The UFC will head back to Milwaukee on August 31 for UFC 164, and the main event has now been named with the UFC lightweight title up for grabs. UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will go for his fourth straight title defense since wrestling th…
The UFC will head back to Milwaukee on August 31 for UFC 164, and the main event has now been named with the UFC lightweight title up for grabs.
UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will go for his fourth straight title defense since wrestling the belt away from Frankie Edgar when he travels to Milwaukee on August 31 to battle contender T.J. Grant in the main event.
UFC officials confirmed via UFC Tonight on Tuesday that the Henderson vs. Grant title fight would headline UFC 164.
The card taking place on August 31 will serve as part of Harley-Davidson’s 110th anniversary celebration.Harley-Davidson has been a major supporter and sponsor of the UFC for the past several years.
For the first time since defending the belt against Frankie Edgar in 2012, Henderson will head back to a UFC pay-per-view card.Henderson’s last two title defenses have come on free television as part of UFC on Fox 5 and UFC on Fox 7.
His last trip to the Octagon in April as part of the UFC on Fox 7 card ended in close, controversial fashion with Henderson pulling off a split-decision victory over former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez.It marked a third fight out of four title fights in which Henderson has come down to a razor-close decision to get the nod for victory.
Hoping to end that streak of controversial wins and put an exclamation point on the fight is Canadian T.J. Grant, who earned the shot at Henderson after picking up five straight wins in the lightweight division, including his blistering finish of former title contender Gray Maynard at UFC 160.
A former welterweight, Grant moved down to 155 pounds recently and has looked virtually unstoppable since changing weight classes.
Following the knockout over Maynard, Grant was given the next title shot at Henderson. He’ll look to capitalize on that come August 31 at UFC 164 in Milwaukee.
“I respect him, but I think I can beat him,” Grant told Bleacher Report about the fight with Henderson. “It’s going to be a fun fight.”
The heavyweight showdown between former UFC champions Josh Barnett and Frank Mir is expected to serve as the co-main event on the upcoming UFC 164 card.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Soa Palelei will now make his Octagon return on the UFC 164 fight card after being removed from a bout with Stipe Miocic and replaced by Roy Nelson. MMAJunkie.com reports that UFC newcomer and undefeated Ukranian Nikita Krylov will meet …
SoaPalelei will now make his Octagon return on the UFC 164 fight card after being removed from a bout with StipeMiocic and replaced by Roy Nelson.
MMAJunkie.com reports that UFC newcomer and undefeated Ukranian Nikita Krylov will meet Palelei at the August 31 event in Milwaukee. Competing in Ukraine and Russia, Krylov has already won three times in 2013.
With an 0-1 UFC record, Palelei was removed from his previously scheduled bout with Miocic for a multitude of reasons. After UFC 161 lost its main event bout between RenanBarao and Eddie Wineland, the UFC needed to add a big name to the card, so TUFwinner Nelson supplanted the less popular Palelei. In addition to the name value he added, Nelson was owed a fight to fulfill his contract, so the matchup with Miocic helped complete the UFC’s obligation.
Since losing to Eddie Sanchez in his only Octagon appearance at UFC 79, Palelei has only lost to Daniel Cormier in 11 bouts. Most recently, Palelei scored a first-round knockout against UFC veteran Sean McCorkle, which caught the attention of the UFC brass.
At 35 years old, it’s likely this will be Palelei‘s final chance to prove himself at the highest level. While he has much more experience against top competition than Krylov, Palelei is 14 years older than the 21-year-old Urkanian. Still, Krylov will be taking a big step up in competition from the opponents he was facing in Gladiators Fighting Championship and M-1 Challenge.
It’s tough to say how Krylov will respond against an adversary like Palelei. Because he’s not been tested against UFC-level competition thus far in his career, Krylov may be in for a wake-up call against the jiu-jitsu black belt with knockout power.
Following the addition of the heavyweight bout between Palelei and Krylov, here is how the UFC 164 fight card currently looks:
(Hall attempts the infamous “Cover Your Eyes and Pray the Scary Monster Goes Away” defense to no avail at the TUF 17 Finale. Photo via Getty Images.)
Perhaps the only thing more dangerous than accepting a coaching gig on The Ultimate Fighteris being heralded by Dana White as “the next Anderson Silva” while still participating on the reality show. Ten seasons ago, it was Phillipe Nover who drew the unjust and bombastic comparisons to the pound-for-pound king. Though a loss to Efrain Escudero — who would also become one of the show’s more notorious washouts — in the season’s finale may have not derailed his hype train entirely, his consecutive losses to Kyle Bradley (ouch.) and Robert Emerson (OH COME ON!) surely did. But just as every story has a happy ending, Nover now earns his living pushing the stretchers, not lying on them.
