As you can probably tell by now, my New Year’s resolution was to use more hyperlinks. SUCK IT, TOUCH PHONE USERS!
Aaanyway, Junior couldn’t even make it to the hospital before he was bombarded by SporTV, who thought the best time to ask a professional fighter strategy-based questions was while he was determining how much blood he had lost just hours earlier. You know, kind of like how CNN often waits until a soldier in Iraq steps on a landmine to drill him on the ins and outs of The Pincer Movement. Junior’s broken English response was as you would expect:
It (he) was better and deserved to win, but I used the wrong strategy. I was very worried about his entry in my legs and left face unprotected. So he hit me. When I was on the floor, I should have used more jiu-jitsu, I trained so much. But I tried to (get) back up, and it hurt me too, but on the ground it (he) is very good, very strong. I did not connect any punches good, even. It was bad because I was feeling very well, did a great training camp, everything was just right. But the fight is (over) anyway.
(“Don’t worry, Junior! I can see him growing weaker with every punch! Three more rounds of this and he’ll be all yours!” / Photo via Getty Images)
As you can probably tell by now, my New Year’s resolution was to use more hyperlinks. SUCK IT, TOUCH PHONE USERS!
Aaanyway, Junior couldn’t even make it to the hospital before he was bombarded by SporTV, who thought the best time to ask a professional fighter strategy-based questions was while he was determining how much blood he had lost just hours earlier. You know, kind of like how CNN often waits until a soldier in Iraq steps on a landmine to drill him on the ins and outs of The Pincer Movement. Junior’s broken English response was as you would expect:
It (he) was better and deserved to win, but I used the wrong strategy. I was very worried about his entry in my legs and left face unprotected. So he hit me. When I was on the floor, I should have used more jiu-jitsu, I trained so much. But I tried to (get) back up, and it hurt me too, but on the ground it (he) is very good, very strong. I did not connect any punches good, even. It was bad because I was feeling very well, did a great training camp, everything was just right. But the fight is (over) anyway.
Ahh, the modern marvel that is Google Translate. If you were to read that statement on its own, it would sound like the woeful tale of Monica Belluci’s character in Irreversible, but thanks to fabulous, space age technology, the man labeled as simply “Gypsy” was able to offer such eloquent expressions as “I had no fracture, I’m just bloated. ’m Beautiful?”
Yes Junior, you are beautiful, no matter what they say. And words can’t bring you down, oh, no. So we won’t bring you down today.
Unfortunately for Junior, the words of Dana White might bring him down a notch or two, as The Baldfather stated in the aftermath of UFC 155 that the Dos Santos/Velasquez rubber match, although intriguing, will not be happening in the foreseeable future:
I think trilogies are always awesome, especially when both these fights went the way that they did. I mean, I want to see the third fight. It will be interesting.
But this isn’t like losing a regular fight. He got beat up pretty bad. It usually takes a little longer to recover from what he went through.
Honestly, it’s hard to disagree with White here. Velasquez was the victim of a one-shot KO in the pair’s first meeting — one that came after a ridiculous slew of injuries — and he still had to destroy something…uh…what’s the word I’m looking for here…well, he had to beat down Antonio Silva before he got his rematch. To assume that Dos Santos would receive an immediate rematch after being thrashed for five straight rounds would be preposterous to say the least. Then again, crazier things have happened.
Oh, MMA in 2013, please tell us that you’ll be different than you were in 2012. Because unlike Chris Leben, I can’t just mock you on Twitter while silently masking how depressing your plight has truly become.
Heading into every UFC fight card there are always a handful of fighters that have something much greater than a win or a loss at stake. At UFC 155 you had Leonard Garcia coming in with a three-fight losing streak. Todd Duffee returned to the promotion…
Heading into every UFC fight card there are always a handful of fighters that have something much greater than a win or a loss at stake. At UFC 155 you had Leonard Garcia coming in with a three-fight losing streak. Todd Duffee returned to the promotion after being dismissed in 2010 and Alan Belcher looks to make a statement and that he belonged among the middleweight division’s elite.
