After putting on a three-round “Fight of the Year” candidate with fellow lightweight contender Jim Miller at UFC 155, Joe Lauzon says he needed 40 stitches to shut the nasty gashes on his face.”J-Lau” tweeted the update shortly after his co-main event …
After putting on a three-round “Fight of the Year” candidate with fellow lightweight contender Jim Miller at UFC 155, Joe Lauzon says he needed 40 stitches to shut the nasty gashes on his face.
“J-Lau” tweeted the update shortly after his co-main event bout ended on Saturday:
40 stitches and a lot of lost blood… But I’m all good. Props to @jimmiller_155 on a great fight! #UFC155
Miller immediately unleashed the violence on Lauzon seconds after the matchup got underway, unleashing vicious elbows, knees and punches that opened up a massive cut over the Massachusetts native’s right eye.
The cut had Lauzon bleeding like a faucet, prompting immediate attention from the cageside doctor.
Luckily for Lauzon and the fans, the bout continued, and fans saw some epic exchanges both on the fight and on the ground in the second and third rounds. While Miller won a clear-cut decision, Lauzon fought until the last second.
The submission specialist nearly found success with a flying heel hook and a guillotine choke in the closing moments of the bout as he looked for a miracle finish.
Lauzon is 3-2 in his past five fights, but Saturday marked just the third time he went to a decision in his 30-fight career, as well as his 11th fight bonus in the UFC.
Meanwhile, Miller is 2-2 in his past four fights, losing to current champion Benson Henderson and recent title challenger Nate Diaz, and defeating Melvin Guillard and Lauzon.
The competitors earned the event’s “Fight of the Night” bonus for their performance, each netting an extra $65,000 paycheck as a result.
Junior dos Santos will be forced to battle back from the most damaging fight of his professional career. The beating that Cain Velasquez applied the former champion last night is the kind of beating that can leave a fighter impaired, potentially long t…
Junior dos Santos will be forced to battle back from the most damaging fight of his professional career. The beating that Cain Velasquez applied the former champion last night is the kind of beating that can leave a fighter impaired, potentially long term.
That said I don’t expect to see too many lingering affects the next time dos Santos enters the cage. He’s still a young man with sharp tools, and prior to UFC 155, he’d never actually taken much abuse as a professional. I think a gun shy, or “broken” version of JDS is a number of years and many, many battles distanced.
The man will be just fine. He may not feel terrific about his performance, and he may have taken a bludgeoning last night, but I’ve got a feeling his pride is aching far more than any part of his body today.
It’s profoundly important that JDS take no “warm up” fights. He made his UFC debut tussling with elite talent in Fabricio Werdum, and he’s done nothing but continue that trend having beaten Mirko Filipovic, Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir (to name a few) since. There’s no need to treat this man as a shattered commodity. He’s got to leap right back into the deep end of the pool, and start chewing through more sharks if he hopes to reach the mountain’s summit again in the next few years.
Now, knowing that I’m all for seeing JDS competing with extremely dangerous opposition immediately, it’s also important to keep him away from emerging number one contenders. If JDS returns, and eliminates the current number one in line, we’re left in a precarious situation, one which places JDS in line for a rematch with Velasquez that he’s likely not quite prepared for.
We’ve seen enough rapid-fire rematches as of late.
The UFC needs to enable Junior to regain full confidence, and they need to allow the former champion the opportunity to beat good opposition, not great. If he dives right back in and takes out the greats of the division, we’ll be staring at a rubber match with Cain far sooner than most would prefer.
Junior dos Santos will, more than likely earn the chance to meet Cain in the cage for a third time, but that doesn’t need to happen anytime soon. Let’s get the man back to his winning ways, beating the lower-tier of the top 10 rankings before fans find all legitimate challenges for Cain eliminated by his professional nemesis.
The loser of the upcoming UFC 156 heavyweight showcase that will see Alistair Overeem battle Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva sounds ideal to me. If Silva comes up short, JDS eyes a man he hasn’t beaten at this point, who’s fairly well-rounded with loads of experience. If Overeem happens to fall on February 2nd, we’ll see a grudge match of epic proportions, and one that will force JDS to compete at peak level.
A rematch with Fabricio Werdum is always an option down the line. But at this point, the best possible matchup for dos Santos is the loser of UFC 156’s featured heavyweight tilt. That fight keeps him in talks for top contention, but also leaves him resting on the outskirts of a title fight, with, hopefully, enough time to squeeze in the few more fights needed to regain his footing in the division.
