Tag: UFC 171

UFC 171: Breaking Down Welterweight Division After Hendricks vs. Lawler

UFC 171 was highlighted by the fight between Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship, but there were several important divisional battles on the card.
Not only did Hendricks capture the title via unanimous decisi…

UFC 171 was highlighted by the fight between Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship, but there were several important divisional battles on the card.

Not only did Hendricks capture the title via unanimous decision, but Tyron Woodley was victorious over Carlos Condit (via a knee injury) to likely earn the spot as the No. 1 contender.

Add in several other welterweight fights and several viable challengers rising through the ranks, and the blow from the loss of former champion Georges St-Pierre has been softened by the depth of the division.

Here are my latest divisional rankings after a wild night of welterweight fights.

 

 

Breaking Down Who Should Be No. 1 Contender

While Tyron Woodley was able to take home the victory on Saturday against UFC’s No. 2 ranked welterweight Carlos Condit, the knee injury to Condit that ended the fight early has cast a shadow of doubt on the win.

Woodley dominated Condit for much of the fight and likely would have won if the bout had continued. The challenger rocked Condit with heavy punches throughout and used his elite wrestling skills to take him down before Woodley could sustain much damage.

After the fight, Woodley spoke to Steven Marrocco of MMAJunkie.com about his desire to win the world championship in his division:

I asked for this fight because I didn’t think I was going to lose it. You guys fail to realize I’m in this to be a world champion, and I went after the top guy, and everybody was so quiet, and I blew [Dana White‘s] phone up until he probably couldn’t take it any more, because I want to be the world champ, and I think that alone, the persistence, warrants me a world title shots. Me and Johny Hendricks have some unfinished business from the big-12 days of wrestling, and I would love to get my hands on him.

Fighters like Hector Lombard, Rory MacDonald and the other top contenders will all claim that they deserve a shot at the newly crowned Hendricks, but Woodley proved he was better than the former No. 2 fighter in the division.

Hendricks’ first title defense should come against Woodley.

 

Saturday’s Biggest Winner: Hector Lombard

Woodley was ranked 11th before Saturday’s pay-per-view, and right behind him was Hector Lombard in 12th. It’s amazing how fast the rankings can change after just one show.

While there are some questions surrounding the outcome of Woodley’s fight, it was the unanimous-decision win over Jake Shields that helped Lombard catapult himself into the title conversation.

MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti was quite impressed by Lombard’s performance:

Shields was the sixth-ranked contender in the division coming into Saturday’s PPV, but Lombard proved to be the superior fighter in almost every aspect of the bout. After his split-decision loss to Yushin Okami last March, Lombard has knocked out Nate Marquardt and beaten Shields.

With the status of Condit’s knee a long-term concern for UFC, Lombard has thrown his hat into the mix for a future title shot. At the very least, the veteran has earned a spot in a title eliminator.

 

*Stats via UFC.com.

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UFC 171: What’s Next for the Winners?

UFC 171 was an eventful broadcast for the UFC. The wild night in Dallas saw half of the relevant welterweights on the roster jockeying for position and a man not named Georges St-Pierre leave a 170-pound title fight as champion for the first time since…

UFC 171 was an eventful broadcast for the UFC. The wild night in Dallas saw half of the relevant welterweights on the roster jockeying for position and a man not named Georges St-Pierre leave a 170-pound title fight as champion for the first time since 2007.

Johny Hendricks bested Robbie Lawler in a tight main event to secure his first UFC title reign, while Tyron Woodley, Hector Lombard, Myles Jury and Ovince Saint Preux all scored main card wins as well.

Here are some suggestions on what might be next for each guy, as well as those who were successful on the prelims.

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UFC 171 Results: Projecting What’s Next for Main Card Winners

Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks finally did it. On Saturday night at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, he captured the UFC welterweight title. In a thrilling bout with “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler, he won the all-important fifth ro…

Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks finally did it. On Saturday night at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, he captured the UFC welterweight title. In a thrilling bout with “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler, he won the all-important fifth round in a back-and-forth battle.

Bleacher Report MMA was right on the money with this comparison:

Hendricks was overcome with joy when the decision was announced. Afterward, he spoke to ESPN’s Todd Grisham about his accomplishment and more:

He will have a few weeks to celebrate, but he’ll have to go back to work soon. The line to be the first challenger for his title has already begun to form. Some of the top contenders won in earlier bouts on Saturday’s card. Then there’s always the chance for a rematch with Lawler after such an awesome fight.

