Tag: UFC 149

UFC 149: Don’t Call Hector Lombard’s UFC Career a Write-Off… Yet

Fight fans in Calgary on Saturday night were prepared to watch one of the most anticipated debuts in UFC history, as Hector Lombard took to the UFC’s world-famous octagon for the very first time. The heavy-handed Cuban, a black belt in Brazilian …

Fight fans in Calgary on Saturday night were prepared to watch one of the most anticipated debuts in UFC history, as Hector Lombard took to the UFC’s world-famous octagon for the very first time.

The heavy-handed Cuban, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and former Olympic judoka, entered the arena with a 31-2 record (with one no-contest, and one draw). He had finished 17 of his wins by knockout and seven by submission.

Riding a 20-fight win streak, and unbeaten in 25 fights, since November 2006, fans were ready for Hector “Lightning” Lombard to make his mark on the UFC in explosive fashion.

In reality, what transpired was little more than a damp squib.

Lombard’s aggressive fighting style, which had earned him fans all over the world, was nowhere to be seen, and he endured the jeers of the impatient Canadian fans for the best part of the 15-minute bout, before seeing Tim Boetsch’s hand raised as the winner of a split decision.

Lombard’s debut promised so much and delivered so little; having all the appeal of a bubble bath with Mila Kunis, but ending up about as absorbing as a night in with Morrissey.

His first appearance on the grandest stage in mixed martial arts was, unequivocally, a failure.

However, despite the doom and gloom, the fifteen minutes of disappointment and near-boredom fight fans were subjected to, and all the (completely justified) criticism of Lombard, it’s still too early to give up on his UFC career.

Those who portrayed him as a write-off following his loss were not only doing him an injustice, but they were also doing the same to Tim Boetsch.

“The Barbarian” is now 4-0 at middleweight in the UFC, including a win over former UFC title challenger, Yushin Okami. He may not be the most exciting name in the world of MMA, but his 16-4 record proves he is no slouch in the ring.

Furthermore, the step up to the UFC is huge; from fighting competition such as Trevor Prangley, Jesse Taylor, Alexander Shlemenko, and the running man, Kalib Starnes, he went straight into battle with a top five middleweight in the world’s biggest promotion.

In addition to the change in competition, his live audience has increased nearly four-fold from his last fight in Bellator at the Hard Rock Hotel in Florida, to fighting in front of a sold-out 16,000 arena in Calgary, Alberta.

You would hope that a top MMA fighter would not suffer stage fright, but given the expectations of those in attendance, it would not be outside the realms of possibility that Lombard was feeling the pressure of those expecting him to win, which could have resulted in his cautious approach, as he hoped to avoid a loss.

Forgetting all else, it is also conceivable that Lombard, quite simply, had an off-night; Boetsch was the better fighter on the night, and as a result, he won.

To give up on Lombard now, and call him a scrub or can-crusher, two names which have consistently appeared across the web to describe the Cuban fighter, is not fair. We have seen him fight once in the promotion; an informed opinion cannot be made on that.

It was clear that he struggled in the cage, for whatever reason, but he deserves another chance to try and show he can beat top opponents.

If Lombard comes out swinging in his next bout and wins, the Boetsch fight will be all but forgotten, and Lombard will, once again, be heralded as a future UFC champion.

Dana White has already said Lombard should consider a drop to welterweight, and fight at 170lbs to counter the height disadvantage he may experience at middleweight. If he chooses this route, it could also help his UFC career, especially considering he comfortably matched former light-heavyweight Boetsch, in this department.

Finally, fans should also not forget Lombard was willing to risk his reputation and legacy by entering the UFC. It would have been easy for him to continue circling less prestigious organisations, picking off lesser opponents.

He can only be commended for testing himself against the UFC’s athletes, and, regardless of the success of his run in the UFC, his achievements in Bellator and around the world, cannot be ignored.

