The main card for UFC 172 has a little bit of everything.
Headlining the event is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world—Jon Jones—who will defend his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira, who has tallied 20…
The main card for UFC 172 has a little bit of everything.
Headlining the event is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world—Jon Jones—who will defend his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira, who has tallied 20 consecutive victories.
As if that’s not enough, the rest of the card is loaded.
Two up-and-coming young talents in Max Holloway and Andre Fili square off in what could easily be the fight of the night. Veteran Jim Miller faces Yancy Medeiros, who looks to turn around a forgettable start with the company. Luke Rockhold has a chance to establish himself as a middleweight title contender, and Phil Davis vs. Anthony Johnson is extremely compelling.
Let’s take a look at how the main card plays out at Baltimore Arena on Saturday night.
Round-by-round results from the UFC 172 pay-per-view broadcast will be available after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your own thoughts in the comments section or on twitter @cagepotatomma.
(“No disrespect to Glover, he’s a great challenger. I just think making eye-contact with other men is super-gay.” / Photo via Getty)
Round-by-round results from the UFC 172 pay-per-view broadcast will be available after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your own thoughts in the comments section or on twitter @cagepotatomma.
UFC 172 Preliminary Card Results
– Joseph Benavidez def. Tim Elliott via submission (“joa constrictor” guillotine choke), 4:08 of round 1
– Takanori Gomi def. Isaac Vallie-Flagg via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
I know Fili is supposed to be a hot prospect, but he’s got gauged-out ears and he walked out to Mumford & Sons, so screw him. Hollaway comes out to some folk-rock as well. What the hell is happening here? It’s the first fight on the pay-per-view, guys. You’re supposed to be RIPPIN’ IT INTO PIECES!
Round 1: Fili throws out some fast jabs. Hollaway lands a sharp counter punch. Leg kick Fili. Hollaway lands a spinning back kick to the body. Inside leg kick Fili. They trade long punches. An outside leg kick from Fili. Hollaway fires the spinning back kick again. Fili lands a punch and Hollaway looks briefly rattled. Jab from Fili, and a high kick. Fili digs in with a body hook. Jab and a leg kick from Fili. Hollaway lands a cross. Fili storms back with punches of his own. Hollaway throws the spinning back kick again. Right hand from Hollaway, and another. Hard leg kick from Fili, who follows it up with a takedown, but Hollaway pops right back up. And lands a knee on Fili. Body kick from Fili, Hollaway catches it and storms forward, punching. They clinch against the fence. Elbow from Hollaway. Knee to the body from Fili. That’s the round. I give it to Fili 10-9. “EXCELLENT WORK MOTHERFUCKER,” Bang Ludwig says.
Round 2: Hollaway lands a high front kick. Hollaway lands the spinning back kick again and lands it hard to the liver. Fili is hurt. Hollaway clinches, lands a knee. Fili shakes out. Fili with a leg kick, Hollaway returns a straight right. Fili attempts a flying armbar and gets nothing. Hollaway lets him up. Right hand from Hollaway. Good jabs from Hollaway. Fili lands a body kick. Joe Rogan is marking out over Hollaway’s spinning back kicks, obviously. Fili blasts forward and scores a takedown. Kevin Mulhall stands them up almost immediately and the crowd boos. God bless this crowd…they want *less* standing-and-banging. Hollaway with that spinning kick again. Fili shoots and Hollaway defends. Good knees from Hollaway from the clinch. The round ends. I’d say Hollaway edged it out, 10-9.
Round 3: Hollaway pops the right straight. He jabs, fires an uppercut. Fili fires a high kick, tries for a takedown but is shucked off. Hollaway tries his spinning back kick but it’s a miss. Fili shoots and successfully puts Hollaway on his back. Hollaway quickly works to his feet. Hollaway lands his right hand again. Hollaway lands a jab. Hollaway grabs Fili by the neck and drags him down. Fili gets up. Hollaway swarms with punches and Fili is hurt, on his heels. Fili goes low for a desperation takedown and Hollaway locks up a savage guillotine choke. Fili taps. And taps. Eventually, Mulhall sees it.