Junior dos Santos looks to defend his title against Cain Velasquez. However, the fighter that may have been under the most pressure was one of the two individuals that were opening the pay-per-view portion of the fight card, Chris Leben.
On December 29, Leben returned to the Octagon for the first time in 13 months. His last fight, a corner stoppage loss to Mark Munoz, took place on November 5, 2011. Following that fight Leben was popped for having oxycodone and oxymorphone in his system. The positive test resulted in a one-year suspension by the UFC.
At that point the promotion could have very easily kicked Chris Leben out of the business; after all it was his second drug related suspension, and when you add in the fact that he had a two previous DUI related arrests to his name, no one would have blamed the promotion if they had decided to hand Leben his walking papers.
Instead of washing their hands of the fighter, the UFC put the fighter into rehab. Prior to UFC 155, Leben spoke to UFC.com and voiced his appreciation for the promotion getting him into recovery and vowed that he would deliver a memorable performance for his benefactors:
It means so much that Dana White, Joe Silva, and the Fertittas have helped me out. They sent me to rehab. I really feel like now I just want to do nothing more than make them happy – to just go out and put on a good show. Go out and show them that I’m the fighter that I believe I can be, and the fighter that I believe they believe I can be as well because they have kept me around.
Leben’s high hopes for himself went unrealized at UFC 155; the clearly gassed fighter dropped a unanimous decision to Derek Brunson on December 29. The fight left UFC president Dana White lamenting his decision to place Leben on the PPV portion of the card.
“I made a mistake putting [Leben] on the main card,” White said after the fight, “I should have had him on the undercard.”
That a clean and sober Leben even entered the Octagon at UFC 155 can be viewed as passing a test. That he lost to Brunsonisn’t really important in the grand scheme of things. With that being said, the real test could be the one that Leben now faces back home in Hawaii.
Leben’s focus in the months leading up to the fight in Las Vegas was just that—his fight in Vegas. The members of his fight camp who were all getting him prepared for that bout on December 29 surrounded him and kept his mind on the goal of defeating Brunson.
Now that the fight is finished, one has to wonder what’s next for the 32-year old fighter.
This time out of the spotlight will be a critical time for Leben, but he seems to have the right mindset regarding his recovery, knowing that it’s a lifelong process that will have it’s ups and downs, as he told MMAJunkie.com:
It’s definitely not in the past for me. I’d be lying to you if I told you the thoughts weren’t there – if stress doesn’t get high and start raising in my life, and instantly my natural reaction is to look for the easy way out. And I don’t think that’s going away anytime soon – absolutely not. Does that mean there’s something wrong with me? No. That just means I’m an addict, and I had an issue.
The focus now, for Leben, for his friends and training partners, for the UFC and for his fans should be on Chris Leben the man, not Chris “The Crippler” Leben, the fighter.
Fan of the fighter or not, you should wish the man luck on his road to recovery.
It was the final show of 2012, with Junior Dos Santos facing Cain Velasquez for the second time in the main event of UFC 155, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.This five-hour marathon started with the pre…
It was the final show of 2012, with Junior Dos Santos facing Cain Velasquez for the second time in the main event of UFC 155, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.
This five-hour marathon started with the preliminary fights, beginning with two fights from the lightweight division as Michael Johnson went up against Myles Jury.
This could be one of the most one-sided fights I’ve seen in 2012. For three rounds, Jury dominated the action on the ground, overwhelming Johnson with his mixture of strikes, submission attempts and transitions.
It was a great display of grounding fighting from Jury, with Johnson’s only meaningful piece of work coming at the beginning of the third round, when he began to swing for the fences after getting a right rollicking from his corner.
But it was a tactic that meant nothing because Jury quickly took the fight back to the ground and reasserted his control.
With no finish in sight, the decision was put in the hands of the judges, as they gave everything to Jury.