In any case, if Hall doesn’t want to end up changing bedpans for crotchety geezers in the future (not that there’s anything wrong with that), he better bring his A-game when he meets fellow TUF-finalist Nick Ring at the much anticipated UFC on FOX Sports 1:1 card in August. That’s right, Bostonians, not only do we get Overeem vs. Brown, Alves vs. other Brown, Lauzon vs. Johnson, and (potentially) Henderson vs. Grant, but now we get to see Uriah Hall’s make-or-break fight in the UFC. Expect some Eddie Gordo-level shit to go down in this one, Potato Nation.
(Hall attempts the infamous “Cover Your Eyes and Pray the Scary Monster Goes Away” defense to no avail at the TUF 17 Finale. Photo via Getty Images.)
Perhaps the only thing more dangerous than accepting a coaching gig on The Ultimate Fighteris being heralded by Dana White as “the next Anderson Silva” while still participating on the reality show. Ten seasons ago, it was Phillipe Nover who drew the unjust and bombastic comparisons to the pound-for-pound king. Though a loss to Efrain Escudero — who would also become one of the show’s more notorious washouts — in the season’s finale may have not derailed his hype train entirely, his consecutive losses to Kyle Bradley (ouch.) and Robert Emerson (OH COME ON!) surely did. But just as every story has a happy ending, Nover now earns his living pushing the stretchers, not lying on them.
In any case, if Hall doesn’t want to end up changing bedpans for crotchety geezers in the future (not that there’s anything wrong with that), he better bring his A-game when he meets fellow TUF-finalist Nick Ring at the much anticipated UFC on FOX Sports 1:1 card in August. That’s right, Bostonians, not only do we get Overeem vs. Brown, Alves vs. other Brown, Lauzon vs. Johnson, and (potentially) Henderson vs. Grant, but now we get to see Uriah Hall’s make-or-break fight in the UFC. Expect some Eddie Gordo-level shit to go down in this one, Potato Nation.
Ring is also coming of a disappointing loss — a split decision to Chris Camozzi at UFC 158 – and has dropped two of his past three fights. We don’t want to say that the chair will be kicked out from underneath him with a loss here, but the noose is surely tied around his neck and BROOKS WAS HERE has already been carved in the support beam above him, so to speak. Rita Hayworth.
Do any of you guys remember how Soa Palelei was pulled from UFC 161 for not being a big enough name and replaced by Roy Nelson? Well it looks like the move was ultimately a blessing in disguise for the Aussie, as he has been booked against octagon newcomer Nikita Krylov at UFC 164, which goes down from the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee on August 31st.
Palelei was originally scheduled to face the highly-touted Stipe Miocic on June 15th, a fight that he was a sizable underdog heading into, but now finds himself facing a guy who not only calls himself “The Al Capone,” but dresses like him in his fighter profile picture.
(I swear, officer, I’ve never even *heard* of this Roger Rabbit fellow you speak of. Photo via Sherdog.)
Known by the everyday world as Nikita Krylov (why anyone with the name of a James Bond supervillain would want a nickname in the first place is beyond me), this 21 year-old has gone undefeated in 14 contests, with not one of those fights making it outside of the first round. Sounds intimidating, right? Not to worry; a quick gander over Krylov’s list of opponents reveals nine…count ‘em, NINE opponents with no professional wins, ONE fighter with over six fights to his credit, and TWO winning records. Krylov may be the most feared can-crusher in all of the Ukraine, but Soa Palelei is on a whole. notha. level of can-crushing notoriety here. Expect Palelei to come in as a heavy favorite.
And in injury-shuffling news, the hotly-anticipated lightweight bout between Edson Barboza and John Makdessi at UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidmanhas suffered a minor setback, as Makdessi has gone down with an undisclosed injury. Replacing him will be Rafaello “Tractor” Oliveira, who has gone 1-2 in his second octagon stint. After suffering a particularly vicious and prolonged beating at the hands of Yves Edwards at UFC Live 6 in 2011, Oliveira fought just once last year, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Yoislandy Izquierdo at UFC 148. At least we will see a knockout is what we’re trying to say.
It’s been more than a decade since Josh Barnett last competed in the UFC, but now with a new multi-fight deal in place, it’s time for “The Warmaster” to go home again. For years, Barnett has been one of the elite heavyweights in MMA, but always found h…
It’s been more than a decade since Josh Barnett last competed in the UFC, but now with a new multi-fight deal in place, it’s time for “The Warmaster” to go home again.
For years, Barnett has been one of the elite heavyweights in MMA, but always found himself on the outside looking in when compared to the top fighters in the UFC because he wasn’t competing there.