It may end in tears, and a record stained by consecutive losses in his only few bouts in the UFC; Fedor would vouch for that following his ill-feted stint in Strikeforce. Sadly, that is often the way things go.

Nevertheless, Lombard is a UFC fighter. He endured an awful debut, but fans should reserve judgement on him until after his next UFC fight.

His 31 previous victories do not count for nothing, and while Lombard’s UFC journey may eventually be remembered as a failure, until fans see how he copes in his next fight, we should refrain from writing him off.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 149: Grading the Canadians

Say what you will about the lack of fire or quality of UFC 149 in Calgary, but you can’t be too critical with the hand that the UFC was dealt due to fighter injury.On the positive side, for a Canadian MMA fan it was still a fantastic event and a g…

Say what you will about the lack of fire or quality of UFC 149 in Calgary, but you can’t be too critical with the hand that the UFC was dealt due to fighter injury.

On the positive side, for a Canadian MMA fan it was still a fantastic event and a great card to give a chance for some of our country’s best fighters to showcase their talents.

Canadian fighters went 3-4 on the night and showed some good, some bad and some surprises when the last sud of beer was all swallowed and done. One man certainly stole the show with a spot in the record books, I just wish he would stop that awful post-win robot.

Here are my grades for the Canadian fighters.

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The 25 Hottest Women in MMA History

Let’s face it: UFC 149 was an embarrassment. MMA fans paid their hard earned dollars for a PPV that turned out to be nearly unwatchable. Sometimes the MMA world owes you an apology, and this is one of those times.Welcome to your apology.In an atte…

Let’s face it: UFC 149 was an embarrassment. MMA fans paid their hard earned dollars for a PPV that turned out to be nearly unwatchable. 

Sometimes the MMA world owes you an apology, and this is one of those times.

Welcome to your apology.

In an attempt to convince you that UFC 149 was just a bad dream that never actually happened, B/R MMA has put together a collection of the best that mixed martial arts has to offer.

From Ronda Rousey to Arianny Celeste and many more, here is a look at the 25 hottest women in MMA history.

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Simply Put, It Sucked: Assembling the Best Tweets Regarding the Crappiness of UFC 149


(Well said.)

Twitter holds an interesting place in the MMA landscape. On one hand, it often comes across as little more than a medium for fighters to vent their frustrations with the foresight and competency of a middle school dropout, or to aid in the ongoing series of endless, needless arguments that constitute 90% of the internet nowadays. Seriously, I was on one of those porn sites that allow comments the other day and stumbled across a heated argument concerning what the woman fellating the donkey onscreen was probably thinking. My guess was that she was reconsidering her choice to forgo those online courses for some quick cash and a shot at Fame (which coincidentally was the horse’s name), but the two (probable) gentlemen involved in said dispute seemed to think she was trying to determine the ethnicity of said horse (if that’s a thing), and which race she likely decided upon. Did I mention she was blindfolded? She was blindfolded.

On the other hand, “The Twitter” has shown on several occasions that it can serve as more than a battleground for our petty arguments, and can actually be used as a tool to unite people from opposite ends of the planet over a given cause. Although it failed in the end, Twitter was almost solely responsible for giving Mark Hunt the opportunity of a lifetime, or bringing Tim Sylvia back to the UFC to dominate 85% of the promotion’s heavyweights like we all know he would (I mean, have you even seen his workout regimen?).

And one thing that the collective minds of Twitter seemed to reach an agreement on was that UFC 149, to put it professionally, sucked major donkey dick (see how I brought that all together? I’m less a writer, more a prophet). So in order to bid what will ultimately go down as one of the most disappointing main cards in UFC history adieu, we’ve collected some of the funniest tweets from around the Twittersphere, some from actual fighters, others from random jagoffs with the simple ability to hashtag UFC 149 after their comment, for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.


(Well said.)

