UFC 172 was a good night for grappling aficionados. Sure, there have been fight cards with more total submissions, and there have often been cards with one particular sub that stood out as more memorable.
But Saturday night in Baltimore was notable for…
UFC 172 was a good night for grappling aficionados. Sure, there have been fight cards with more total submissions, and there have often been cards with one particular sub that stood out as more memorable.
But Saturday night in Baltimore was notable for a couple of reasons: It tied UFC Fight Night 34 for the most submissions on a card in 2014 (four), and the submissions were all standouts in their own way.
So in the spirit of celebrating the sometimes-ignored art of a well-crafted submission, here is a power ranking of the great work done by those who earned taps at UFC 172.
Takanori Gomi found himself back in the win column after he roughed up Isaac Vallie-Flagg in a unanimous-decision victory at UFC 172, but his night didn’t end there. Speaking to the assembled media after the event, Gomi said he had his eyes set on the …
TakanoriGomi found himself back in the win column after he roughed up Isaac Vallie-Flagg in a unanimous-decision victory at UFC 172, but his night didn’t end there. Speaking to the assembled media after the event, Gomi said he had his eyes set on the belt…and was willing to make big sacrifices to get there.
“This is probably going to be one of my last chances to get a championship,” he said. “If I could get a title shot, I will quit drinking.”
You can file that as either funny or alarming. Strangely, he followed up that talk of wanting to be a title contender with an acknowledgement that he thinks about retirement “every day,” and when asked how much longer he planned on fighting he said “not long.”
It is worth noting, though, that while Gomi is admittedly toward the end of his career, he has actually looked quite good over the last two years. While “The Fireball Kid” started his UFC career with a subpar 1-3 run, he is 3-1 since 2012.
The one loss came via a controversial split decision opposite Diego Sanchez. Many fans, media members and even UFC President Dana WhitebelievedGomi should have earned the win.
In a perfect world with competent MMA judges, that would translate to Gomi being on a four-fight winning streak and hypothetically moving in the direction of title contention. That said, while Gomi is still an exciting fan favorite with legitimate punching power, it’s hard to believe that he would stand a strong chance of beating other potential contenders like Benson Henderson, KhabibNurmagomedov or Myles Jury.
Either way, White said he already had a date and place lined up for Gomi‘s next (and possibly last) fight. The UFC is returning to Japan on September 20 to do a show at the legendary Saitama Super Arena and is planning on giving Gomi a spot on the card.
UFC 172 delivered one of the best cards of the year for the organization.
Light heavyweight king Jon Jones retained his title in a five-round rout of No. 2-ranked Glover Teixeira. Nine other bouts helped fill out the card from Baltimore.
A win, or…
UFC 172 delivered one of the best cards of the year for the organization.
Light heavyweight king Jon Jones retained his title in a five-round rout of No. 2-ranked Glover Teixeira. Nine other bouts helped fill out the card from Baltimore.
A win, or a loss, does not necessarily mean your stock improves or drops. Danny Castillo had a spectacular knockout over Charlie Brenneman, but it was nothing we have never seen before from Castillo. More importantly, it didn’t thrust him up the lightweight ranks. He stays stagnant in his lightweight division.
Other fighters, however, did see their stock adjust based on the outcome of UFC 172.
To say that Anthony “Rumble” Johnson had a strong showing in his UFC re-debut would be a massive understatement. The former welterweight simply beat up No. 4 light heavyweight Phil Davis. It was a beyond impressive performance that very easily cou…
To say that Anthony “Rumble” Johnson had a strong showing in his UFC re-debut would be a massive understatement. The former welterweight simply beat up No. 4 light heavyweight Phil Davis. It was a beyond impressive performance that very easily could have him a fight or two away from a title shot.
…could have.
Unfortunately for Johnson, a win that emphatic over an opponent that good vaulted him from the rankings’ fringe to an island with no logical next fight.
The UFC’s Top 10 light heavyweights, right now, stand as follows (Jones, as champion, is not factored into the list below, but he is currently ranked as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the entire company):
Alexander Gustafsson
Glover Teixeira
Rashad Evans
Phil Davis
Daniel Cormier
Dan Henderson
Chael Sonnen
Mauricio Rua
Ryan Bader
Jimi Manuwa
Given how Johnson vs. Davis shook out, Davis is likely to either drop three or four spaces or fall off the rankings completely. Johnson, on the other hand, will wind up in the sixth or seventh spot (He probably will not step over Daniel Cormier, but could find himself over Dan Henderson.).
The problem for Johnson is that everyone ranked ahead of him is currently booked up.
Jones will face Gustafsson at some point later this year. Teixeira will likely be shelved for several months to recover from what might well be a broken rib, dislocated shoulder and face that is thoroughly messed up.
Cormier and Henderson fight at UFC 173 to (allegedly) determine the next contender for the light heavyweight title. Evans is out indefinitely with a bum knee (and is BFFs with Johnson anyway).
That puts Johnson in an ugly spot; he is an up-and-comer with nobody to climb over.
The light heavyweight division is actually improving by leaps and bounds after a stretch in 2012 and 2013 that saw it twice (or three times, if you count Henderson) call up middleweights to fight for the belt. However, there is a massive gap between the Top Five (or Top Six, if you count Henderson) and everyone else in the division.
Johnson’s win over Davis was emphatic and impressive, but it doesn’t quite elevate him to the level of “title contender” yet. That, unfortunately, is unlikely to change soon.
With so many fighters tied up, there are few options for his next opponent. Ovince St. Preux, Ryan Jimmo and the winner of Rafael Cavalcante vs. Ryan Bader all sort of make sense, but none of them afford Johnson the chance to climb any further up the rankings.