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Junior Dos Santos‘s five-round thrashing at the hands of Cain Velasquezlast night resulted in photographs both horrific and comically horrific. But as the above photo proves, Junior walked away from his beating with his faculties somewhat intact, and was healthy enough to fist-pose afterwards with middleweight Tim Boetsch, who gave Cigano a run for his money in the “most gruesomely misshapen fighter of the night” category. Throw a slashed-up Joe Lauzon in there, and you’d have the most depressing/inspiring MMA photo of the year. It hurts to look at these guys so soon after suffering through unimaginable physical agony, but it’s hard not to give it up for you-know-what.
Junior Dos Santos‘s five-round thrashing at the hands of Cain Velasquezlast night resulted in photographs both horrific and comically horrific. But as the above photo proves, Junior walked away from his beating with his faculties somewhat intact, and was healthy enough to fist-pose afterwards with middleweight Tim Boetsch, who gave Cigano a run for his money in the “most gruesomely misshapen fighter of the night” category. Throw a slashed-up Joe Lauzon in there, and you’d have the most depressing/inspiring MMA photo of the year. It hurts to look at these guys so soon after suffering through unimaginable physical agony, but it’s hard not to give it up for you-know-what.
UFC 155 provided fans with much insight regarding the future of the heavyweight division.But despite Cain Velasquez’s absolutely dominating performance opposite the man who knocked him out on FOX 13 months ago, 2012’s last pay-per-view answered many ot…
UFC 155 provided fans with much insight regarding the future of the heavyweight division.
But despite Cain Velasquez‘s absolutely dominating performance opposite the man who knocked him out on FOX 13 months ago, 2012’s last pay-per-view answered many other questions.
Can Jim Miller stop Joe Lauzon and recapture his right as a top contender?
Will Tim Boetsch be able to stop a superior boxer?
How will Chris Leben fare in his return to the Octagon?
Here’re eight key things to take away from UFC 155 and its rather bloody turnout.
Constantinos Philippou stepped into the cage at UFC 155 an underdog. He exited triumphantly, having disposed of top 10-ranked Tim Boetsch. The former boxer let his hands do the talking, as he forced intervention from the referee after hurling a load of…
Constantinos Philippou stepped into the cage at UFC 155 an underdog. He exited triumphantly, having disposed of top 10-ranked Tim Boetsch. The former boxer let his hands do the talking, as he forced intervention from the referee after hurling a load of bombs at a downed, bloodied and broken Boetsch in the final frame of their 15-minute affair.
For Costa, it was a career defining moment, and one that now puts him in the top-10 mix at middleweight.
Philippou now rides a five-fight streak inside the Octagon. His defensive grappling has looked quite impressive, his hands are heavy, quick and accurate and he’s quite durable. “The Barbarian” showed up last night looking to derail the surging Serra-Longo Fight Team rep, and he showed it in the first round as he applied solid pressure and had Philippou a bit uncertain of himself.
However, after injuring his hand in the opening frame and subsequently suffering a nasty cut on the forehead that came after an incidental collision of melons, Boetsch’s confidence wavered. Costa pounced, and his aggressive shift led to a brutal beat-down.
So where does Costa now stand? Who should this newly minted contender tangle with next? Is there any hope of Philippou fighting his way into a top contender slot?
I’ll tell you, Costa is sitting pretty right now. He just disposed of a top-five (arguably) contender, and a very relevant middleweight bout fast approaches. Vitor Belfort will meet Michael Bisping at UFC on FX 7, and Costa might very well find himself battling the loser, or victor, of that fight. Chris Weidman, who’s been battling injuries as of late, also has no current opponent or return date solidified.
Smart money says no more fringe top-10 battles for Constantinos.
A meeting with Chris Weidman, should Chris not be offered a title fight with Anderson Silva next, feels all but predestined. However, if Weidman finds himself toeing the line with another contender, expect Philippou to wage war with the winner of the Belfort/Bisping bout.
The only other option that sounds remotely near as intriguing, and would help to move the division forward, is a meeting with Hector Lombard. The mad minds at the UFC may have designs on a fast-tracked title shot for Lombard, and if they feel he’s got the goods to take Philippou out, we might see this proposition become reality.