Twitter holds an interesting place in the MMA landscape. On one hand, it often comes across as little more than a medium for fighters to vent their frustrations with the foresight and competency of a middle school dropout, or to aid in the ongoing series of endless, needless arguments that constitute 90% of the internet nowadays. Seriously, I was on one of those porn sites that allow comments the other day and stumbled across a heated argument concerning what the woman fellating the donkey onscreen was probably thinking. My guess was that she was reconsidering her choice to forgo those online courses for some quick cash and a shot at Fame (which coincidentally was the horse’s name), but the two (probable) gentlemen involved in said dispute seemed to think she was trying to determine the ethnicity of said horse (if that’s a thing), and which race she likely decided upon. Did I mention she was blindfolded? She was blindfolded.

On the other hand, “The Twitter” has shown on several occasions that it can serve as more than a battleground for our petty arguments, and can actually be used as a tool to unite people from opposite ends of the planet over a given cause. Although it failed in the end, Twitter was almost solely responsible for giving Mark Hunt the opportunity of a lifetime, or bringing Tim Sylvia back to the UFC to dominate 85% of the promotion’s heavyweights like we all know he would (I mean, have you even seen his workout regimen?).

And one thing that the collective minds of Twitter seemed to reach an agreement on was that UFC 149, to put it professionally, sucked major donkey dick (see how I brought that all together? I’m less a writer, more a prophet). So in order to bid what will ultimately go down as one of the most disappointing main cards in UFC history adieu, we’ve collected some of the funniest tweets from around the Twittersphere, some from actual fighters, others from random jagoffs with the simple ability to hashtag UFC 149 after their comment, for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

We shall begin with the far and away greatest tweet of the night, which surprisingly enough came from Bellator welterweight champion and Ambien substitute Ben Askren, who you may recall suffered a first round TKO at the hands of Dana White the last time we saw him on Twitter:

Self deprecating humor? Check. A rip on the UFC? Check double plus. Adhering to the classic “This is more______ than _____”, Family Guy cutaway formula? Check fuckin’ mate.

DID WE JUST BECOME BEST FRIENDS?!

The second best fighter tweet of the night went to the Thugjitsu Master himself, Yves Edwards, for this simple, yet effective burn:

Lord knows I love me a movie reference, and although Gladiator was a somewhat obvious choice, it fits the mood of whatever the hell Boetsch/Lombard was supposed to be like a glove.

Dan Henderson, who has pwned Dana White before using the social networking device, was a little more frank with his assessment of the event:

Check out some more of our favorites below.

Joe Rogan, who told it like it is (as we’ve come to expect): “Well ladies and gentlemen, that was not a good fight card. I enjoyed the prelims and the main event had it’s moments but overall not so good.”

Siyar Bahadurzada, for his on-point judging abilities: “Both lost this fight… The referee lost too! Fuck, even the crowd lost… And the viewers back home too. You get paid to fight!!!!!!!”

George Roop, for being a Debbie Downer during Barao’s entrance: “Barao comes out to all I do is win. Sadly his entrance already has more action then the rest of the card.”

Our boys over at MiddleEasy, for their time tested eloquence when evaluating Hector Lombard‘s performance: “That screech you hear in the distance is the Hector Lombard Frate Trane crashing and igniting in a fiery blaze.”

MMAWeekly’s Damon Martin also hopped on the Lombard Frate Hate Trane: “‘Hector Lombard is the man to challenge Anderson Silva!’ said no one ever after watching that fight.”

Ariel Helwani, for riding the wave of awesomeness that was every fight before Ebersole/Head, then crashing back to earth during the main card until he could tweet no more:

“Whoa? Matt Riddle showing some pretty great technique. This card really is a blessing!”

“Hold the phone on those blessing tweets.”

“Gulp.”

And finally, AJ Hoffman, a sports radio host, MMA writer, and self-described “all around good guy”, for pleading his case to DirecTV: “Fight of the Night= Me and my cable company when I try to convince them a homeless guy broke in and ordered that BS PPV.”