Max Hollaway def. Andre Fili via submission (guillotine choke), 3:39 of round 3.
Jim Miller vs. Yancy Medeiros
Round 1: Medeiros opens with some front kicks. Miller fires some punches but he’s having trouble getting close to the rangy Medeiros. Medeiros keeps working that front kick, with some punches after it. Miller lands a brutal body shot and Medeiros looks momentarily stunned, but then waves Miller forward. Miller clinches, flips Medeiros to the mat and sets up a guillotine choke. Miller cranks and cranks and cranks and cranks and cranks and cranks and cranks…my God, Medeiros is doing his best to hang on, but finally he starts to tap as he passes out. Kudos to Miller for staying on it.
Jim Miller def. Yancy Medeiros via submission (guillotine choke), 3:18 of round 1. Miller has apparently tied Gleison Tibau for the most wins in UFC lightweight history (13).
Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Boetsch
Round 1: Boetsch opens with a body kick. Boetsch shoots in, Rockhold defends and sets up an inverted triangle from the top, on Boetsch’s back. Rockhold goes for Boetsch’s arm and cranks a kimura. Boetsch taps. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy finish an armlock from that kind of position. Lemme go find a GIF…
Luke Rockhold def. Tim Boetsch via submission (kimura), 2:08 of round 1. Rockhold says he wants to earn his way to a title shot, starting with a rematch against Vitor Belfort (!). But of course, a fight against Michael Bisping would be nice too.
Round 1: Davis staying on the outside, testing range with front kicks. Johnson dashes in, they clinch for a moment and break. Johnson lands two big right hands. Johnson catches Davis again with an uppercut as Mr. Wonderful shoots in. Davis lands a body kick but Johnson lands a big looping counter-punch in return. Johnson swarms and knocks Davis to the mat. Johnson follows and bashes down with punches. Davis somehow escapes with his life. Davis lands a high kick. Heavy jab from Johnson backs Davis up. Davis fires the high kick again. The round ends. Easy 10-9 for Johnson. Davis’s face is already shredded and bleeding.
Round 2: Leg kick from Johnson. Jab from Johnson, and an overhand right that whiffs. Davis jabbing. Davis dancing around, trying to bait Johnson into…something. Johnson with a big head kick. He stuffs a takedown from Davis. Uppercut from Johnson. 1-2 and a high kick from Johnson. Johnson still throwing with bad intentions deep into round 2. Davis with a superman punch and a pair of body kicks. Davis throws a high kick and gets blasted dead in the face with an uppercut in return. High kick Davis, and a body kick followed by a takedown attempt, but Johnson shimmys right out of it. Davis is 0-5 on takedowns so far. There’s the horn. 10-9 Johnson.
Round 3: Johnson with a straight right to the body. Davis sticking-and-moving, minus the sticking. Johnson backing Davis up with punches. Davis shoots, Johnson defends easily. Davis fires the high kick. He fires a right hand and quickly ducks under for a takedown attempt but doesn’t get it. Johnson escapes, lands a hard leg kick. More punches and another takedown-stuff from Johnson. Good oblique kick to the body from Johnson. Davis throws a high kick that sails over Johnson’s head. Davis shoots, Johnson throws him off and Davis has to run out of danger. Davis grabs a single-leg and tries to yank Johnson down, but no dice. Both guys slugging at each other in the last 20 seconds. They clinch, and Davis looks for a kimura in the closing seconds. Too little, too late.
Anthony Johnson def. Phil Davis via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3). “BALTIMORE WAT’S UP BAYBEE!!!” [*crowd roars*] Finally, somebody gives it up to B-More. Then, Johnson thanks God, and on the other side of the Good/Evil spectrum, he thanks Dana for “changing me.” It’s a great moment. Anthony Johnson might have the greatest redemption story in MMA going right now.
Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira
The crowd loves Jon Jones and boos Teixeira. Good to see Bones get some love, finally.