In truth, that might just be the best bet for each man. A win over Lombard would ingrain Costa’s stance as a top dog, elite competitor. A win over Costa for Lombard would prove he’s capable of disposing of a powerful, hungry boxer who’s not only ranked, but dangerous at all times.
There are only so many options for this developing stud, and every single one of those options looks thoroughly appealing. Costa’s future is bright, and we’re about to see how he’ll fare when it comes time to challenge the absolute best of the 185-pound division.
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For Junior dos Santos, it was a chance to prove his 64-second knockout win over Cain Velasquez at UFC on FOX 1 was no fluke. For Cain, it was a shot at redemption and physical reiteration: I am the best heavyweight on the planet. Former champion Junior…
For Junior dos Santos, it was a chance to prove his 64-second knockout win over Cain Velasquez at UFC on FOX 1 was no fluke. For Cain, it was a shot at redemption and physical reiteration: I am the best heavyweight on the planet.
Former champion Junior dos Santos entered the Octagon last night in the main event of UFC 155 eager to put his respectful rivalry with Cain Velasquez to bed once and for all. But the former champion, and now two-time heavyweight champ, had a completely different design laid out. The Team AKA representative entered the cage and put the pressure on the champion from the opening bell. It was, as Joe Rogan declared, the Cain Velasquez most had expected to see when the two first met 13 months ago.
Cain completely shut down the offense of “Cigano,” as he refused to give the Brazilian time to sit on his punches. Velasquez bull-rushed early and often, shooting takedowns behind powerful shots. The takedowns didn’t prove to be the true deciding factor in this fight, however; the beginning of a prolonged end came as Cain landed a huge straight right on the chin of dos Santos in the first round. The punch put the champion down and immediately defined the trajectory of the match. Junior never fully recovered from that bomb, which would have likely rendered nine of 10 heavyweights unconscious, might I add.
Had this collision been closely contested, I might be able to conceive of an immediate rubber match. But this one wasn’t close. It wasn’t remotely near competitive, for any moment of the fight. Junior was out-gunned and out-hustled for 25 minutes. The loss puts the now twice-beaten pugilist in a position he hasn’t seen since joining the ranks of the UFC: he’s dropped significantly in the rankings, and he’ll be forced to climb the ladder once more if he hopes to earn another shot at divisional supremacy.
Cain, on the other hand, has a few options staring him in the face, but with those options come specific requirements.
Cain will more than likely battle Alistair Overeem in his first defense of the title. But in order for that pairing to come to fruition, Overeem will have to overcome the oft-underrated Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156. Most pundits favor Overeem heavily, but it’s tough to count Silva out of the match before it happens. Remember that nearly two years ago, fans were all but certain Antonio would throttle Overeem in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, given what “Bigfoot” managed to do to former heavyweight ace Fedor Emelianenko.
The only other option for Cain at this point would be a meeting with Fabricio Werdum. Werdum has put together two consecutive victories for the promotion, having humiliated Roy Nelson at UFC 143 before outclassing Mike Russow at UFC 147. However, if Werdum is the next to tangle with Velasquez, he’ll need to secure a major win over living legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira when they meet at a still-unannounced event on June 8th.
June is quite the wait and would leave Cain out of action for well over half a year, so I’m not banking on that match being made.
Logic says Overeem defeats Silva at UFC 156, which will in turn align a title fight for the massive Dutchman. If this is indeed the future title fight most anticipate, it means another massive marquee draw for the heavyweights and a chance to knock another extremely dangerous and recognizable name from contention.
As it is, the Californian has already put away some noteworthy opposition. Victories over Junior dos Santos, Antonio Silva and Brock Lesnar are nothing to dismiss. The man appears to possess all the tools, striking included, to hold that belt for a long, long time. With only six years and 12 fights banked as a professional fighter, Velasquez has already reached the top of the mountain. Maintaining that position won’t come without challenge, but it looks wholly possible.
Cain Velasquez might very well be the best heavyweight we’ve seen since a prime Fedor Emelianenko thrashed his way through the heavyweight ranks of Pride more than a half decade ago. Whether you love him, loathe him or stand completely indifferent, it’s hard to argue that point.
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After putting on a three-round “Fight of the Year” candidate with fellow lightweight contender Jim Miller at UFC 155, Joe Lauzon says he needed 40 stitches to shut the nasty gashes on his face.