Tag: UFC 166

UFC 166 Fight Card: Recapping the Fight Night Bonuses

UFC 166 came like a hurricane to viewers, providing fans with one of the best cards in recent memories. From the war between Diego Sanchez and Gilbert Melendez to the numerous finishes the card provided, fans got their money’s worth when it came down t…

UFC 166 came like a hurricane to viewers, providing fans with one of the best cards in recent memories. From the war between Diego Sanchez and Gilbert Melendez to the numerous finishes the card provided, fans got their money’s worth when it came down to it all.

We had some great knockouts and some awesome scraps. I have a feeling that people who paid for this awesome event had no regrets when it came to shelling out money.

Here is a recap of each fight-night bonus from the great UFC 166. 

 

Submission of the Night: Tony Ferguson

There was no competition, but it did not take away from the D’arce choke Tony Ferguson used to achieve victory.

It only lasted one round, but the fight between Ferguson and Mike Rio provided a memorable moment for UFC 166. Rio was adamant about obtaining the takedown, but Ferguson countered with a nasty D’arce choke.

It was equally as beautiful as it was devastating. It had Rio tapping like there was no tomorrow.

 

Knockout of the Night: John Dodson

It came as no surprise, as John Dodson took home the bonus check for best knockout of the night.

Dodson took on a tough opponent in Darrell Montague, but he made sure the fight did not leave the first round. He used crisp, precision striking to find his counterpart’s chin and put him down.

The man deserves another title shot after that win. Whether he does or not doesn’t matter much, as Dodson took home an extra check for his awesome KO.

 

Fight of the Night: Diego Sanchez-Gilbert Melendez

What can I say about this fight, in all honesty. We had ourselves a Fight of the Year candidate.

Diego Sanchez and Gilbert Melendez decided to take the gloves off (not literally) and throw down hard. What resulted was one of the best fights I have seen in recent times.

Sanchez had a new eyebrow and Melendez had a great win. Nobody lost, in all actuality.

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Velasquez vs. Dos Santos 3: Twitter Reacts to Epic Trilogy’s Conclusion

One of the greatest threematches in UFC history has come to its end. Cain Velasquez took control of the rubber match early, yet again using his wrestling to press Junior dos Santos to the cage and rough him up. While there were a couple moments wh…

One of the greatest threematches in UFC history has come to its end. Cain Velasquez took control of the rubber match early, yet again using his wrestling to press Junior dos Santos to the cage and rough him up. While there were a couple moments where dos Santos might have had Velasquez hurt, it was very similar to the second fight between the two. 

Naturally, fans and fighters alike were all over Twitter talking about the goings-on. Let’s take a look at some of the gems!

Let’s start off with some fighters outside the UFC. Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren said what we were all thinking while former Bellator women’s strawweight fighter Jessica Aguilar said what the UFC wanted you to think. Jon Fitch, meanwhile, gave a shout-out to his training partner’s opponent.

Junior dos Santos’ gym mates in Brazil sent well-wishes and commendations to their friend.

As previously stated, the UFC is relentlessly pushing its Mexican fighters. Guerrilla journalist Front Row Brian brought us this interesting bit of information: 

Our own writers opened up how Cain Velasquez’s legacy stacks up against Pride champion Fedor Emelianenko‘s. UFC’s commentating team quickly labeled Velasquez as the greatest heavyweight mixed martial artist of all time, and there are two sides that feel very differently about that: 

Both fighters and fans alike, though, questioned how long referee Herb Dean let the fight go on for. He came within a split second of waving it off in the third round, but allowed it to go into the fifth. Dos Santos mustered very little offense, and essentially absorbed 10 more minutes of unanswered offense at the hands of Velasquez. 

Dana White sure thought so. 

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UFC 166 : Cain Velasquez Wrecks Junior Dos Santos, Can Anyone Stop the Champion?

Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will go down in UFC history as the great heavyweight trilogy that wasn’t. Dos Santos took the first fight in just over a minute when Cain was seriously injured. In the ten rounds that followed, he never again came c…

Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will go down in UFC history as the great heavyweight trilogy that wasn’t. Dos Santos took the first fight in just over a minute when Cain was seriously injured. In the ten rounds that followed, he never again came close.

Velasquez delivered an extended beatdown rivaling anything we’ve ever seen in the Octagon, not once, but twice. At UFC 166 the beating was so one-sided and ugly that everyone but the medical professionals on hand wanted to see the fight stopped. Velasquez landed power shots over and over again, until, inevitably, dos Santos couldn’t even stand.

This wasn’t a rivalry. It was a rout.

The inevitable question is what comes next for the champion. If dos Santos, who has likewise run through the heavyweight division, isn’t a match for Velasquez, is anybody?

He’s beaten the best wrestler in the division, former NCAA champion Brock Lesnar. Legendary submission artist Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira met his match as well. Dos Santos was arguably the hardest puncher in heavyweight history. We saw how he measured up.

That’s every archetype there is in MMA. There is no style of fighter Velasquez hasn’t met—and bested. His striking is good enough to beat a wrestler. His wrestling is too good to allow a jiu-jitsu man to take him to the mat and control him. And, as we saw against dos Santos, he can either ground a striker or push him up against the cage where his punching power and opportunities are limited.