Round 1: Jones with a switch kick to the body. Teixeira wading into the pocket and throwing power punches. Jones shoots from long range and Teixeira defends. Jones jabs. Teixeria with a right hand. He catches a kick from Jones and pushes him against the fence. Jones rolls out. Teixeira landing some hard punches. Jones with a high kick. Teixeira is poked in the eye, and steps out for a moment. Kick to the shin from Jones. Jones catches a kick and takes Teixeira down, but Teixeira quickly escapes. Jab from Jones. Spinning back kick from Jones lands to Teixeira’s ribs. Teixeira chases Jones winging punches, but Jones avoids. Jones with a high kick at the bell. Close round.
Round 2: Jones immediately shoots, and Teixeira sprawls out and escapes. Jones with kicks high and low. Straight left from Jones stings Teixeira. Punches and a front kick from Jones. Jones tries an axe kick, followed by an oblique kick. Jones palms Teixeira’s forehead and holds him back, like a mean older brother. Then he very clearly sticks his fingers in Teixeira’s eyes. Referee Dan Miragliotta gives Jones a warning. (Or *another* warning, really.) Teixeira bombs out on Jones. Jones lands a straight left and an elbow. Another elbow from Jones. And a left hook. Oblique kick to the shin from Jones. Oblique kick, spinning back kick and punches from Jones, and then a shoulder-check against the fence. Jones tries a spinning kick that misses, and Teixeira shoots in at the bell. 10-9 Jones.
Round 3: Jones grabs a headlock when Teixeira rushes in and throws in a knee. Teixeira pulls out. Jones punishing Teixeira with kicks. He lands an uppercut and says a few words to Teixeira. They clinch against the fence, and Teixeira lands a pair of powerful uppercuts. They’re against the fence again, and Jones scores with elbows in tight. Teixeira responding with uppercuts, but Jones is getting the better of this position. Jones with a great pair of hooks on the exit. Teixeira’s face is opened up. Jones bombing out from long range with punches and a kick. Jones with a great body shot and uppercut on Teixeira, whose back is against the fence. Jones with an elbow, Teixeira does his best to fight back, but again, Jones is very much in control. 10-9 Jones. The replay shows that Jones knocked Teixeira’s mouthpiece straight out of his mouth at one point.
Round 4: Jones still doing that thing where he palms Teixeira’s skull. He whiffs on a spinning backfist against the fence. Jones grabs Teixeira’s wrists as he backs the Brazilian against the fence. Teixeira throws a knee up the middle. Teixeira firing back with punches. He loses his mouthpiece again after eating a jab. They rinse it off, and the fight resumes. Body kick from Jones. Inside leg kick from Jones. Lead elbow from Jones lands. Hard side kick to the thigh from Teixeira, followed by an elbow. Jones’s variety of striking is totally overwhelming Teixeira. Spinning elbow from Jones. Jones with an uppercut and an elbow as Teixeira is backed up to the cage. Jones shoots and gets a takedown, and starts firing down punches as the round ends. 10-9 for the champ.
Round 5: Jones scores a takedown, Glover pops up. Jones with some long hooks that land. Jones is beating the tar out of Teixeira against the fence, and Teixeira loses his mouthpiece again. More hooks. An upward elbow from Jones. Teixeira lands an uppercut. Another upward elbow from Jones. Teixeira wobbles away. Jones presses Teixeira against the fence again, and they trade punches. Teixeira rolls out, takes the center of the cage. Jones dances out of range for the last 30 seconds, riding the clock out. There’s the final horn.
Jon Jones def. Glover Teixeira via unanimous decision (50-45 x 3).
Jones says most of his game-plan was improvised. Once he saw Teixeira winding up on his punches and realized that Teixeira was at a disadvantage in hand-fighting, Jones decided to make it a close-range fight and jam Teixeira up against the fence as much as possible. Jones now has more wins than anybody else in UFC light-heavyweight history (14). (Correction:Tito Ortiz earned 15 wins in the UFC, but obviously, they’re not counting him.)
Teixeira says a kick from Jones in the first round jacked up his shoulder and he might have also broken a rib. Dude got chewed up. But hey, we all saw that coming, right?
UFC 172 features a full lineup of intriguing fights, but none has as much on the line as the light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira.