Only Dana White and the UFC matchmakers know what’s next for Hendricks, but in any case, he’ll have his hands full in his first defense.

Here’s a quick look at the immediate outlook for the other winners from Saturday’s main card.

 

Ovince St. Preux

OSP’s future is looking bright after scoring a technical-submission win over Nikita “Al Capone” Krylov.

Previously known as more of an athletic and powerful striker, OSP showed great grappling and submission chops against a man who has made a name for himself with his submission game.

Though he’s only 21, Krylov has scored 10 of his 16 wins by submission.

With such a solid win, OSP is turning into a player at light heavyweight. He has scored three straight wins in the UFC and should be moving his way up to a higher spot on the next main card he fights on.

Prior to the bout, he wasn’t ranked in the Top 15 at light heavyweight by the UFC. So he’ll still likely need a couple of wins to be up for a title shot. 

After having displayed some diversity to his game, he’s one to watch moving forward.

 

Hector Lombard

After a dominating performance over veteran Jake Shields on Saturday night, Lombard is finally looking like he’s ready to fulfill the promise he had when he arrived in the UFC. After the fight, he talked with Grisham about his performance and prospects:

Lombard beat up Shields for three rounds and displayed expert takedown defense against one of the sport’s premier wrestlers.

The win will put him firmly in the Top 10 at welterweight and perhaps a win or two away from a title shot. With Hendricks holding the title, Lombard can set his sights on him.

He might have to wait at least two fights to get his crack at the title, though. You would think Rory MacDonald and Tyron Woodley are ahead of Lombard currently. MacDonald might deserve the next shot after dismantling Demian Maia at UFC 170. I’ll make the case for Woodley a little later.

Also, fans likely wouldn’t scoff at Lawler vs. Hendricks II. As good as Lombard looked, he’s in a stacked division, and that could prolong his wait.

 

Myles Jury

Jury proved his superiority over Diego Sanchez as an MMA fighter on Saturday. He curtailed Sanchez’s aggression and kept him on his back enough to win an easy unanimous decision.

It was an impressive win that should land him close to the Top 10 in the UFC lightweight rankings.

He still has some work to do, but a bout between him and Jim Miller would be interesting. 

 

Tyron Woodley

While you can never count the “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit out, the truth is, Woodley was dominating him with strikes and takedowns before Condit’s knee gave out during a Woodley takedown.

A leg kick weakened his base enough, and that was it.

Woodley’s explosiveness and wrestling ability are impressive. You worry a bit about his defense—especially if he has to face a guy like Hendricks for the title—but there is no question how powerful, quick and dangerous he is.

Condit is one heck of an overall fighter, but Woodley wasn’t intimidated and was workmanlike and aggressive in the fight. He might even deserve the title shot over MacDonald.

The Canadian’s last loss is more recent than Woodley’s, and “T-Wood” just beat Condit, the No. 2-ranked welterweight who knocked MacDonald out in 2010.

We’ll see if Woodley is allowed to leapfrog other contenders and land the first crack at Hendricks’ title.

 

Follow me. I dig combat sports.

@BMaziqueFPBR

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UFC 171 Results: Updating B/R MMA Welterweight Rankings

UFC 171 provided tons of welterweight action on Saturday, offering a title fight in the main event and a couple of pivotal contender’s bouts on the main card.
Johny Hendricks finally captured the title with a decision win over Robbie Lawler in an enter…

UFC 171 provided tons of welterweight action on Saturday, offering a title fight in the main event and a couple of pivotal contender’s bouts on the main card.

Johny Hendricks finally captured the title with a decision win over Robbie Lawler in an entertaining, back-and-forth scrap. It was a sweet victory for Hendricks, who many believe should have already earned the belt in his November bout with Georges St. Pierre.

Let’s take a look at the welterweight ranks now and see where each top-10 fighter lies.

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Tyron Woodley vs. Carlos Condit: Does an Injury Undermine a Win’s Legitimacy?

The unpredictable nature of mixed martial arts is part of the sport’s appeal, yet the abrupt end to UFC 171’s simmering co-main event between Tyron Woodley and Carlos Condit almost makes one wish we could occasionally exert some control ove…

The unpredictable nature of mixed martial arts is part of the sport’s appeal, yet the abrupt end to UFC 171’s simmering co-main event between Tyron Woodley and Carlos Condit almost makes one wish we could occasionally exert some control over the chaos.

Few things are more frustrating in MMA than a freak injury in the middle of an absorbing fight. It leaves everyone in attendance feeling unfulfilled, including the fighters.