So, Potato Nation, were there any other notable tweets/complaints that tickled your funny bone last Saturday? Or were you too bogged down by self loathing and the depression that comes with essentially having flushed a 50 dollar bill down the toilet to even notice?

–J. Jones

UFC 149 Results: 5 Fights for Brian Ebersole to Take at Lightweight

At UFC 149, Brian Ebersole took a short-notice fight against James Head in the welterweight division. Shortly before accepting the bout, Ebersole had announced a planned move to the lightweight division, where the 31-year-old thought his body was bette…

At UFC 149, Brian Ebersole took a short-notice fight against James Head in the welterweight division. Shortly before accepting the bout, Ebersole had announced a planned move to the lightweight division, where the 31-year-old thought his body was better suited.

Immediately after the contest with Head, Ebersole was shown on camera talking through the cage to Joe Rogan, who asked if the “Bad Boy” was still planning on moving to 155. Ebersole confirmed that his intentions had not changed, and threw in “these guys are big!”

Maybe Ebersole predicted the wrestling troubles that were in his future. Unable to work his opponent to the canvas, the new-lightweight failed on 14 takedown attempts.

The loss to Head snapped an 11-fight winning streak, which included four victories inside the Octagon. 

Here is a look at five fights that we think Brian Ebersole should take in his new weight class of 155 pounds.

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UFC 149 Injury Update: Urijah Faber Fought Through a Broken Rib, Cheick Kongo Had Two Jacked-Up Shoulders

In one final outburst of senseless violence, the UFC 149 Injury Curse claimed multiple victims on fight night, before receding back to the haunted ground that spawned it. We already mentioned that Tim Boetsch broke his foot during the second round of his fight against Hector Lombard, and yesterday Urijah Faber confirmed that he broke a rib during his main event meeting with Renan Barao. The California Kid tweeted out the x-ray above, writing “Congrats 2 @RenanBaraoUFC. He’s a tough dude. Broke my rib in the 1st with a great knee. Thank u 4 all the support.”

So if you were wondering why Boetsch wasn’t quite as active as you expected him to be on Saturday, or why Faber consistently looked a half-step behind his Brazilian opponent, blame the broken bones. And if you were wondering why Cheick Kongo‘s bout with Shawn Jordan turned out to be a hopelessly dull clinching-competition, there’s a similar explanation for that too…

In one final outburst of senseless violence, the UFC 149 Injury Curse claimed multiple victims on fight night, before receding back to the haunted ground that spawned it. We already mentioned that Tim Boetsch broke his foot during the second round of his fight against Hector Lombard, and yesterday Urijah Faber confirmed that he broke a rib during his main event meeting with Renan Barao. The California Kid tweeted out the x-ray above, writing “Congrats 2 @RenanBaraoUFC. He’s a tough dude. Broke my rib in the 1st with a great knee. Thank u 4 all the support.”

So if you were wondering why Boetsch wasn’t quite as active as you expected him to be on Saturday, or why Faber consistently looked a half-step behind his Brazilian opponent, blame the broken bones. And if you were wondering why Cheick Kongo‘s bout with Shawn Jordan turned out to be a hopelessly dull clinching-competition, there’s a similar explanation for that too…


(Props: MMAFighting.com)

In his post-fight interview with Ariel Helwani, Kongo admits to entering the fight with two injured shoulders that gave him about a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1-10, pain-wise. (So maybe that’s why he didn’t do his traditional “chest thump thing” before the fight. It’s not your fault, Anthony.) When Helwani asks him if he wishes he’d pulled out of the fight, Kongo agrees and says “I just tried to be there just for the fans” — which is admirable, in theory.

Though Kongo apologized for his performance, he did have something to say to the Calgary fans who booed the fight: ”They don’t know what’s going on, what’s happened. Everybody thinks the fight is really easy to do…if they got to fight in the same condition like I am today, honestly, they [would] cry or just pass out.”