social media, has more than 6,000 players who compete in both private leagues with their friends and in public competitions, sometimes with hundreds of dollars at stake.

And while Ard has provided the nuance he suspected fans wanted, it’s a simple game at heart. Like combat sports, winning and losing a bout is still the overriding factor in a player’s success.

“Our game is fairly simple on its face; our games are played over a single night during one event. Prior to the event, players get a total of $25,000 fantasy dollars and you get to pick five fighters for your team,” Ard said. “Each fighter is given a specific price by Kountermove. We assign a value for each fighter based on how we believe the fight will go.

“Points are scored if your fighters scores a finish, wins a round, lands significant strikes, knocks an opponent down, scores takedowns, secures dominant positions or attempts submissions. The more dominant your fighters’ performance, the more points you’re going to score. If you score more points than your opponents, then you win the money.”

As great as the game has been so far, Ard is far from satisfied. The first major improvement will launch next month, a mobile app that would allow players to see their scores in real time as the fights end.

“Part of the thrill of our games is watching your scores come in as the fight happens,” Ard said. “Most people are not in front of their computers when they are watching fights. Soon, they can watch the their scores as they happen with our mobile site.”

I encourage you to take a look at their site and give the game a shot. I’ve read the comments—many Bleacher Report readers believe themselves experts. Just between us, I think I know a thing or two as well. Now’s our chance to go out an prove it. See you there. 

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UFC 149: Renan Barao Will Wait to Fight Dominick Cruz, but Urijah Won’t

According to MMAFighting.com, if Brazilian sensation Renan Barao comes out victorious in his UFC 149 interim title clash with Urijah Faber, he’s intent on waiting for a title shot against bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz. Though that might be the…

According to MMAFighting.com, if Brazilian sensation Renan Barao comes out victorious in his UFC 149 interim title clash with Urijah Faber, he’s intent on waiting for a title shot against bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz. Though that might be the case for Barao, Faber on the other hand doesn’t plan on staying idle whilst “The Dominator” recuperates from his injuries.

“I think I would want to want to wait to fight Dominick Cruz,” he said. “That’s a fight that I would really want. And I would want to convert my interim title into a definitive title for the weight class.”

Originally, Faber was slated to throw hands with Cruz at UFC 148, however, following news that the champ had torn his ACL (Anterior Crucial Ligament) during training, the 25-year-old Barao was ushered in to take his place in the now confirmed main event of UFC 149.

There’s no telling how long Cruz will be out of action, but it could be anything up to a year or more.

That said, it seems Barao, who is currently riding an incredible 29-fight unbeaten streak, is intent on keeping his date with destiny if all goes well on July 21.

Conversely, former WEC 145-pound titlist Faber, who was set to face off against Cruz in a trilogy decider, is adamant that if he wins the interim belt he won’t be putting his career on hold in anticipation of when Cruz returns to fold.

“I’m not waiting for Dominick in any way, shape, or form,” Faber said. “It makes sense for Carlos Condit to wait around for Georges St-Pierre. It’s a huge fight for him, but for me, of course, everyone wants to see the fight with Dominick and I, but I’m not going to put my life on hold because of his injuries. Fighting’s what I do, it’s how I make my living, it’s what I love to do, and I’ll be fighting whenever they give me the opportunity.”

Faber (26-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) handed Cruz his sole loss to date (submission via guillotine choke) more than five years ago. At the time, Faber was the current WEC 145-pound champion.

However, the Alliance MMA fighter returned the favor at UFC 132, winning and successfully defending his 135-pound crown by way of unanimous decision.

UFC 149 is scheduled for July 21, 2012, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Canada.

 

For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.

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UFC 149: Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao Head-to-Toe Breakdown

The UFC takes the Octagon to Calgary this weekend, with the main event being an interim bantamweight scrap between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao. This fight looks to be one of the most exciting bouts to hit the ultimate proving ground in a while.It’s an…

The UFC takes the Octagon to Calgary this weekend, with the main event being an interim bantamweight scrap between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao. This fight looks to be one of the most exciting bouts to hit the ultimate proving ground in a while.

It’s an interesting style matchup, as both men are very well-rounded. It will be interesting to see who will come out on top of this chess match.

Here’s a head-to-toe breakdown of how these two match up.

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UFC 149: If Hector Lombard Defeats Tim Boetsch, He Doesn’t Deserve a Title Shot

The mention of Hector Lombard’s name has been inspiring heated debate amongst hardcore MMA fans for a few years now. Normally, that debate was whether or not he was a Top 10 middleweight. Supporters pointed to his stellar record of 31-2 with one …

The mention of Hector Lombard’s name has been inspiring heated debate amongst hardcore MMA fans for a few years now. Normally, that debate was whether or not he was a Top 10 middleweight.

Supporters pointed to his stellar record of 31-2 with one draw and one no-contest, as well as his current 20-fight win streak—16 of which he finished before the final buzzer.

Detractors point out that his record is padded with low-level fighters, and that the only time he faced top opposition—in the PRIDE 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix—he lost to Akihiro Gono and Gegard Mousasi.

Both sides have an argument, but the detractor’s is much stronger. Lombard’s record is impressive, but so was Jason Reinhardt’s before he arrived in the Octagon.

Since being signed by the UFC in April, the debate has been changed to whether or not Lombard deserves a title shot if he defeats Tim Boetsch at UFC 149—an idea tossed about publicly by Dana White.

Middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Mark Munoz have been vocal in their condemnation of the idea. To them, it’s a question of simple fairness.

