Tag: UFC 160

MMA’s Great Debate Radio: UFC 160 Review, T.J. Grant and Matt Serra Interviews

With UFC 160 in the record books, MMA’s Great Debate Radio returns with a recap of the show as well as guests—new No. 1 lightweight contender T.J. Grant and recently retired former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra. Today’s show will go in dep…

With UFC 160 in the record books, MMA‘s Great Debate Radio returns with a recap of the show as well as guests—new No. 1 lightweight contender T.J. Grant and recently retired former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra.

Today’s show will go in depth talking about the major moments of UFC 160, including the big wins by both Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.

New top lightweight contender T.J. Grant stops by to discuss his win over Gray Maynard.  He will talk about being shunned by Maynard after the fight when he went to shake his hand and also give his initial thoughts on facing Benson Henderson later this year.

Matt Serra also joins the show to discuss his recent retirement after more than a decade in the sport.  What led him to this decision and will he ever come back?

Also, Serra spills the beans on who he would fight if he had one more chance to step inside the Octagon.

Finally, today’s debate topics surround all that happened at UFC 160 over the weekend.

Today’s debate topics include:

—Did the fight between Cain Velasquez and Bigfoot Silva get stopped too early?

—Rate your excitement level in Velasquez vs. Dos Santos 3?

—What kind of a statement did T.J. Grant make with his knockout over Gray Maynard at UFC 160?

—Is Glover Teixeira the biggest threat to Jon Jones’ title right now?

This is MMA’s Great Debate Radio for Tuesday, May 28, 2013

(If the embeddable player does not work please click HERE to listen to the show. Don’t forget to subscribe to the show via iTunes or listen via Stitcher Radio)

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 160 Salaries: Cain Velasquez Leads the Way with $400,000

UFC 160 was a pretty memorable event. You had a couple of the bloodiest contests in recent memory. You had a “yeah, I’m just gonna try this” moment when Junior dos Santos decided the third round of a heavyweight title elimination bout was a …

UFC 160 was a pretty memorable event. 

You had a couple of the bloodiest contests in recent memory. You had a “yeah, I’m just gonna try this” moment when Junior dos Santos decided the third round of a heavyweight title elimination bout was a good time to roll out a technique he never used before. You had Cain Velasquez showing the world that his previous dismantling of Antonio Silva was no fluke and you had TJ Grant denying Gray Maynard a shot at UFC gold, while claiming that shot for his own.

And hey, the fighters even got paid for their efforts.  If you care about that kind of stuff, and I know many of you do, here are the full salaries from UFC 160 provided to Bleacher Report MMA from the Nevada State Athletic Commission:

  • Cain Velasquez: $400,000
  • Antonio Silva: $75,000
  • Junior dos Santos: $240,000 ($120,000 salary, $120,000 win bonus)
  • Mark Hunt : $160,000
  • Glover Teixeira: $48,000 ($24,000 salary, $24,000 win bonus)
  • James Te-Huna: $30,000
  • TJ Grant: $50,000 ($25,000 salary, $25,000 win bonus)
  • Gray Maynard: $45,000
  • Donald Cerrone: $82,000 ($41,000 salary, $41,000 win bonus)
  • K.J. Noons: $41,000
  • Mike Pyle: $84,000 ($42,000 salary, $42,000 win bonus)
  • Rick Story: $27,000
  • Dennis Bermudez: $28,000 ($14,000 salary, $14,000 win bonus)
  • Max Holloway: $14,000
  • Robert Whittaker: $30,000 ($15,000 salary, $15,000 win bonus)
  • Colton Smith: $15,000
  • Khabib Nurmagomedov: $28,000 ($14,000 salary, $14,000 win bonus)*
  • Abel Trujillo: $8,000
  • Stephen Thomson: $16,000 ($8,000 salary, $8,000 win bonus)
  • Nah-Shaon Burrell: $9,000
  • George Roop: $26,000 ($13,000 salary, $13,000 win bonus)
  • Brian Bowles: $19,000
  • Jeremy Stephens: $48,000 ($24,000 salary, $24,000 win bonus)
  • Estevan Payan: $10,000

 

*Surrendered 20 % due to missing weight

Salaries do not reflect any bonus awards.