Then it was on to the fight between Melvin Guillard and Jamie Varner.
We had quite an extensive feeling-out period at the beginning of this one, but while this went on, Guillard connected with a series of unchecked kicks to Varner’s lead leg.
The traffic wasn’t all one way, though, and Varner managed to get off some good-looking combinations, including one that rocked Guillard late in the first before he went for a guillotine.
Both guys had their moments in the second with some crisp striking, but the best action came in the third, particularly on the ground. It became a nice back-and-forth battle as the fighters exchanged positions, the best moments coming when Guillard connected with a knee to the liver and Varner slammed his man to the mat after Guillard had climbed onto his back.
Fifteen minutes of tough action meant more work for the judges, as Varner took the split decision, with one judge giving everything to Guillard. As is often said to me, I wonder what fight he was watching.
The final two preliminary fights featured bantamweight action, beginning with Erik Perez against Byron Bloodworth (got to love that name!).
No feeling-out period in this one; these two began to swing as soon as the fight began. It wasn’t long before they engaged in a clinch against the cage, and when Perez connected with a right knee to the body, Bloodworth fell to the mat.
Bloodworth tried to tie his man up as best he could, but it wasn’t enough, as Perez connected with numerous strikes to the head and body, and as the first round neared its last minute, these were just too much for Bloodworth. It wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Perez the TKO win.
The final preliminary fight saw Brad Pickett taking on Eddie Wineland.
This proved to be an intriguing three-round affair. With no ground work to speak off, these two engaged in a very entertaining striking affair, with both men putting in good performances.
The action was very enjoyable, with Wineland looking the busier of the two for the majority of the fight, especially when he rocked Pickett a number of times in the first round.
Pickett had his fair share of good luck as well, his combinations troubling his opponent at times. Wineland kept coming back, though, to assert his authority.
But with no finish, the judges came into the equation again, as Wineland took the split decision.
Three middleweight fights kicked off the main show, beginning with Chris Leben against Derek Brunson.
This was a Jekyll and Hyde kind of fight. The first round featured loads of great action, and when Brunson scored with the early takedown, he put on a good display of ground fighting, and although Leben countered with some sound defensive work, Brunson did a good job of controlling the action.
But the Brunson that came out for the second round was a completely different animal. He looked a shadow of his first-round self, tired, sluggish, unable to get in any good combinations and unable to complete a takedown, and although Leben looked a little better, he wasn’t far behind Brunson in that respect.
It was pretty much the same in the third round, although Brunson managed to score with a couple of takedowns and strikes, with Leben looking like he was suffering from a severe case of octagon rust.
Once again, the judges were called into action, as Brunson took the unanimous decision.
Then it was on to the bout between YushinOkami and Alan Belcher.
Remember what I said earlier about one-sided fights? Well, this was another of those kind of outings.
Okami put in a dominating performance for the majority of the fight. Whether it was up against the cage or down on the ground he smothered Belcher and controlled the action extremely well.
Belcher had his moments, but there weren’t very many of them. There were a couple of guillotine attempts and a couple of right hands that rocked the Japanese star, but that was about it, mainly because Okami’s tactics were basically wearing Belcher out.
So once again, we had a good fight with no finish, which meant more work for the judges as Okami took the unanimous decision.
The final middleweight fight saw Tim Boetsch going up against Costa Philippou.
This proverbial game of two halves proved to be a very interesting encounter, and an example of how a fight can turn after an injury.
Boetsch had a very good first round. He did a good job of shutting Philippou down against the cage, and even though he ate a great right uppercut, it looked as if he was going to remain on top.
But then we found out between rounds that he’d suffered an injury, and it was downhill from there. An accidental clash of heads opened up a nasty cut on his forehead, and moments later, further cuts and an inadvertent poke to his left eye made matters worse.