With Anderson Silva no longer the champion and Georges St-Pierre retired for now, Jo…
UFC 172 features a full lineup of intriguing fights, but none has as much on the line as the light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira.
With Anderson Silva no longer the champion and Georges St-Pierre retired for now, Jones has become the most recognizable champion in the sport. On Saturday night, he’ll attempt to extend his title reign to the proportions of those two legends with his seventh consecutive title defense.
Standing in his way this time will be Teixeira. The 34-year-old Brazilian may not draw the most headlines, but he is one of the best 205-pounders on the planet on paper.
A Chuck Liddell protege, he holds a 20-fight win streak that extends back to 2006, with five of those wins coming in the UFC.
However, none of those wins has come against someone of Jones’ caliber because there is no light heavyweight like him. Here’s a look at the latest odds for the fight as well as a brief breakdown and prediction.
When you look at Teixeira’s track record, it feels like he’s being a bit undersold as a challenger. He has the ability to finish fights—he ended four of his five wins in the Octagon by some form of stoppage. With 13 of his 22 career victories coming by way of knockout, it’s the one thing that could make this an interesting night for the champion.
Teixeira believes that he has the ability to end Jones’ night early if he can get to him:
However, the big question is if he can get to him. Sure, Teixeira is a vicious striker. But finding a way to get past Jones’ 84.5″ reach is easier said than done.
Up until the champion’s recent tussle with Alexander Gustafsson, Jones had looked unbeatable in the Octagon. The 6’5″ Swede was the first fighter to match the champ’s incredible length, and it proved to be a difficult challenge for Jones. He took “Bones” the full five rounds before losing a razor-thin decision.
At 6’2″ with a reach of 76″, Teixeira will be dwarfed by the 6’4″ Jones when the two step into the Octagon. This means he’ll to have to find ways to close the distance without taking damage and either taking the fight to the mat or landing some of his signature strikes.
Prediction
Teixeira must be respected. His record speaks for itself, and he’s a tough challenge for anyone in the light heavyweight division. However, his versatility and power are likely to come up short against the length and creativity of Jones.
The fact of the matter is that the champ is not only a brilliant offensive fighter who can use his length to land a wide assortment of strikes, but he’s also a highly skilled defensive fighter. He only absorbs 1.89 strikes per minute and has defended 96 percent of the takedowns he’s seen as a UFC fighter.
The only man to take down Jones was Gustafsson. Once again, that was a product of the challenger’s ability to match Jones’ use of distance in the striking game, which led to an opportunity for the takedown.
Those opportunities will be much more difficult for Teixeira to find. Jones should be able to stand just outside of the challenger’s range and remind everyone that he has some stopping power of his own after the tough decision win against Gustafsson.
Jones via Round 3 TKO.
All statistics and measurements via FightMetric unless otherwise noted.
Jon Jones will defend his title for the seventh time on Saturday night. This time, he faces one of his biggest challenges yet—the streaking Glover Teixeira.
Teixeira hasn’t lost a fight since 2005 and is currently riding a 20-fight winning streak…
Jon Jones will defend his title for the seventh time on Saturday night. This time, he faces one of his biggest challenges yet—the streaking Glover Teixeira.
Teixeira hasn’t lost a fight since 2005 and is currently riding a 20-fight winning streak. However, pushing that streak to 21 won’t be easy against the lengthy Jones.
Jones technically hasn’t lost a fight in professional MMA. The lone blemish on his 19-1-0 record was a disqualification against Matt Hamill in 2009 for throwing illegal downward elbows—to that point, Jones was dominating the fight.
The 26-year-old champion’s biggest advantage over his 34-year-old opponent is his length.
Jones boasts an impressive 84.5″ reach, while Teixeira comes in at 76″. This will be a problem for the Brazilian, as Teixeira is a capable striker, but Jones is a much better takedown artist.
With the upper hand going to Jones in terms of wrestling, Teixeira will be forced to attempt to get inside Jones’ reach to produce devastating blows and knock his opponent off balance.
That’s a tall order for Teixeira.
Jones knows exactly how to use every inch of his length, pummeling opponents with a flurry of punches, knees and elbows right out of the gate.