This lack of closure breeds a sense of uncertainty. What if the bout had continued? Would Woodley have faded down the stretch? Would he have been able to knock Condit out and emerge as the clear No. 1 contender at 170 pounds?

Would Condit have come on strong in the third, as he so often does?

How fair is it to question the legitimacy of such wins?

Those who view Woodley’s victory as decisive have argued that he induced the injury, and they may have a point. Indeed, his takedown caused Condit to land awkwardly on his right leg, which led to a torn meniscus and a potential ACL tear, according to Mike Winklejohn, who spoke to MMA Junkie.

At the post-fight press conference, Woodley claimed that his win is no different to securing a limb-snapping submission: “I think if you break someone’s arm in an armbar, if you choke them out and they don’t tap…You know, it wasn’t like it came from a pre-existing injury. It came from a double-leg takedown. I saw that he was hurt and I went for the finish.”

However, the reason we feel inclined to pencil in an asterisk next to the win is because there appears to be an element of luck to winning via injury. Tearing an opponent’s meniscus off a takedown is seen as a less deliberate act than targeting a specific limb and cranking it to its breaking point.

The same logic can be applied to fights that end on cuts. Depending on the damage inflicted by a strike, our perception may shift dramatically. Understandably, we tend to emphasise the role of intent in the outcome of a fight.

While knockouts and submissions are viewed as intentional acts, we perceive cuts and injuries as incidental and orthogonal to the fighter’s primary goal.

Consider how different the reaction might have been had Condit dominated the fight up until the injury. Would we view the outcome in a similar light to Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, or would our focus instead shift to Condit’s misfortune?

I’ll let the readers determine the legitimacy of Woodley’s win and his place within the welterweight division. Cast your vote in the poll and offer your thoughts in the comment section.

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UFC 171: If This Is What Title Fights Look Like with No GSP, Sign Me Up

For years, Georges St-Pierre was the king of the welterweight mountain. Men came from all around to hit the scales on a Friday and then take their beating from him on a Saturday, which was often dished out with the help of judges and followed up by som…

For years, Georges St-Pierre was the king of the welterweight mountain. Men came from all around to hit the scales on a Friday and then take their beating from him on a Saturday, which was often dished out with the help of judges and followed up by some humble post-fight Frenglish.

It was a good era, one that people will tell their kids about for generations: This quiet Canadian mopped the floor with dudes of all shapes and sizes, all of whom were trying to varying degrees to troll or threaten him in some new way.

But the result was always the same, and it involved St-Pierre with his hand raised.

And now, if it’s over even for just a few months, there’s reason to enjoy the way the welterweight division looks in his absence.

At UFC 171, Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler slugged it out for the right to hold the title that GSP vacated, putting on a razor-thin scrap that blended the type of heart, technique and athleticism that people are dying for in modern MMA.

The two weren’t there to ride out a decision (even if that ended up being the end result). Instead, they were content to trade shots and see which man could survive five rounds. Both did, which is more a testament to their toughness than either man’s inability to finish.

They showed the world what can happen when a dominant, predictable champion is no longer in the picture.

Hendricks and Lawler provided a frenetic energy that had not been present in a St-Pierre fight for a long time. Instead of people asking, “Is this the guy to finally beat the champ,” they had room to appreciate the skill on display. The bout became far more about the title and the warriors trying to win it than it was about one man’s legacy and his relative invincibility.

That’s not to downplay GSP’s accomplishments or celebrate his exit from the sport. For far too long, people have been critical of the former champion’s unwillingness to engage in wild brawls for fan amusement. It’s easier to open his Wikipedia page and complain about the run of decisions than it is to break them down and ask why they’re happening, so that’s the road most people take.

However, decisions over Hendricks and Carlos Condit were among his most exciting performances, while decisions over Dan Hardy and Jon Fitch were delightful to watch because of the dominance on display.

Still, it was refreshing to see two 170-pounders who were willing to enter the Octagon and take a punch to give one in a fight that meant as much as one can in the UFC.

For too long, the buck stopped with GSP in the welterweight division. The ride was about a contender establishing himself, not about him rising to win a title, because no one could handle the champion. Furthermore, when a contender got the chance to prove otherwise, GSP would derail him in a very specific, largely uninteresting fashion.

Those days are gone, at least for now. With Hendricks holding gold and guys like Condit, Lawler and a possibly returning Nick Diaz nipping at his heels, to say nothing of interesting propositions like Hector Lombard and Tyron Woodley, the welterweight division is as interesting as ever, and the fights for the title are sure to be barnburners.

It’s easy to be excited about that.

 

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

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