Tag: UFC 156

Alistair Overeem vs. Bigfoot Silva: What Went Wrong for Overeem

Most high-profile fights, like the heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156, are won and lost in the depths of training camps, long before any opening bell sounds.For Overeem, his inabili…

Most high-profile fights, like the heavyweight tilt between Alistair Overeem and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156, are won and lost in the depths of training camps, long before any opening bell sounds.

For Overeem, his inability to properly prepare both physiologically and psychologically to do battle with a world-class fighter like Silva cost him an opportunity to duel for a UFC belt.

Rather than walking the easy road and alleviating any potential excess stress, Overeem perpetually baited and belittled Bigfoot in nearly every interview and press conference leading up to their contentious bout.

In a nutshell, Overeem made it clear that Bigfoot possessed inferior skills in every facet of his game.

“The Demolition Man” felt so comfortable minimizing Silva; in fact, he daringly elaborated on multiple occasions about a potential encounter with champ Cain Velasquez in his next fight.

Bigfoot simply wanted respect, but Overeem never entertained the notion of giving it.

Instead, just days before the scrap, Overeem continued to motivate Bigfoot by hurling insults his way via MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.

“There’s no beef. I mean, he’s just acting like a baby. He said, ‘I want to fight him (Overeem), blah, blah.’ And then when I see him, he’s like, ‘Hey,’ (and) giving me a hug. He’s just a fake guy, so I have no words for him. I’m just going to beat him up Saturday and let that be the end of that.”

Once in front of Silva, Overeem spent the majority of the first round walking into clinches with his hands down. He struggled to find his distance but finally scored with some sporadic knees to the body late in the stanza.

Silva surrendered a takedown less than 30 seconds into the second round, but the gargantuan Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt protected himself sufficiently off his back, even scoring with some brutal elbows from the guard.

Bigfoot never deviated from his game plan to wear Overeem down in the first and second rounds and then erupt with waves of high-volume combinations in the third.

Riding the momentum from a few big strikes landed at the end of the second round, Bigfoot charged Overeem and met him in the middle of the Octagon when the opening bell of the third round sounded.

Silva then proceeded to deal Overeem a beating similar to that of the thrashings Chuck Liddell and Sergei Kharitonov put on The Demolition Man in Japan.

Overeem foolishly dropped his hands and underestimated a ferocious striker with an 82-inch reach and hands akin to grizzly bear claws.

Some fighters think they’re invincible because of the drastic measures they take to prepare for a bout. Others, like Overeem, make the mistake of believing they’re indestructible because of their name and reputation.

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UFC 156 Preliminary Card Sets FX Viewership Record

The UFC’s growth may not be as rapid as it was during the Lesnar era, but the organization’s fanbase continues to swell. According to a report released on Tuesday (via MMAfighting.com), the UFC drew its all-time best numbers for any FX program with the…

The UFC’s growth may not be as rapid as it was during the Lesnar era, but the organization’s fanbase continues to swell. According to a report released on Tuesday (via MMAfighting.com), the UFC drew its all-time best numbers for any FX program with the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC 156 event.

With 1,897,000 viewers tuned in, Evan Dunham defeated Gleison Tibau via unanimous decision in the network’s featured contest. Prior to that, Strikeforce imports Tyron Woodley, Bobby Green and Isaac Vallie-Flagg picked up impressive wins over Jay Hieron, Jacob Volkmann and Yves Edwards, respectively.

This news comes only two weeks after the UFC broke the same record with a free card headlined by middleweights Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisping. The Brazilian event drew a total FX audience of 1,860,000. 

If you need a baseline to help you see the impressive growth of the UFC on FX, take a look at May of 2012 for UFC 146.

The main card featured all heavyweights, and the FX preliminary card was packed full of fan favorites such as Dan Hardy, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Jamie Varner and Ultimate Fighter winner Diego Brandao. Even with those stars, the UFC 146 prelims only drew in a total viewership of 1.3 million.