While the veteran fighter was pursued by several other organizations, ultimately the UFC was the spot Barnett always wanted to be, and now he gets to stake his claim as one of the best fighters in the sport while proving it on the biggest stage possible.
“I would lying if I didn’t say that being in the UFC is the biggest show available, it’s the one that’s going to make the most impact,” Barnett told Bleacher Report on Thursday.“I’m trying to be champion of the world, being anything less than the UFC heavyweight champion just doesn’t have the same ring.”
Prior to signing with the UFC last week, Barnett mentioned in an interview with Bleacher Report that the name that made the most sense for his return to the Octagon would be a showdown against fellow former champion Frank Mir.
Much to his surprise, Barnett found out just days ago that not only would he actually get to face Mir in his UFC return, but it was the former heavyweight champion who requested the bout with him at UFC 164 in Milwaukee.
“I don’t think Frank is the kind of guy that’s afraid of fighting anyone.He’s gone in there and broke a guy’s arm, he’s gone in there and practically seen his life flash before his eyes,” Barnett said about Mir.“He knows the deal, this is nothing new to him.He’s not going to sweat it.At the same time he wants to go out and test himself, and he wants to fight the people that are going to take him further along in his career and closer to the gold again.He knows it’s a big fight and I’m sure all the people that are telling me they wanted to see me fight Frank Mir for so long, they’ve been telling him the exact same thing on my behalf.It just worked out perfectly.
“I kind of like that somebody deliberately asked to fight me because that’s a very rare thing.”
Before the fight between the two heavyweight submission specialists was made official, Mir said in an interview with El Octagono that he thought a fight against Barnett would be “phenomenal” and something the fans would really enjoy.
He also didn’t mind mentioning Barnett’s proclivity to use his ground game, and Mir welcomed the challenge, although he didn’t expect his opponent to feel the same way once they got on the mat together.
“I think he’s not afraid to grapple with me,” Mir said. “Which I think would be one of his downfalls.”
Barnett could only smile when he heard about Mir’s comments because it will make the victory at UFC 164 just that much sweeter.
“I like a man that’s confident in his abilities and believes in himself when he gets out there and thinks he possesses the best weapons to bring to this battle, but that just makes it even better when you go out there and show them how wrong they are,” Barnett stated.“He’s not going to try and lay and pray me, I know that for a fact.I’m looking forward to that. I’d rather go out there with someone whose trying to kill me, than try to beat me by decision.The idea of him trying to take me down is great.I live for that.”
Mir is famous for pre-fight banter where he threatens to go home with an opponent’s arm or leg, depending on which submission he happens to catch.Mir has backed up his talk in several past fights, including when he won the UFC heavyweight title by snapping former champion Tim Sylvia’s arm, or more recently at UFC 140 when he broke Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm in the Octagon.
This time around, Barnett warns Mir that it might be him that goes home with an ailing limb.
“He’s been the one that’s been sitting back and talking about taking limbs home,” Barnett stated.“He’s going to have to watch out for his own right now.”
The show is just getting rolling between these two heavyweight icons and it’s only likely to get better between now and when UFC 164 actually happens in August.Barnett has a skill to promote a fight like few do in the MMA world, and he’s got an opponent that gives as good as he gets.
One thing Barnett knows for sure is that when his walkout song courtesy of his favorite band Bolt Thrower hits the speakers, and the crowd in Milwaukee is on their feet, he will give them a show for the ages.
“Whatever he leaves behind, I’m going to take.To the spoils of war always go to the victor, whatever’s left is mine to claim,” Barnett said about Mir. “The Warmaster is setting a black crusade upon the UFC again.”
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.
On March 22, 2002, Josh Barnett challenged Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight championship. The event also featured a welterweight title fight between Matt Hughes and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and the final UFC appearance of Pat Miletich. But …
On March 22, 2002, Josh Barnett challenged Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight championship.
The event also featured a welterweight title fight between Matt Hughes and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and the final UFC appearance of Pat Miletich.
But the real attraction—as is often the case in combat sports—was the heavyweights.
Barnett had defeated Dan Severn to earn his shot in the UFC. He debuted at UFC 28 on November 17, 2000, beating Gan “The Giant” McGee. Four months later, Barnett would lose to Pedro Rizzo but rebounded by beating SemmySchilt and Bobby Hoffman (from the “where are they now” files) to earn his shot at Couture’s championship.
Barnett beat Couture that night, finishing him by TKO in the second round. After the fight, Barnett would test positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The UFC stripped him of his newly won title belt and he was exiled from the UFC, spending years fighting in Japan while also dabbling in his first love, professional wrestling.