This combination of talents makes Velasquez the most complete heavyweight in UFC history. Even the great Fedor Emelianenko didn’t possess skill on this level and of this variety. But he’s not perfect. His lack of punching power will always allow foes to stay in the fight. He was head and shoulders above dos Santos and couldn’t put him away.

It didn’t come back to haunt him at UFC 166. It might, however, one day in the not so distant future. Velasquez can be knocked out. Anybody can. And, lacking world-class punching power or a dynamic submission game, Velasquez is destined to be in a ton of grinding fights. With no surefire way to finish, Velasquez’s success is predicated on perfection. Twenty-five minutes, however, is a long time to be perfect.

In a way, Velsquez’s all too human flaw is actually a good thing, at least for MMA fans looking for competitive and exciting fights. It means his opponent will always be in the fight.

Cain Velasquez is the best heavyweight in MMA history. But he’s not invincible. That should give opponents, and fans, a lot to look forward to as we watch him continue his Hall of Fame career.

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UFC 166 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Velasquez vs. Dos Santos Card

Turnover at the top of mixed martial arts makes for a dynamic main event scene. Most fighters’ time at the peak of the sport is so short that fresh and interesting matchups are always being produced.
The price we pay for that, as fans, is a lack o…

Turnover at the top of mixed martial arts makes for a dynamic main event scene. Most fighters’ time at the peak of the sport is so short that fresh and interesting matchups are always being produced.

The price we pay for that, as fans, is a lack of truly memorable rivalries. While there have been some famous trilogies in the sport’s 20-year history, only two—Frankie Edgar versus Gray Maynard and Josh Thomson versus Gilbert Melendez—can honestly be referred to as “great.”

Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez were supposed to change that. Instead, Velasquez beat him up for five rounds before the bout was mercifully stopped. As it turns out, when Cain isn’t injured going into the fight, it’s really not much of a contest.

No matter what the heavyweights did, however, it would have been impossible to match the exciting undercard fight between Diego Sanchez and Gilbert Melendez. The two lightweights let it all hang out as the fight came to a dramatic conclusion. And, though Melendez won a unanimous decision, there were no real losers. The crowd’s huge ovation for Sanchez, if nothing else, made that abundantly clear.

While Joe Rogan called it the best fight he had ever seen, it wasn’t the only great bout of the night. Let’s take a look at each bout and who the true winners and losers were at UFC 166.

Have something to add? Leave it in the comments. 

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UFC 166 Results: Grades for Every Main Card Fighter

You know what? Sometimes, it all comes together.
Even more than usual, all the bright lights were trained on the main event at UFC 166. Heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez would defend the strap against Junior dos Santos in a trilogy-capping battle for th…

You know what? Sometimes, it all comes together.

Even more than usual, all the bright lights were trained on the main event at UFC 166. Heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez would defend the strap against Junior dos Santos in a trilogy-capping battle for the ages. 

There was indeed a battle for the ages in Houston Saturday night. But it wasn’t in the main event.

Oh, sure, that was a terrific fight, between two of the best heavyweights ever. That was a treat and a memorable contest. But another bout outshone the main event and stole the pay-per-view show, and it would have left most buyers feeling satisfied even if Velasquez or dos Santos had never thrown a punch. Well, that might be an extreme description. But you understand.

Read all about it in the slides that follow, which include grades for every main card fighter. 

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Cain Velasquez Retains UFC Heavyweight Title vs. Junior dos Santos via TKO

Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez defeated No. 1 contender Junior Dos Santos via TKO in the fifth round in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 166 pay-per-view from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Once again, it was Velasquez’s ability t…

Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez defeated No. 1 contender Junior Dos Santos via TKO in the fifth round in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 166 pay-per-view from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Once again, it was Velasquez’s ability to apply constant pressure that ensured he remain atop the UFC’s heavyweight division. He survived some early blows from dos Santos in Round 1 before settling into a game plan that involved slowly wearing down his opponent against the cage. 

Velasquez nearly finished the fight in the third frame when he landed a strong overhand right to dos Santos’ jaw. Referee Herb Dean refrained from stopping the bout at that point, but it turned out he was only delaying the inevitable.

The champion continued dominating the bout in the fourth and finished off the challenger in the fifth and final round.

This was the third fight in the duo’s longstanding feud—dos Santos won the first matchup and Velasquez regained the title in their second meeting—and the perfect culmination of an intense heavyweight rivalry.

Velasquez and dos Santos have always matched up well because neither is a typical heavyweight fighter. With each possessing elite speed and stamina—attributes bigger fighters typically lack—this trilogy has been everything fans hoped for and more.

It was clear once again that Velasquez was the better volume striker over the course of this fight, but dos Santos’ raw power and striking ability were once again on showcase. While this rubber match will likely be the last in this feud, another chapter down the road would surely have the support of MMA fans.

Now that Velasquez has beat dos Santos again and eliminated him from title contention for the time being, the natural question now becomes who the champion will fight next. 

After a fierce battle between Daniel Cormier and Roy Nelson earlier in the night—Cormier defeated Nelson via decision—the next fight for Velasquez could come against Cormier. However, D.C. has made it clear that he intends to drop down to the light heavyweight division, making the next logical opponent Brazilian Fabricio Werdum. 

With dos Santos looking for a chance to bounce back, JDS should take on a top 10 opponent to get back into the championship conversation.

 

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