When Teixeira attempts to get inside leverage, one slight misstep will give Jones the opportunity to land a clean shot and continue his ground-and-pound ways.
This is not to say Jones is impenetrable in this manner.
During his last fight against Alexander Gustafsson, the champ needed a strong final two rounds to gain the decision. Early in the fight, the Swede was able to pick his way inside, landing punches and taking down Jones several times.
Jones reflected on his fight with Gustafsson during an interview with Elias Cepeda of Yahoo Sports:
I think for the first time in my career I really started to feel myself. I really started to think, ‘Maybe I’ve got this extraordinary talent and maybe I just can’t be touched.’ I went 80 percent [against Gustafsson]. I’m not making any excuses. Gustafsson did a great job in the fight but I know that I had a lot more in me. I did some of the cardio tests that I normally do and my numbers weren’t the same. Me knowing that, I still went into the fight thinking, ‘Well, since I’ve performed excellent, maybe I’ll still perform really really high, do really good and the fight may be a little closer if I just put half the effort in. I learned a lesson the hard way that you have to give full effort.
Certainly, Teixeira will look to that fight as a blueprint for Saturday.
It all comes down to how Jones uses his length.
If Teixeira can get inside in the same way that Gustafsson did, his devastating strikes could end Jones’ reign. If he can’t, Jones should cruise to yet another successful title defense.
The UFC is selling greatness at the moment. It’s a very specific kind of greatness—one that we haven’t quite seen before and may not see again. It’s a violent ballet, a bloody dance of rangy strikes and thunderous attacks on the mat.
It’s the wor…
The UFC is selling greatness at the moment. It’s a very specific kind of greatness—one that we haven’t quite seen before and may not see again. It’s a violent ballet, a bloody dance of rangy strikes and thunderous attacks on the mat.
It’s the work of Jon Jones, an obviously prodigious talent from the day he first entered the Octagon, a man who may have no ceiling in terms of athletic accomplishment.
He’s the light heavyweight champion, a title that has long been seen as the most prolific in the UFC but has been oddly diminished by Jones’ dominance. People want to watch him, be it out of fandom or hatred, but most would agree that few 205-pounders out there can challenge him.
Part of the gulf between Jones and his challengers is the reality that some men are better suited to push the champion, but they can’t be lined up in sequence. Despite the champion’s demolition of a murderers’ row of talent to this point, schedules don’t always line up to keep the best of the best at the front of the line.
It happened to Anderson Silva, who found himself defending his belt listlessly against the likes of Travis Lutter (who blew his title shot and eventually his UFC career by missing weight for the bout) and Patrick Cote, a game but outmatched brawler.
It happened to Georges St-Pierre, who walloped Dan Hardy and then moved onto a largely pointless rematch with Josh Koscheck in the midst of his phenomenal run of title defenses.
Now, though perhaps for a shorter term, it’s happening to Jones.
On Saturday night in Baltimore, he’ll defend his title against Glover Teixeira in a bout that, for all the promotional bluster the UFC is trying to muster, is a blowout waiting to happen.
Jones is so far ahead of the curve that Teixeira, with his lumbering power game and unimaginative offensive approach, seems almost totally hopeless. Funny things happen in MMA, and great champions sometimes get a surprise, but no one in their right mind is serious about Teixeira as a threat to Jones going into their fight.
But the thing about that? It’s OK. Actually, based on the circumstances of the fight game, it can be better than OK sometimes.
By keeping Jones away from his big-money opponents—most would point to Alexander Gustafsson (in a rematch) and Daniel Cormier—the promotion has a chance to build hype for those fights.
Dana White has already started, stating in his press scrum this week that a UFC 172 win followed by besting those other foes could make Jones the best ever. You don’t think that line of reasoning will make another appearance if Jones leaves Baltimore the champion?
And if Teixeira somehow does the impossible, how does that hurt what the UFC is trying to accomplish? The promotion would do an immediate rematch, billing it as redemption for Jones against the man who shocked the world, and it would probably make twice as much money as UFC 172. Assuming Jones wins the rematch, you go right back to those other hot contenders like nothing ever happened—probably cashing in huge on three fights in a row.