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Ben Henderson vs. T.J. Grant Possible for UFC on FOX Sports 1:1, “Smooth” Still Trying to Figure Out Who Exactly Grant Is


(“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up, sleepies. We must go, yeeees, we must go at once.” Photo courtesy of Getty Images.)

As I so eloquently predicted, the unstoppable lightweight force that is T.J. Grant was able to successfully upset the heavily-favored Gray Maynard via a hellstorm of punches and knees at UFC 160 last weekend (conversely, I would like to apologize to George Roop, who shed his “puffed up crow’s cock” moniker with an impressive TKO of Brian Bowles earlier in the evening). It was so impressive a performance that Dana White actually made good on his promise to grant T.J. the next lightweight title shot, despite the fact that next to no one — including Ben Henderson himself — really knows who Grant is.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, “Smooth” admitted that, prior to Grant’s victory over Maynard, he had no idea who the Canadian was and in fact was already preparing for a future fight with Maynard:

I am a little bit surprised. I think most people had Gray winning. Most people picked Gray to win and not only did T.J. prove everyone wrong, but in the manner and in the fashion that he did it, pretty impressive performance for him. I did (think Maynard was going to win). I thought Gray was going to be the next guy I faced. I was already kind of preparing for that and now I got a new guy to prepare for. I don’t know a whole lot about T.J. to be honest.


(“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up, sleepies. We must go, yeeees, we must go at once.” Photo courtesy of Getty Images.)

As I so eloquently predicted, the unstoppable lightweight force that is T.J. Grant was able to successfully upset the heavily-favored Gray Maynard via a hellstorm of punches and knees at UFC 160 last weekend (conversely, I would like to apologize to George Roop, who shed his “puffed up crow’s cock” moniker with an impressive TKO of Brian Bowles earlier in the evening). It was so impressive a performance that Dana White actually made good on his promise to grant T.J. the next lightweight title shot, despite the fact that next to no one — including Ben Henderson himself — really knows who Grant is.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, “Smooth” admitted that, prior to Grant’s victory over Maynard, he had no idea who the Canadian was and in fact was already preparing for a future fight with Maynard:

I am a little bit surprised. I think most people had Gray winning. Most people picked Gray to win and not only did T.J. prove everyone wrong, but in the manner and in the fashion that he did it, pretty impressive performance for him. I did (think Maynard was going to win). I thought Gray was going to be the next guy I faced. I was already kind of preparing for that and now I got a new guy to prepare for. I don’t know a whole lot about T.J. to be honest.

I know he’s 5-0 at 155 now, he used to be a 170 pounder. From what I’ve seen of him, from the promos and highlights and stuff, he doesn’t seem too flashy. He’s one of those guys, a grinder, good fundamentals and solid. It is going to be my job to learn about him the next month or so to get ready for him. 

As for the event that could possibly hold this sure-to-be slugfest? White suggested at the UFC 160 post-fight press conference that the organization was looking to book Henderson vs. Grant for the highly-anticipated UFC on Fox Sports 1:1 card, which goes down from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on August 17th.

Already featuring a trio of barnburners in Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne, Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson, and Matt Brown vs. Thiago Alves, UFC on Fox Sports 1 1 is well on its way to becoming the best television card the UFC has ever done. So start crossing your fingers, ritualistically sacrificing teenagers, or doing whatever you can to ensure that the injury gods are appeased for the next few months.

–J. Jones

UFC 160: Biggest Fights Coming out of Saturday’s PPV

Saturday’s UFC 160 pay-per-view from Las Vegas was billed as one of the biggest events in recent history, and while it didn’t deliver as expected, the long-term title ramifications from this show made it unforgettable.With two championship …

Saturday’s UFC 160 pay-per-view from Las Vegas was billed as one of the biggest events in recent history, and while it didn’t deliver as expected, the long-term title ramifications from this show made it unforgettable.

With two championship fights resulting from Saturday’s bouts, UFC 160 was incredibly important.

The heavyweight and lightweight title scenes have been drastically altered after Saturday’s action, and these are the biggest fights coming out of UFC 160.

 

Junior Dos Santos Earns Another Shot at Cain Velasquez

When Cain Velasquez successfully defended his UFC Heavyweight Championship against Antonio Silva in the main event of UFC 160, the champion confirmed his spot as the king of the divisional mountain.