Philippou began to dominate the action, and when the third round began, Boetsch looked like a beaten man as the crimson mask began to form again. It wasn’t long before Philippou went to work with the ground and pound, with the referee wisely stepping in to stop the fight as Philippou took the TKO win.
The co-main event featured lightweight action as Jim Miller faced Joe Lauzon.
This was one of those fights that had you in the palm of its hand from the start. Miller began his night’s work by rolling off some great combinations that put Lauzon on the back foot early. Miller was like a punching machine, and he soon turned his man’s face into a bloody mess, opening up cuts on his right eyebrow and on the top of his head.
Miller continued in the same vein as the second round began, but just when it looked like Lauzon was a beaten man, he managed to reverse the positions on the ground so he could go for a couple of leg submissions.
With another bad cut to add to his collection, Lauzon came out for the third round, which did surprise me a little. By now, fatigue was becoming a major factor for both men, and even though they both looked like they were moving in slow motion, they were still intent on getting the finish, with Lauzon going for some more submissions. Both guys finished the fight looking like extras from a George Romero film.
So after three tremendous rounds, the decision went to the judges once again, with Miller taking the unanimous decision.
The main event saw Cain Velasquez challenging Junior dos Santos for the Heavyweight title.
At least this lasted longer than their previous fight, about 24 minutes longer by my reckoning.
Velasquez took control as soon as the fight started, quickly putting JDS on the back foot with some tremendous striking and sound takedowns. TO say that he was making the challenger look ordinary would be an understatement, and when the round ended, JDS staggered back to his corner like a professional wrestler staggering out of a nightclub.
Dos Santos looked like a beaten man when the second round began as Velasquez’s domination continued. It just seemed like that there wasn’t anything JDS could do to stop the onslaught, and even though he managed to connect with the occasional blow and occasionally defended against the takedowns, he looked like he was running on fumes.
You couldn’t help but feel both admiration and fear for Dos Santos. If this had been a boxing fight, the referee would have stepped in a lot earlier. But the champion showed a great deal of heart as he came out for round after round, even though as the fight went on, everyone could see that he wasn’t going to win.
As for Velasquez, he looked as fresh as a daisy when the final round began, and the only thing missing from his performance was the finish. But with his opponent starting to look like the Elephant Man when the 25 minutes was up, he knew he’d done enough.
The judges saw it that way too, as they gave Velasquez their overwhelming title winning unanimous decision.
In conclusion, Zuffa’s band of merry men certainly ended their year on a high.
UFC 155 proved to be another enjoyable show, and while some of the early fights on the card were firmly planted in the “not bad” category, things got a lot better as we moved to the co-main event and title fight.
The fight between Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon was a veritable war of attrition and a great advertisement for the sport and the courage of its fighters.
And that’s something you could say about the main event as well. I really enjoyed Cain Velasquez’s performance, but you couldn’t help but feel for the deposed champion, Junior dos Santos. Will we see chapter three of this rivalry? Perhaps, but only if JDS can work his way back into contention.
As for my fight of the night, while the popular consensus has gone with Miller and Lauzon, I’m going to plump for Velasquez and Dos Santos. If it had been a professional wrestling match, I would probably have described it as a great piece of storytelling.
So with all of that out of the way, it’s time to wrap this thing up by giving UFC 155 the thumbs up.
Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for nearly 13 years now!
The carnage left in the Octagon after Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon at UFC 155 trumps every Hollywood horror film released in 2012.Amidst the chaos, there was something special about the co-main event on Saturday night.Fans were given an opportunity to see…
The carnage left in the Octagon after Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon at UFC 155 trumps every Hollywood horror film released in 2012.
Amidst the chaos, there was something special about the co-main event on Saturday night.
Fans were given an opportunity to see MMA stripped down to its rawest form. There wasn’t any point fighting or excessive attempts to escape danger.
It was two mortal men laying everything on the line for 15-minutes in a bout that stands strong as a “Fight of the Year” candidate.
After the unanimous decision was awarded to Miller, Lauzon, who was coated from head to toe in his own blood, was all smiles as he shifted his eyes across the roaring crowd of thousands.