The fact is that the role of the stopgap challenger isn’t the most glamorous, but it’s necessary. It’s a role that Teixeira has fallen into in a way that Lutter, Cote, Hardy and Koscheck did for great champions before Jones, and countless others will fill for great champions after him.
It’s not an insult. It’s not meant to deride or dismiss Teixeira; it’s just part of a sport that’s built on the backs of individual people. You have to find a way to sell them, and whether you do or not, there’s always a chance that the world will look past them and onto the next, more interesting challenge.
Great champions need those stopgap challengers just as badly as they need to face the elite of the elite. Sometimes it’s just as important to see how a champion handles a perceived lull in competition as it is to see how he does against five former UFC champions in a row.
The world knows how Jones handled the latter. UFC 172 provides him the chance to handle the former.
In what could very well be the biggest card of 2014, Jon “Bones” Jones will defend the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against seasoned challenger Glover Teixeira at UFC 172.
Along with that marquee matchup, many of the biggest names and fastest-ris…
In what could very well be the biggest card of 2014, Jon “Bones” Jones will defend the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against seasoned challenger Glover Teixeira at UFC 172.
Along with that marquee matchup, many of the biggest names and fastest-rising stars in UFC will be in action as well. With 10 hard-hitting contests across UFC Fight Pass, Fox Sports 1 and pay-per-view, Saturday night will be chock-full of MMA action.
Here is the full viewing schedule for every fight on the card and a closer look at which fighters will provide the most intrigue throughout the night.
As is always the case when Jones is on a card, most of the focus is on him. He is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and watching him compete in the Octagon is a spectacle. At the same time, there is even more intrigue surrounding his bout with Teixeira than there may have been in the past.
That is because Jones had to scratch and claw his way to a decision victory in his last outing against Alexander Gustafsson. Jones probably deserved to win the fight, but his detractors have been vocal about him not looking particularly convincing in that tilt.
After showing some chinks in the armor, observers are interested to see if Jones can bounce back. If he can help it, he will attempt to remove all doubt by stopping the fight short of the scorecards, according to UFC’s official Twitter account:
The fact that Jones has a knockout state of mind is exciting for MMA fans, and it may very well be nerve-wracking for Teixeira. Although Teixeira is one of the toughest competitors UFC has to offer, it is difficult to imagine him overcoming Jones, particularly now that he has a chip on his shoulder.
Phil Davis
It seems as though Phil Davis has Bones Jones on his mind, but he must first get past Anthony Johnson at UFC 172 if he wants a future shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Davis is one of the top contenders in the weight class who has yet to fall to Jones, and most agree that he is in line for a battle with him in the near future.
That could all go by the wayside if Davis takes a win over Johnson for granted, however. Johnson is no pushover, with a career record of 16-4, including six victories in a row. He also has the potential to end a fight in the blink of an eye, as evidenced by his 11 wins by way of knockout.
Davis has to be mindful of Johnson’s power, and if he is able to defeat him, then the real fireworks may very well start. Davis has been quite vocal about his desire to face Jones, and he has made it known that he intends to beat him if given the chance, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports:
If Davis truly wants to fight Jones, then he knows that beating Johnson is an absolute must. Because of that, all signs point toward Davis being at his very best Saturday night.
Jessamyn Duke
Women’s MMA has gained a great deal of popularity in recent years, thanks largely to the emergence of Ronda Rousey. In order for it to remain sustainable, however, other stars must emerge. One fighter in particular with a great deal of potential is Jessamyn Duke, who was a member of Team Rousey on The Ultimate Fighter 18.
Duke has plenty of skill and a great look at 5’11”, so UFC officials would unquestionably like to see her succeed. Many others feel the same way, including MMA star Josh Barnett:
In order for Duke to reach that next level, though, she must get past quite a roadblock in the form of Bethe Correia. While Correia is much smaller than Duke, she is a dogged competitor who has yet to suffer a loss.
Duke has a golden opportunity to become one of the next stars in women’s MMA, and she simply won’t let it pass her by at UFC 172.