Why should a guy who has been beating low-level fighters outside of the UFC get a title shot after one win when they’ve been grinding it out in the UFC, fighting the best for years?

It’s a fair question. It’s just being asked in an unfair world.

Lombard doesn’t deserve a title shot, per se, but there are other factors involved: the lack of a clear-cut No. 1 contender, for starters.

Michael Bisping may make a strong point against Lombard, but the fact remains that he’s coming off a loss to Chael Sonnen, and typically a fighter has to build up a little streak before earning a title shot. Bisping will get his chance to rebound when he takes on Brian Stann at UFC 152.

Munoz is currently out of the title picture after getting steamrolled by Chris Weidman. And the general consensus on Weidman is that he’s not quite ready for a title shot.

That leaves only two guys: Hector Lombard, or his opponent, Tim Boetsch—who is being completely overlooked in all this drama.

Since dropping to middleweight, Boetsch has posted a solid 3-0 record, including a TKO win over former top contender, Yushin Okami. An impressive win over Lombard, and Boetsch would be as deserving a challenger as there is at 185.

Having so many worthy challengers at middleweight makes the division seem rather chaotic, but that’s a high-class problem.

Wasn’t long ago that middleweight was neck and neck with heavyweight as the weakest division in the sport. In fact, right around the time Lombard was losing in PRIDE, a relatively unknown Brazilian by the name of Anderson Silva was earning himself a UFC title shot after only a single win—a brutal knockout over Chris Leben.

But that was then, when the division was horribly shallow. This is now. And because business decisions are often based, justifiably, on expediency rather than merit, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Lombard get a title shot if he wins at UFC 149, especially if he wins impressively.

Considering 90 percent of the sport’s top talent is in the UFC, it’s nothing but speculative to proclaim top status to a fighter who made his bones outside of the UFC. Case in point: Jorge Santiago.

Hector Lombard may very well be the Second Coming. We simply do not know because he hasn’t been facing the best of the best. If he’s victorious against Boetsch, then he should have to face another top contender.

But that’s in a fair world.

In the real world, the UFC may see fit to grant him a title shot based on their business needs—and there’s nothing at all wrong with that—but he does not deserve a title shot.

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Renan Barao Excited to Face Urijah Faber at UFC 149 (Exclusive Interview)

One of the best-kept secrets in mixed martial arts will take the sport’s biggest stage this Saturday night in Calgary at UFC 149. For the past seven years, Brazilian Renan Barao has been a wrecking machine, amassing an impressive 28-fight win streak. D…

One of the best-kept secrets in mixed martial arts will take the sport’s biggest stage this Saturday night in Calgary at UFC 149.

For the past seven years, Brazilian Renan Barao has been a wrecking machine, amassing an impressive 28-fight win streak. During this stretch, no opposition has been able to find an answer for his unique blend of speed, power and precision. When those attributes are matched with a slick ground game, Barao becomes a nightmare to decipher.

Since coming stateside, Barao has looked unstoppable. Now the task falls on former WEC champion Urijah Faber to do what 28 others could not.

Following the injury to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, the UFC tapped Barao to step into action against “The California Kid.” Due to the lengthy amount of time Cruz will be sidelined, the organization opted to create an interim title in order to keep the divisional picture moving.

At UFC 149, Barao will find himself one victory away from reaching his goal of becoming a UFC champion. It is an opportunity he’s dreamed of for years. He credits his family at Nova Uniao, including featherweight champion Jose Aldo, for helping prepare him for the biggest fight of his career.

“What motivates me is what I’ve gotten past in my life and my training,” Barao told Bleacher Report through his translator Eduardo Perdigao. “The consecutive victories are the result of my hard work. I’m very happy to have this opportunity and only have my teammates to thank.”

“Training with Jose Aldo has absolutely helped me prepare, but my other teammates like Hacra, Jonny, Beicao, Dudu Dantas and Marlon have been a big factor as well.”

Faber, once the long-reigning champion of the WEC featherweight division, has been one of the sport’s most dominant fighters in the lighter weight classes. Much like Barao, Faber is familiar with putting together win streaks.

Before losing his title to Mike Brown, Faber notched 13 consecutive victories inside the blue cage, using his wrestling and power to steamroll the opposition. Barao is confident he can handle Faber’s greatest attribute and is looking forward to mixing it up with the former champion.

“I’ve trained my wrestling as well as my takedown defense,” Barao said. “My training has gone very well. I’m very focused for this fight and his wrestling will not be a problem. It will be a tough fight. Urijah is an experienced fighter and well rounded. I will do my best to get that belt.”

As the main event at UFC 149 approaches, Barao’s ability to fly under the radar will become nonexistent. Should he be victorious against Faber, Barao will join the growing list of Brazilian UFC champions. While he feels honored to represent his country, the heat of the spotlight doesn’t phase him.

“I’m very happy to be Brazilian and represent my country in the UFC,” Barao said. “Brazil needs victories and happiness. I am prepared to give all I can for the Brazilian people.”

“I’m feeling no pressure at all for this fight. I just have to do my part and put my trust in my coaches and friends.”

Throughout his career, Barao has been a fighter who allows his work inside the cage to do the talking. Of his 28 victories, 19 have come by either knockout or submission. The language barrier may create some issues with the American fanbase, but fighting is a universal language. Barao plans on doing his part and giving fans a performance they can appreciate.

“I’m an extremely focused fighter,” Barao said. “I am a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and my skills are very well rounded. Most importantly, I never give up. This is going to be a great fight on a big card. I’m excited to face Urijah Faber. Let’s do it!”

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