UFC 36 was also notable for the second UFC fight of another promising heavyweight. Frank Mir had defeated Roberto Traven in his debut at UFC 34. At UFC 36, Mir submitted Pete Williams with a shoulder lock in just 46 seconds.
It’s been 11 years since that eventful night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Barnett began a very public feud with the UFC’s new ownership in Zuffa that lasted until the moment he and Dana White met and shook hands with each other during a Zuffa fighter summit in Las Vegas. For a time, it was believed that White would never bring Barnett back into the UFC, that the years of bad blood between the two would prevent Barnett from returning to the largest promotion in the world and cementing his legacy.
Last week, Barnett returned to the UFC, signing a multi-fight contract and promising the rest of the UFC’s heavyweights that he was out for blood. His first fight? It’s one that we’ve been waiting to see ever since UFC 36: Barnett will take on Mir at UFC 164 in August.
For me, this is a dream fight. Or, at least it was, once upon a time. It doesn’t carry the same anticipation it did back when Mir was ruling the UFC’s heavyweight division and Barnett was one of the top stars in PRIDE. Mir has faltered in recent years, losing his previous two fights to Daniel Cormier and Junior dos Santos. Barnett made it to the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix but was absolutely mauled there by Cormier.
Both men are older, and maybe they aren’t as good as they used to be. But I don’t care, and I’ll tell you why.
The intrigue behind this fight, at least for me, is the stylistic matchup. Mir might be the best grappling heavyweight to ever compete in mixed martial arts. He’s a dynamic jiu-jitsu player and a master of the style.
Barnett is a proponent of catch wrestling, the American answer to jiu-jitsu. He’s long proclaimed that “catch,” as it is so often dubbed, is far superior to jiu-jitsu. And for much of his career, he’s shown his style to be an effective one.
But we aren’t just getting jiu-jitsu versus catch wrestling; we’re getting two American heavyweight veterans who have had long and successful careers. They’ve been champions and they’ve been superstars, and now they’re finally meeting under the brightest lights available.
But there’s one more thing to look forward to with Barnett vs. Mir: the promotional aspect. If you asked me to name the top 10 “talkers” in mixed martial arts—the ones who are the absolute best at building up fights using their verbal skills—there’s zero chance that both Barnett and Mir would not be included.
Barnett has years of professional wrestling experience to draw from. Sure, he goes over the top from time to time, but it’s still entertaining and endearing. And Mir is a master at portraying himself as the smarmy, cocky heavyweight who thinks he’s better than everyone else. Just take a look back at his interviews building up the second Brock Lesnar fight for a perfect example of what I’m talking about.
There are plenty of fights to look forward to this summer. Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman. Jose Aldo vs. Anthony Pettis. Benson Henderson vs. T.J. Grant, even. All of them are highly anticipated fights, and rightly so.
But for me? Give me Josh Barnett vs. Frank Mir any day of the week. I’ll be there with bells on.
Think of what you were doing 11 years ago. Most of you might envision a moment in your life that probably seems like ancient history now. George W. Bush was in his first term, Nelly was on the radio; I was fresh out of college, working at an Urban Outfitters, hoping that I’d eventually find a better job. (I did, fortunately.) The year was 2002, and it was the last time Josh Barnett competed in the UFC.
Most of you already know the tale: Barnett beats down Randy Couture in the second round of the their headlining title fight at UFC 36, then tests positive for steroids and is stripped of his title. He spends the next six years competing almost exclusively in Japan, gets himself in more PED trouble while fighting for Affliction, and has a minor career rebirth in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix of 2011-2012, where he finishes Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov with startling ease (both by arm-triangle-choke), but gets his ass handed to him by Daniel Cormier.
Think of what you were doing 11 years ago. Most of you might envision a moment in your life that probably seems like ancient history now. George W. Bush was in his first term, Nelly was on the radio; I was fresh out of college, working at an Urban Outfitters, hoping that I’d eventually find a better job. (I did, fortunately.) The year was 2002, and it was the last time Josh Barnett competed in the UFC.
Most of you already know the tale: Barnett beats down Randy Couture in the second round of the their headlining title fight at UFC 36, then tests positive for steroids and is stripped of his title. He spends the next six years competing almost exclusively in Japan, gets himself in more PED trouble while fighting for Affliction, and has a minor career rebirth in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix of 2011-2012, where he finishes Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov with startling ease (both by arm-triangle-choke), but gets his ass handed to him by Daniel Cormier.
– Barnett has looked stellar against opponents who don’t know how to defend a takedown or an arm-triangle choke. Mir won’t be that easy to run through. And maybe this fight will turn out to be one of those “two great grapplers put on a bad kickboxing match” deals.
The UFC will head back to Milwaukee on August 31 for UFC 164, and the main event has now been named with the UFC lightweight title up for grabs.