The additional 597,000 viewers represents an incredible 46 percent increase in only nine months.

Perhaps these numbers are truly indicative of the UFC’s growth. Maybe they are simply a one-time boost generated by the sports fever that sweeps American fans during Super Bowl weekend. 

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, Dana White and Co. have got to be smiling ear to ear with this news.

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Ian McCall Wouldn’t Be Surprised If He’s Cut by UFC, Calls Himself ‘Overrated’

It would be an understatement to say Ian McCall isn’t taking the loss to Joseph Benavidez well.Since joining the UFC, the former Tachi Palace flyweight champ has gone 0-2-1, with his most recent loss coming from Benavidez at UFC 156.In a couple of biza…

It would be an understatement to say Ian McCall isn’t taking the loss to Joseph Benavidez well.

Since joining the UFC, the former Tachi Palace flyweight champ has gone 0-2-1, with his most recent loss coming from Benavidez at UFC 156.

In a couple of bizarre posts on Twitter, McCall apologized to fans and pleaded for UFC president Dana White to give him another chance.

McCall is obviously disappointed over the outcomes of recent bouts, but he is far from being considered overrated.

Most media outlets still consider him as one of the top 3 flyweights in the world. There certainly isn’t any shame in losing to Benavidez, who has been a perennial contender in both the flyweight and bantamweight divisions.

McCall’s other loss came at the hands of reigning UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, who is also listed as one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

The UFC finally has its flyweight champion, but the division remains a work in progress. Johnson, Benavidez, McCall and John Dodson are truly the only marquee names competing at 125 pounds.

McCall is an interesting personality and an exciting fighter. It’s highly unlikely the UFC would pull the plug on his contract in the middle of the construction process of the flyweight division.

They’ll need McCall to continue to put on great fights and garner more recognition and respect for the lighter weight classes.

No worries, “Uncle Creepy” will live to creep another day.

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Aldo vs. Edgar: The Reason Aldo vs. Pettis Shouldn’t Have Been Made Yet

And so it goes; based on the strengths of this weekend’s bout between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar—billed as a “Superfight”—Dana White has announced the date (August 3) that we will see Jose Aldo attempt to defend his feath…

And so it goes; based on the strengths of this weekend’s bout between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar—billed as a “Superfight”—Dana White has announced the date (August 3) that we will see Jose Aldo attempt to defend his featherweight belt against Anthony Pettis.

A lot of talk is made by Dana White in regards to making fights that make sense.

He inked Chael Sonnen to coach opposite Jon Jones and along with that gig comes a title fight for Sonnen because, White said, it “makes sense.”

Ronda Rousey and Chris Cyborg may or may not fight at a catch weight of 140 pounds, because while it would be a fan pleasing fight, it “doesn’t make sense” to White.

Now, White has signed Jose Aldo to fight Anthony Pettis, leaving a potential long-anticipated rematch with Benson Henderson in limbo.

The thought of a fight between Aldo and Pettis makes any fight fan worth his salt salivate: two men of similar size, speed and power, both great grapplers and strikers with their own right…what’s not to love?

Such a fight could be a battle for the ages and if what looks good on paper translates as expected to the stage, it could be one of the greatest fights ever.

But it shouldn’t have been made so soon.

Why, you ask? Because it could derail the hype of a possible rematch between Pettis and reigning lightweight champion Benson Henderson.

If there is one thing the UFC knows how to do, it’s build the excitement of rematches around the notion that in MMA, lightning can indeed strike twice.

And perhaps nothing was more electrifying than the boot to the head Pettis landed on Henderson in their first fight.

It wasn’t just great, it was both perfection and unbelievable at the time, and that is the kind of thing that draws people in.

The sheer amount of attention the UFC media machine could build around a showdown between Pettis and Henderson cannot be ignored. They could run highlights of that kick for days and days and no one would get tired of seeing it, and they would also talk about it, frequently.