So that leaves “Rumble” either needing to take a dangerous fight against somebody ranked substantially lower than him or wait for a long while to (hopefully) land a fight with somebody ranked above him.
To put it simply…that stinks. Few would disagree that Johnson is one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC right now. Too bad there’s nobody for him to fight.
With so much going on in MMA these days, fans don’t always get to see what they want. Sure, many love the idea of fights every weekend and plenty of them happening on free television, but that can come at a cost.
One such cost is the relatively li…
With so much going on in MMA these days, fans don’t always get to see what they want. Sure, many love the idea of fights every weekend and plenty of them happening on free television, but that can come at a cost.
One such cost is the relatively linear process of matchmaking that the UFC had in place before the days of 50 cards a year and formalized rankings. There was a time, not long ago, that tuning into a post-fight press conference would net you a few juicy tidbits about the future.
Chances are if two guys meshed stylistically, were coming off good performances and were into fighting one another, Dana White would say on the spot that the fight would happen. Oftentimes, he’d even give you a date.
Now that’s no longer practical, which is fine. The promotion is running events by the truckload, and it can’t commit to making fights for guys months down the line simply because of the dynamic nature of the sport.
Proposed dates get adjusted. Proposed events get moved. Proposed opponents get injured.
You just can’t say in April that two guys will fight in October anymore, because the odds are stacked against them both getting there in one piece or having a time and place to fight even if they do.
That said? Those factors be damned, the UFC absolutely has to announce Jim Miller versus Donald Cerrone as soon as possible.
A meeting between two fringe contenders who are closely clustered in the rankings is the exact type of fight you see on Fight Night cards these days. Actually, they usually headline, and Miller and Cerrone meet the criteria.
But these are two guys who have full-blown fanbases, guys who never take a night off and give fans what they want every time they’re in the Octagon. Both men are hell on wheels, warriors who won’t take a backward step until they’ve killed or been killed. There isn’t a fan alive who has a bad thing to say about either, and there isn’t a fan alive who wouldn’t want to see them meet in the cage.
That’s the type of thing that, for all the matches that need making on the bloated UFC schedule, needs to be factored in. It’s an easy way to make a relevant fight, and one that will surely solicit some goodwill from those supporting the product.
Sure, GegardMousasi and Mark Munoz is an interesting fight. Absolutely, there is interest in Matt Brown and Erick Silva from segments of the fanbase. Benson Henderson and RustamKhabilov is undeniably a compelling enough bout.
But did anyone ask for those? Are any of them fights that the fans or the fighters involved responded to by saying: “Yes! This has to happen!”
No. They’re all competitive and intriguing in their own way, but nobody was clamoring for them.
In the proposed Miller-Cerrone bout, you have a construct that Miller has pushed for and Cerrone would obviously accept because, hey, he just needs to get that bread. He’ll fight guys you’ve never heard of in places you didn’t know existed if it means getting paid.
Besides that, the universal goodwill both men have accrued with the fans makes it the rare Fight Night headliner that would be anticipated as opposed to accepted. Fight fans watch fights because they’re fans—they look forward to fights only when they’re very special.
The promise for action makes Miller-Cerrone exactly that, and the likability and charisma of the combatants only adds to it.
So, though the chance for an immediate announcement has passed, the UFC needs to get on this one as soon as they can. They certainly have the calendar to find a slot for these two to fight, they just need to embrace the idea of it and draw up the contracts.
Fans will thank them, the fighters will get what they want and the UFC will look brilliant when the fight pays off in the form of guaranteed barn-burner.
The sequel to the greatest title fight in UFC history should be etched in stone by the year’s end when Jon Jones defends his title for a second time against Alexander Gustafsson.
Gustafsson did his part in securing another crack at the light heav…
The sequel to the greatest title fight in UFC history should be etched in stone by the year’s end when Jon Jones defends his title for a second time against Alexander Gustafsson.
Gustafsson did his part in securing another crack at the light heavyweight king with a TKO win over JimiManuwa a little over a month ago.
On Saturday night, Jones made the highly anticipated rematch a done deal by smoking Brazilian slugger Glover Teixeira in a lopsided unanimous decision at UFC 172. At the post-fight media scrum, UFC President Dana White gushed about the potential ticket sales and venue for Jones vs. Gustafsson:
It has the potential to be huge. The gate on this thing will be huge too, depending on where we do it. It’s a big fight. It is a big, massive fight. If we do it in Europe, this thing could do 60,000 seats or more.
Last September, Jones and Gustafsson put on a “Fight of the Year” performance that left fans begging for an immediate rematch. It may not have been immediate, but fans will finally get the fight they’ve been asking for.
All three judges scored the first bout in favor of Jones, but the fight truly could have gone either way. During an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, Jones claimed he only went 80 percent in training camp when preparing for Gustafsson.
The rematch has a chance to clear up any and all fluke talk.
Gustafsson has an opportunity to go out there and prove that he is on Jones’ level. For Jones, it’s all about widening the gap between himself and the rest of the light heavyweight division. He wants to silence any lingering critics by finally putting the last fight with Gustafsson to bed.
Along with Daniel Cormier, Gustafsson stands as one of the last great walls of defense in halting Jones’ historic title reign.
Will the second time be the charm for the Swedish kickboxer?
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
To say that Anthony “Rumble” Johnson had a strong showing in his UFC re-debut would be a massive understatement. The former welterweight simply beat up No. 4 light heavyweight Phil Davis. It was a beyond impressive performance that very easily could have him a fight or two away from a title shot.