Tag: UFC 152

UFC 152 Fight Card: Does Vitor Belfort Even Have a Puncher’s Chance?

In the main event of UFC 152 on Saturday night, Jones vs. Belfort, the current light heavyweight champion will be facing off against his fifth straight former champion, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort.Belfort is going into this fight as a massive underdog. …

In the main event of UFC 152 on Saturday night, Jones vs. Belfort, the current light heavyweight champion will be facing off against his fifth straight former champion, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort.

Belfort is going into this fight as a massive underdog. He hasn’t fought in the division in seven years, and the fact is that he’s much smaller than Jones.

People are saying that Belfort only has a puncher’s chance of winning this fight, but does he even have that?

Belfort‘s best chance is going to be landing a big one-shot knockout, but Jones has been hit before and hasn’t gone down.

However, what Jones has done when he gets hit is essentially run across the cage to get away from his opponent.

People have tried to run away when hurt by Belfort before; remember the fight against Wanderlei Silva? Silva got caught by a shot, and as he quickly backed away, Belfort chased him down, landing more and more strikes.

When Jones was hit by Lyoto Machida, he put his hand up in the face of Machida, and backed away as quickly as he could. He did the same thing against Rashad Evans.

Should Belfort hit Jones, and should Jones try to do the same thing, Belfort will be sure to chase him down with a flurry of strikes that he is so well known for.

Belfort only has a puncher’s chance, but that may be all he needs.

 

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

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UFC 152 Fight Card: Cub Swanson Will Keep on Winning Against Charles Oliveira

On Saturday night at UFC 152, Cub Swanson will kick off the PPV portion of the card against the red-hot submission whiz, Charles Oliveira.Oliveira is 2-0 since a drop to featherweight, with two impressive submission finishes, including a rarely seen ca…

On Saturday night at UFC 152, Cub Swanson will kick off the PPV portion of the card against the red-hot submission whiz, Charles Oliveira.

Oliveira is 2-0 since a drop to featherweight, with two impressive submission finishes, including a rarely seen calf slicer.

However, Oliveira is running into Swanson at the wrong time, because Swanson will keep up his winning streak with a victory over Oliveira.

Swanson looks to be putting it all together, and he’s on his best winning streak in four years. The last time he won two straight, he won a late submission and a decision; this time he has two wildly impressive TKOs.

The first was a TKO against George Roop, in which he hit him so hard that Roop‘s mouthpiece went flying halfway across the Octagon.

The second was a TKO against former lightweight contender Ross Pearson in his second fight in the division.

Oliveira has been stopped with strikes before, and Swanson should be able to do it again on Saturday night. Not only that, but it’s going to be a hell of a fight to kick off the PPV. If this card weren’t so stacked, this fight may have been a front-runner for fight of the night.

 

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

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UFC 152 Predictions: Bold Predictions for Jones vs. Belfort

For most of us in the MMA community, anything other than a quick and painless win for Jon Jones will be completely unexpected at UFC 152. Jones has proven to be on a completely different level than the rest of the former champions he’s faced, def…

For most of us in the MMA community, anything other than a quick and painless win for Jon Jones will be completely unexpected at UFC 152.

Jones has proven to be on a completely different level than the rest of the former champions he’s faced, defeating Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans all with relative ease. A win over Belfort will make it five former champions in a row that “Bones” has successfully defeated in a world title fight.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Jones will take care of business and earn the victory on Saturday night, but I have a gut feeling that Belfort is going to surprise some people with his performance in the main event.

Belfort truly has everything to gain in this fight, and the closer he can push Jones to the limit, the better off his chances at earning another UFC title shot will be.

UFC 152 promises to be relatively predictable where the main event is concerned, but here are a few surprises we may see Saturday night.

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UFC 152: 5 Reasons You Can’t Miss Michael Bisping vs. Brian Stann

Michael “The Count” Bisping vs. Brian “The All American” Stann has all the makings of an absolutely electric encounter. Even if the Brit’s reasons for doing so were guided by ego more than anything else, you can almost und…

Michael “The Count” Bisping vs. Brian “The All American” Stann has all the makings of an absolutely electric encounter.

Even if the Brit’s reasons for doing so were guided by ego more than anything else, you can almost understand his claim that this is the true co-main event—that oh so prestigious spot on the main card.

With that in mind, here are five reasons why you missing this fight would be ill-advised.

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UFC 152 Fight Card: Is Evan Dunham the Most Underrated Lightweight in the UFC?

When one thinks about UFC lightweights fighting today, there are many different names that come up. Champion Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon, Gray Maynard and more.One name that rarely gets mentioned now…

When one thinks about UFC lightweights fighting today, there are many different names that come up. Champion Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon, Gray Maynard and more.

One name that rarely gets mentioned nowadays is Evan Dunham.

Evan Dunham made his UFC debut at UFC 95. He had rattled off four straight wins before facing Sean Sherk. At this point, the hype train behind Dunham was massive. He was easily heading towards elite status in the lightweight division.

Here is where the first incident occurred.

Dunham lost a very controversial decision to Sherk that night and his hype took a big hit. Many thought he could get back on track with a win against Melvin Guillard at UFC Fight for the Troops 2. It just wasn’t Dunham‘s night, as he got TKO’ed by Guillard via knees and punches.

I believe this was the night when people, in a sense, swept Dunham under the carpet.

I didn’t here much about Dunham after that day, even when his next fight took place. Since his loss to Guillard, he has reeled off two consecutive victories over Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz. Despite this, no one is talking much about Dunham. He has all the skills to be a top lightweight. He possesses slick boxing and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

I’m not completely sure why no one is giving Dunham any credit right now. Maybe it’s because he needs to gain some more momentum or introduce himself to the casual fans. It might be because the UFC lightweight division is the most stacked right now.

I don’t believe Dunham is the most underrated lightweight in the UFC today, but he has to be pretty close. If he wins a few more fights and get’s that confidence he had early on back, Evan Dunham will be a force. He can resume his quest to become a lightweight elite with a convincing win over T.J. Grant at UFC 152.

Shoot me a comment on the article or tweet me @FuscoNation16.

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UFC 152: Who Is on the Hot Seat?

The “hot seat” is a term commonly used in other sports to describe a person’s place on the team. For a starting player they could be in danger of losing their starting gig or a head coach may be close to getting fired. Most of these situations are the …

The “hot seat” is a term commonly used in other sports to describe a person’s place on the team. For a starting player they could be in danger of losing their starting gig or a head coach may be close to getting fired.

Most of these situations are the result of years of frustration from fans. In the case of fighters in the UFC, the hot seat can heat up after just one fight. It’s a predicament that many of the competitors on Saturday night’s show may find themselves in if they don’t have a good showing.

In the UFC you must provide production or you can quickly find yourself either on the prelims or even out of the company all together. Although some of these guys aren’t likely to fall that hard if they lose, it is a real possibility for others.

Everyone from the main-event fighters to the preliminary competitors needs to bring it or they will start to feel the sweat from sitting in the hot seat.

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