This is Chris Weidman’s wheelhouse.
The square-jawed, stoically self-assured Long Islander loves to drape himself in the stars and stripes. He loves the big stage. His MMA game pivots on an All-American wrestling base. Though he himself …
This is Chris Weidman’s wheelhouse.
The square-jawed, stoically self-assured Long Islander loves to drape himself in the stars and stripes. He loves the big stage. His MMA game pivots on an All-American wrestling base. Though he himself would never couch it in these terms, he brought the UFC middleweight belt back to the good old U.S. of A. after improbably defeating (and then defeating again) Anderson Silva, the Brazilian legend who owned the strap for seven years.
So it’s a no-brainer that he’d be the centerpiece of UFC 175 over Independence Day weekend, always the seat of a signature UFC event.
This time, he faced his first non-Silva opponent as the UFC champion in Lyoto Machida, a close friend of Silva and one of the most skilled fighters on the planet. The former light heavyweight champ has exuded new confidence since dropping down to the middleweight division, where he’s 2-0 behind a newfound power and his trademark defense.
But there’s more. One of the UFC’s biggest celebrities, Ronda Rousey, defended her title Saturday night in Las Vegas against Alexis Davis, a standout grappler in her own right but literally one of the biggest underdogs in UFC history.
As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Here are the real winners and losers from UFC 175.
In a battle between flashy middleweight strikers, Uriah Hall took on Thiago Santos at UFC 175 on Saturday.
Hall became an overnight star with his savage knockouts on The Ultimate Fighter Season 17. He had some serious hiccups when he lost in the f…
In a battle between flashy middleweight strikers, Uriah Hall took on Thiago Santos at UFC 175 on Saturday.
Hall became an overnight star with his savage knockouts on The Ultimate Fighter Season 17. He had some serious hiccups when he lost in the finals to Kelvin Gastelum and followed that up with a loss to John Howard; his days seemed numbered.
He turned things around by beating Chris Leben into retirement and now finds himself on the first UFC winning streak of his career with a unanimous-decision win over Santos.
So what did we learn from this fight?
Uriah Hall Is All Kinds of Gutsy
Early on in the fight, or possibly before it, Uriah Hall broke his toe. Naturally, Twitter was all over it:
Either way, he didn’t even seem to notice that his foot was all kinds of messed up and proceeded to dance, kick and bust moves all over the joint. Hall didn’t quite look like a world-beater this fight, but the fact he wasn’t crying on the floor about the injury, as most people would, speaks volumes about his toughness.
Thiago Santos Has No Business Being in a Pay-Per-View Main Card
Santos did his part this fight. “His part,” of course, was to get slapped around by Hall.
The UFC seems to be committed to getting Hall some wins, and Santos, like Leben, was a fighter tailor-made for Hall to beat. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. The UFC has been feeding and grooming fighters whom it wants to succeed since the very beginning.
The trouble here, though, is that while Hall and Santos were duking it out on the main card, pound-for-pound great Urijah Faber was buried down on the preliminary card. That doesn’t feel right…
Uriah Hall Has Some Solid Mic Skills
As if Hall gutting out a snapped toe wasn’t inspirational enough, when Joe Rogan put the mic in his face, he cut a really solid, Lyoto Machida-style “chase your dreams” speech.
The jury is still out on how high Hall’s ceiling is career-wise. There’s no doubt, however, that his drawing potential is limitless.
Uriah Hall Could End up in the Top 10
Now, is Hall going to rank particularly highly in the B/R MMA 125? No, not for a while yet. With the way the middleweight division has shaken out, however, the door might be open for him to start climbing up the rankings and even enter the top 10.
Obviously, he came up short in the finals of TUF 17 in large part due to his inability to handle Gastelum’s wrestling. However, Mark Munoz is on the tail end of his career, Chael Sonnen’s return to middleweight isn’t happening anytime soon, Yushin Okami is crushing cans in WSOF, and Tim Boetsch is on his way out.
There are only a few fighters at 185 pounds who have a serious wrestling pedigree these days. As we’ve seen time and again, outstriking Hall is a tough thing to do.