They can still do this same thing, but only if Pettis beats Aldo or looks excellent in defeat.

Anything less than that is going to take some of the air out of a rematch between Pettis and Henderson, and by proxy could take some of the luster off a potential title run by Jose Aldo at 155.

Should Aldo hand Pettis back to the lightweight division as a broken man, he’s going to have to build himself back up at 155 in order to look like he’s a worthy contender again.

If not, the lightweight belt is going to be compromised by a Pettis victory that comes so quickly after a crushing defeat at the hands of Aldo; after all, appearances are terribly important in the process of hyping a fight and maintaining a division.

And from there, Aldo claiming the lightweight title is no longer that big of a deal because he’s already beaten the Pettis before.

All of these risks, while outlandish to the knowledgeable fan, are still risks, and they are needless at that.

If the powers that be in the UFC would have waited for Pettis to fight Henderson for the lightweight title, they would have enjoyed the hype of what is sure to be a great fight, sustained the perception that the lightweight division is every bit as tough as it looks and, by proxy, sustained a potential title run by Aldo through the 155 ranks.

And the loser of the bout between Henderson and Pettis could have been signed to fight Aldo at either featherweight or a catch weight, and that would have made for the perfect bridge for Aldo to cross over onto highway I-155.

But now much of this is at risk.

When two men with the power and speed and skills of Aldo and Pettis square off, it can end in the blink of an eye.

Both men are capable of catching the other and ending the bout with one shot, and should that happen it would be highly anticlimactic, not to mention how future fights could be compromised.

Given how the sport of boxing failed to make the “Superfight” everyone wanted to see—Pacquiao vs. Mayweather—it’s not surprising that the UFC is trying to make every big fight as soon as they can.

But at times there is a virtue to be found in waiting, and anticipation can make things worth the wait.

And when you’re watching great fights as you wait (such as Pettis vs. Henderson II) the time just seems to fly by.  

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According to Mirko Cro Cop, Alistair Overeem Is Nothing Without His Drugs [HATE]


(“And he’s nothing without his ground-and-pound. And he’s nothing without his groin strikes, which still haunt my nightmares.”)

After Alistair Overeem‘s upset knockout loss to Antonio Silva at UFC 156, it seemed like every MMA fan on Twitter wanted to be the first to say “Called it!” Overeem, as the narrative goes, has a cat-heart, folds under pressure, doesn’t have the cardio to go three 5-minute rounds, his monstrous physique came from unnatural means, it was just a matter of time before he was exposed as a fraud, and everybody knew it all along. Well, you can add Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic to the list of notable Reem-haters. As the legendary striker explained in a recent interview with fightsite.hr, he predicted Bigfoot would beat Overeem, partly because Overeem wasn’t fighting with his usual chemical enhancements. Here’s what Mirko had to say (translation via BloodyElbow):

“I wasn’t surprised by Silva’s victory at all and I had believed he would win. I don’t want to come off as a smart-ass or say I knew it all along, so I’ll explain why I’d believed so. First, Silva is a big tough guy with a huge heart who had demolished Fedor and he needs no better reference than that, and Alistair hugely underestimated him and belittled him with his arrogant statements, so this mobilized Silva in the best possible way. Second, Silva is a natural heavyweight, and Alistair — for the first time since way back in 2007, when he began to gain huge weight — fought without the drugs he had used constantly for years, including testosterone and all the other shit that goes with it.

“Watching the weigh-in, I saw that his muscles mass was nowhere near his usual, he had the weight, but he wasn’t nearly as carved out and defined, since he couldn’t take anything because he was watched by the Athletic Commission. This also reflects on the psyche of a man who’s been using stuff to increase his strength, endurance, pain tolerance and aggressiveness for years, and now there was none of that. Alistair is an excellent fighter, but he still owes that excellence to something that’s dirty and unpermitted, and, in the end, very dangerous to health.


(“And he’s nothing without his ground-and-pound. And he’s nothing without his groin strikes, which still haunt my nightmares.”)