He knew that he had given it his all, and at the post-fight presser, he admitted that was the only thing that truly mattered:
I really don’t care about how the fight goes so much as long as I gave it my all. I go out there, and I do the best I can in training, and if I get a great job in training, I really don’t care about how the fight ends. If I go out and I win, that’s great. If I go out and lose, that sucks, but at the same time, if I did everything I can to prepare, then I’m not too worried.
Miller controlled the fight early on the feet by closing the distance and utilizing elbows in the clinch to open up a gash in Lauzon‘s forehead.
It may not have been the bloodiest fight in UFC history, but there was plenty of plasma to go around. The Octagon looked more like a CSI crime scene by the time the final bell sounded.
Miller wished he could have finished the fight, but overall, he appeared to be happy with his performance. At the post-fight press conference, he admitted to being exhausted toward the end of fight:
That was a crazy fight. I was exhausted. I try to leave it all in the cage and just give forth that complete effort, and I think I did that tonight. I was pretty exhausted and banged up…It was a fun fight to be in.
At UFC 155, Cain Velasquez may have recaptured the UFC heavyweight championship, but the fight that everyone was talking about on Sunday was the epic bloodbath between Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon.The pair of lightweights showed websites like MMAfighting….
At UFC 155, Cain Velasquez may have recaptured the UFC heavyweight championship, but the fight that everyone was talking about on Sunday was the epic bloodbath between Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon.
The pair of lightweights showed websites like MMAfighting.com why it’s presumptuous to give away Fight of the Year honors before the final fight card of the year has taken place.
It didn’t take long for these submission aces to show that they can bang with the best. The first round saw combinations from each man, with Miller throwing a pair of hooks followed by an uppercut on a few occasions.
The secret of Miller’s success came from utilizing a single arm collar tie on Lauzon. In the opening minutes of the bout, the New Jersey native grabbed the hold twice and was able to deliver short elbows, a knee to the midsection and an uppercut from the position.
Lauzon seemed a bit predictable early on, sticking with a left jab, right straight combo over and over again. Around 2:10, J-Lau threw that combination for a third-consecutive time and Miller was waiting for it. As soon as Lauzon‘s right hand finished firing, Miller landed a trio of hooks before grabbing the single collar tie once again.
At this point, Miller landed three elbows that opened a nasty gash above Lauzon‘s eye, which he followed up with some uppercuts. As Lauzon turned to get away, Miller attempted to lock in a standing arm triangle, which looked really close for a brief moment.
The bleeding at this point was so bad that Yves Lavigne called time as soon as the combatants separated. The ringside official allowed the fight to keep going and the slugfest continued.
Miller continues to press forward in aggressive fashion, throwing more elbows and hooks, as well a rare head kick. Lauzon seems a bit more fired up after the check and he lands a nasty knee as Miller leaned forward.
With each man covered in Lauzon‘s blood, they traded body shots, low kicks and haymakers until the first bell sounded. I’ve got it 10-9 for Miller.
Round 2 begins, and we can see that Lauzon has a 3-4 inch gash directly above his right eye. With vaseline holding the blood in temporarily, it was obvious that the canvas was about to be covered in plasma.
They come out aggressive again after Lauzon motions to the crowd to make some noise. The striking doesn’t last long though, as Miller ducks under a punch and shoots a big takedown.
Lauzon briefly utilized butterfly guard before switching to a closed guard while attempting to sweep Miller. Instead, Miller was able to pass into half guard while applying pressure to the cut with his shoulder.
Miller took advantage of Lauzon bucking and used the momentum to ride into mount, although half guard was recovered again. While Lauzon tried to get up, Miller looked for a D’arce choke, but was unsuccessful in achieving it, as Lauzon got to his knees and drove through for a takedown.