As great as Velasquez looked in his fight, the co-main event featured former champion Junior Dos Santos knocking out journeyman Mark Hunt in convincing fashion and cementing his place as the No. 1 contender to the heavyweight crown.

Dana White agrees and made the fight official that night (h/t USA Today).

These two juggernauts have met twice before—Dos Santos stole the heavyweight title in the first meeting and Velasquez stole it back in the second bout—making this third matchup one of the few trilogies that MMA fans want to see.

Velasquez and Dos Santos are the two best fighters in the heavyweight division, and a final meeting in this feud to settle which fighter is truly superior is a dream come true for the UFC enthusiasts around the world.

Predicted Winner: Junior Dos Santos via TKO.

 

TJ Grant Earns His Big Chance Against Benson Henderson

While Gray Maynard has become nothing more than a divisional gatekeeper, the utter domination from Canadian lightweight contender TJ Grant Saturday at UFC 160 proved that he is ready for his championship opportunity.

As White said in the buildup to this fight (h/t MMAJunkie.com), Grant’s victory against Maynard earned him a shot against Benson Henderson for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

Henderson will be the toughest fight of Grant’s life—the lightweight champion is on a seven fight winning streak and has successfully defended the title three times—but with the momentum created from his own five-fight winning streak, the Canadian is ready for his big chance.

There is little doubt that this will be an absolute war featuring two men that love to strike, but how Grant reacts to the elite wrestling ability of Henderson will decide his fate in this title bout.

This matchup has Fight of the Year Award potential.

Predicted Winner: TJ Grant via Decision.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 160 Results: Mark Hunt Posts Picture of Fractured Toe After 6 Stitches

Heavy-handed fan favorite Mark Hunt was likely one in away from a title shot, but he hit a roadblock in the form of former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos at UFC 160. While “The Super Samoan” was a game opponent for over 14 minutes of actio…

Heavy-handed fan favorite Mark Hunt was likely one in away from a title shot, but he hit a roadblock in the form of former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos at UFC 160. 

While “The Super Samoan” was a game opponent for over 14 minutes of action Saturday, he had a problem dealing with JDS’s speed and power and eventually got dropped with a spinning heel kick. 

One big punch on the ground was all it took to put Hunt’s lights out, and just like that, a title bid for the 39-year-old went up in smoke. 

Early Sunday morning, Hunt revealed on Facebook that he broke his right big toe in the first round, hindering his movement for the rest of the fight. 

Now, on Tuesday morning, the PRIDE and K-1 veteran revealed the injury required six stitches and isn’t looking too pretty. Those with a weak stomach probably want to avoid Hunt’s latest Facebook photo. 

Heading into his bout with Dos Santos, Hunt was riding a four-fight win streak, including three knockouts—an incredible turnaround after losing six bouts in a row between July 2006 and September 2010. 

Despite the disappointing loss, Hunt is ranked No. 10 in the UFC’s official heavyweight rankings, which update Monday night. 

After losing the heavyweight strap to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155 in December, “Cigano” wanted to prove he was still one of the elite fighters in the world and certainly made a statement with his knockout over Hunt. 

Since Velasquez successfully defended the belt against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the headlining bout Saturday, UFC President Dana White indicated that a rubber match between Velasquez and Dos Santos makes sense before the year is over, according to MMA Fighting.  

After getting stopped by one of the division’s best, what matchup makes sense for Hunt to take next?

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA Stock Report for May: Who Rose, Who Fell, Who Stayed the Same

The UFC brought two events to your living room screen this May, and both delivered a lot of action.UFC on FX 8 was capped off by one of the best knockouts of 2013. Vitor Belfort dropped Luke Rockhold with a spinning heel kick and finished him off with …

The UFC brought two events to your living room screen this May, and both delivered a lot of action.

UFC on FX 8 was capped off by one of the best knockouts of 2013. Vitor Belfort dropped Luke Rockhold with a spinning heel kick and finished him off with brutal punches on the canvas to solidify his spot as the No. 2 ranked middleweight.

UFC 160 saw both its top heavyweights finish their fights in impressive fashion. Junior dos Santos landed a spinning back kick of his own that dropped Mark Hunt and nailed him with a punch on the ground to end the fight. UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez dominated Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in just 81 seconds.

Other fighters impressed along the way, and some failed to meet expectations.

This is your MMA stock report for the month of May.

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