After Alistair Overeem‘s upset knockout loss to Antonio Silva at UFC 156, it seemed like every MMA fan on Twitter wanted to be the first to say “Called it!” Overeem, as the narrative goes, has a cat-heart, folds under pressure, doesn’t have the cardio to go three 5-minute rounds, his monstrous physique came from unnatural means, it was just a matter of time before he was exposed as a fraud, and everybody knew it all along. Well, you can add Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic to the list of notable Reem-haters. As the legendary striker explained in a recent interview with fightsite.hr, he predicted Bigfoot would beat Overeem, partly because Overeem wasn’t fighting with his usual chemical enhancements. Here’s what Mirko had to say (translation via BloodyElbow):

“I wasn’t surprised by Silva’s victory at all and I had believed he would win. I don’t want to come off as a smart-ass or say I knew it all along, so I’ll explain why I’d believed so. First, Silva is a big tough guy with a huge heart who had demolished Fedor and he needs no better reference than that, and Alistair hugely underestimated him and belittled him with his arrogant statements, so this mobilized Silva in the best possible way. Second, Silva is a natural heavyweight, and Alistair — for the first time since way back in 2007, when he began to gain huge weight — fought without the drugs he had used constantly for years, including testosterone and all the other shit that goes with it.

“Watching the weigh-in, I saw that his muscles mass was nowhere near his usual, he had the weight, but he wasn’t nearly as carved out and defined, since he couldn’t take anything because he was watched by the Athletic Commission. This also reflects on the psyche of a man who’s been using stuff to increase his strength, endurance, pain tolerance and aggressiveness for years, and now there was none of that. Alistair is an excellent fighter, but he still owes that excellence to something that’s dirty and unpermitted, and, in the end, very dangerous to health.

“I don’t think he was concerned by that, he wanted success at any cost. And the third thing is, Alistair had behaved so arrogantly that someone needed to put him back in his place. His belittling of Silva was repulsive, saying that after beating up Silva he’d go for the belt, and at the weigh-in and entering the arena he acted like he invented the fighting sport, and he’s been behaving with so much arrogance lately that I’m glad Silva put him back in his place and taught him a lesson! Congratulations Silva, from the heart!”

Considering how their fight in 2008 turned out, it’s understandable that Cro Cop would still hold a bit of a grudge against Overeem. But according to Tim Marchman on TheClassical.org, there’s also a pot-calling-the-kettle-black element to Cro Cop’s hate-rant. (“Kickboxer-with-sprawl who made a rep smashing tiny dudes in Japan fights under commission testing, grows love handles and loses to decent but unremarkable Brazilian heavyweight? Hmm…“)

Then again, Cro Cop is just saying what many fans were already thinking in the wake of Overeem’s loss. Was the Demolition Man’s hype really warranted? How much of his sudden heavyweight success was earned legitimately? And now that he’s competing under such heightened scrutiny from athletic commissions, will he ever be the same fighter again?

UFC 156: 5 Lessons Fighters Can Learn from Bigfoot Silva’s Upset Win

As great a victory as defeating Alistair Overeem was for Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, when looking at the bout honestly we can clearly see this is more of a case of what Overeem did wrong as opposed to what Silva did right. Silva took advantag…

As great a victory as defeating Alistair Overeem was for Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, when looking at the bout honestly we can clearly see this is more of a case of what Overeem did wrong as opposed to what Silva did right.

Silva took advantage of nearly every opportunity Overeem gave him, showing himself as the only man in the cage who came to win, and when showing up is half the battle, fighting to win can carry a man the rest of the way.

Overeem showed up, but as he plodded about the ring, he seemed more like an absentee landlord than a man wanting to make good on the biggest opportunity of his life.

So, what lessons can be learned from such a fight?

Well, there were some obvious mistakes made by Overeem and some good decisions made by Silva that speak to everyone, even those of us sitting in armchairs.

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