Ronda Rousey once again proved to be the class of women’s MMA Saturday night at UFC 175, as she defeated Alexis Davis to retain the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship for the fourth time.
And it didn’t even take her 20 seconds. As soon as the bell r…
Ronda Rousey once again proved to be the class of women’s MMA Saturday night at UFC 175, as she defeated Alexis Davis to retain the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship for the fourth time.
And it didn’t even take her 20 seconds. As soon as the bell rang, Rousey wasted no time in judo tossing Davis to the mat and finishing her in 16 seconds. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani tweeted the result:
With the victory, Rousey is a perfect 10-0 with no real signs of slowing down. Davis was riding a five-fight winning streak of her own entering the bout, but Rousey was clinical as usual and strengthened her standing atop the sport.
At this point, perhaps the only thing that can slow her down is herself. According to UFC on Fox, Rousey intends to take a hiatus from UFC in the wake of her latest triumph:
As vicious as Saturday’s fight was, there was certainly mutual respect between the two combatants. Rousey has done a lot to bring women’s MMA to the mainstream due to her dominance in the Octagon and her success in other realms. Per Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, Davis is grateful for Rousey’s contributions in that regard:
Ronda is great for this sport and for women’s athletes in general. She’s a very talented person and it’s great that she’s been able to not only do all of these movies, but to bring attention not only to herself but to women’s fighting. She’s helped all of us because she’s helped (the media) understand how good these athletes are.
Rousey reciprocated kind words leading up to the fight. She has already faced many of the biggest names in women’s MMA, but she lauded Davis for her preparation and overall skill set, according to Fighters Only:
Despite the challenges that Davis posed, Rousey was ultimately able to come out on top as she had each and every time prior. With Rousey continuing to dominate all comers, one can’t help but wonder what needs to be done in order to provide a true challenge.
When push comes to shove, no one might be able to push Rousey to the limits in a UFC fight. She’s an Olympic bronze medalist in judo and well-schooled in other forms of fighting as well. In fact, Rousey recently made a controversial statement regarding her ability to potentially adapt to jiu-jitsu, per MMAFighting.com via Damon Martin on Fox Sports’ The Great MMA Debate podcast.
One thing that I couldn’t stand when I was just watching MMA and coming from Judo was all these people talking about how the Jiu Jitsu people would beat any Judo player. It was such a stereotype that I thought, and still think, that I could beat any girl in the world, any weight division, gi or no-gi, black belt and in any rule set they want, in just pure Jiu Jitsu.
Rousey has conquered everything she has put her mind to thus far, so it would be quite interesting to see how she would fare in such a scenario. Rousey has become such a massive draw for the UFC, though, that one can only assume she will be with the company for a long time to come.
Even if she continues to mow down the competition, there is still plenty of appeal. In many ways, her run is reminiscent of what Mike Tyson did in boxing during the mid-to-late 1980s.
Although nobody offered up much resistance against Tyson during that period, boxing fans were riveted and wanted to see him turn aside challenger after challenger in dominant fashion.
That is what Rousey has done to this point, and all signs point toward her continuing to do it in the immediate future. The fact that she has increased the popularity of women’s MMA may ultimately breed bigger and better challenges down the line, but Rousey is still the queen of the sport for now.
Based on her performance at UFC 175, she doesn’t plan on surrendering her throne anytime soon.
The Fourth of July is over, but that doesn’t mean the fireworks have to stop.
UFC 175’s fight card is filled to the brim with intrigue.
There will be two title fights, with Lyoto Machida attempting to do what no one—not even Anderson Silva&…
The Fourth of July is over, but that doesn’t mean the fireworks have to stop.
UFC 175‘s fight card is filled to the brim with intrigue.
There will be two title fights, with Lyoto Machida attempting to do what no one—not even Anderson Silva—has been able to do against Chris Weidman, and Ronda Rousey looking to continue her transcendence over the sport against Alexis Davis.
Then you have Stefan Struve and Marcus Brimage making their comebacks after extended absences, along with the captivating knockout potential of Uriah Hall. In fact, the slate of fights is so good that bantamweight title contender Urijah Faber is on the preliminary card.