After affording them the opportunity to get settled into guard, referee Yves Lavgine once again stops the fight, but it’s not about the cut. Joe Lauzon had a large chunk of his wrist tape unravel, so Lavigne called for scissors and cuts the excess before restarting the action.
When they restart, Miller looks for rubber guard and Lauzon passes into half guard while searching for a submission. Dropping back, J-Lau looked for a straight ankle lock, transitioned into a heel hook and when that failed, he attempted a knee bar, but wasn’t above the knee enough to lock it in.
Despite losing a lot of blood, Lauzon is looking very comfortable in the cage as we end Round 2. The success at the end might steal the round in the eyes of some judges, but I’ve got it 10-9 Miller.
Both corners gave pep talks to their fighters about who wants it more before Round 3 opens with low kicks and looping hooks from Miller, who started to look drained. For the second time in the round, a low kick from Miller has enough pep behind it to sweep the leg out from J-Lau and send him to the ground, but he wanted the action standing.
Two minutes into the final frame and Miller is looking to land elbows from short distance, but this time does not look for the single collar tie first. It isn’t effective, but a Lauzon knee to the midsection stunned Jim for a moment.
Each man is slowing down with 100 seconds left in the fight, with Miller being the aggressor and Lauzon mostly covering up, but still throwing combinations after taking a deep breath.
In the final minute, Lauzon is looking for a way to finish this fight, but is having trouble connecting with big shots and a flying knee misses. With 29 seconds left on the clock, a desperate Lauzon attempted a flying heel hook that was close, but unsuccessful.
The clock continued to tick away as Lauzon fully locks in a front choke that has Miller in trouble. It was in deep and there is no question that Miller is doing anything he can to survive until the horn, which he does.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Miller, which is the correct scoring, as Lauzon earned himself the final round as neither man stood out in the striking department and with his near submissions at the end.
Another segment in the UFC’s continuing “Backstage Pass” video series showed a glimpse at how two heavyweights prepare backstage for a title fight.Rolling on floor mats, hitting the mitts and going through a traditional ritual with Jacob “Stitch” Duran…
Another segment in the UFC’s continuing “Backstage Pass” video series showed a glimpse at how two heavyweights prepare backstage for a title fight.
Rolling on floor mats, hitting the mitts and going through a traditional ritual with Jacob “Stitch” Duran were all segments highlighted in the behind-the-scenes footage, going through the UFC 155 main event between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
Despite the high-paced five-round battle, Velasquez notably had to endure several interviews immediately after the match, talking to outlets like ESPN and Fuel TV despite the fact that he was still bleeding from fresh cuts and wounds.
Velasquez even gave the UFC’s camera crew a short quip, saying that he did indeed exhaust himself against JDS, although he also stated that he purposely slowed down when he realized that he was in danger of punching himself out:
I was fit to be back here. It was a tough pace to keep. I was tired, man, and [Junior] dos Santos kept it.
This time, I was like, “I’m taking the fight to him. I’m throwing punches, I’m making him feel them and then I’m gonna look for that takedown.”
Often praised for his deep cardio—a bit of a rarity in the heavyweight division—Velasquez won every single round of the title fight, earning some extremely one-sided scorecards from the judges. It was also the first time a UFC heavyweight title fight had gone to a decision since UFC 68.
Velasquez reminded the crew that because his first knockout loss against JDS at the first UFC on Fox event was so quick, no one could really know anything about the rematch and sticking to his wrestling tactics changed everything.
Closing out the segment, a still-bloody Velasquez seemed to cry a tear as he thanked his Twitter followers and fans for their support and inspirational messages.
Velasquez will now have a bit of time to recover from his injuries, as the UFC 155 medical suspensions list will sideline the champion for a maximum of 45 days with 30 days of no-contact. His next challenger is expected to be former Strikeforce champion and current-top contender Alistair Overeem, provided that “The Demolition Man” defeats Antonio Silva at UFC 156 this February.
Heading into every UFC fight card there are always a handful of fighters that have something much greater than a win or a loss at stake. At