Let’s take a look at the results as the fights unfold from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
UFC 175 was supposed to be Stefan Struve’s triumphant return to the Octagon, but ultimately didn’t get that chance.
The No. 12-ranked heavyweight contender fainted backstage prior to his fight. Checked out by the medical staff, Struve was determined t…
UFC 175 was supposed to be Stefan Struve’s triumphant return to the Octagon, but ultimately didn’t get that chance.
The No. 12-ranked heavyweight contender fainted backstage prior to his fight. Checked out by the medical staff, Struve was determined to have an elevated heart rate, and the UFC made the decision to scratch the bout. The health of the fighters comes first.
Struve had been out of action since March 2013 following reports that he had a leaking aortic valve and enlarged heart. With an elevated heart rate Saturday night, it made the decision to cancel the bout easy.
The “Skyscraper” had worked hard to get back into fight shape, and once he was medically cleared, the UFC quickly booked him to fight Matt Mitrione on the UFC 175 card. It was a highly anticipated bout due to Struve’s comeback, and what implications it had on the heavyweight rankings.
Struve vs. Mitrione was slated to be the third bout on the main card.
UFC president Dana White spoke to the media on the floor at UFC 175 and suggested that Struve is believed to have suffered a panic attack, and they sent him to the hospital for precautionary reasons, according to Mike Chiappetta of Fox Sports:
The UFC released an official statement on the matter:
Stefan Struve suffered a non-life-threatening, near-fainting spell backstage. Afterwards, the medical team did not feel he was fit to compete. With his health and safety in mind, he’s been removed from the card and is currently under the care of the medical staff. We will provide further updates as they become available.
Mitrione also issued a brief statement in regard to Struve and the canceled bout:
“I found out what happened and went to talk to Stefan. He was still in his chair and was very apologetic. He’s such a competitor. Obviously health and safety come first.”
There is no further word on Struve’s heart condition, or what is next for him or Mitrione. One can only hope that this is nothing serious, and we will see Struve back competing sooner rather than later.
On Saturday night at UFC 175, former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber faced off against a veteran of Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter, Alex Caceres.
Faber controlled the majority of the fight with his pressure in the clinch …
On Saturday night at UFC 175, former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber faced off against a veteran of Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter, Alex Caceres.
Faber controlled the majority of the fight with his pressure in the clinch and on the ground. He also scored many takedowns throughout the fight.
Then in the third round, he was able to take Caceres’ back off one of those takedowns and lock in the rear-naked choke. Let’s check out what we learned from this bantamweight bout.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
We’ll remember Faber’s pressure in the clinch and on the ground. Anytime he gave Caceres space, Caceres landed solid shots, but Faber picked up on that and adjusted.
Also during the fight Faber had a nice judo throw, and in the first round Caceres did a somersault to get away from Faber.
What We Learned About Faber
He is still one of the top bantamweights in the world. Coming off a loss to Renan Barao, Faber had to respond with a strong outing, and he did. He dominated Caceres from bell to finish.
What We Learned About Caceres
While he wasn’t able to pull out the win, he was stayed competitive with Faber. He made it to the third round, landing some solid strikes when he was able to maintain distance from Faber. He needs to be sure not to give up his back when trying to stand back up, though.
What’s Next for Faber
Faber is ranked No. 2 in the division behind only Barao and TJ Dillashaw. The champion is his teammate, although Dillashaw has said he would fight him if the money were right.
If that fight doesn’t happen, then perhaps a third fight with Dominick Cruz could happen. Cruz is looking for an August return, and while it would be a quick turnaround for Faber, he’d likely be up for it, given his history with Cruz.
What’s Next for Caceres
Caceres has several interesting possibilities for his next fight. Francisco Rivera faced and lost to Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 173 in May, but he had been undefeated through four UFC fights up until that point.
Johnny Eduardo is a second option. His last fight saw him score a first-round knockout over former WEC bantamweight champion Eddie Wineland.
A third option would be a fight with TUF Season 14 competitor Bryan Caraway. He is 4-1 in the UFC and has won two straight with submissions.
In a battle between flashy middleweight strikers, Uriah Hall took on Thiago Santos at