Tag: UFC 176

UFC 175: The Important Storylines After the Fight

UFC 175 is in the books, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship should be pleased with their latest offering. Two champions further solidified their claims on the pound-for-pound list, while a number of other competitors had strong showings of their ow…

UFC 175 is in the books, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship should be pleased with their latest offering. Two champions further solidified their claims on the pound-for-pound list, while a number of other competitors had strong showings of their own. Now that the event is over, these are some interesting story lines that should follow the fighters and promotion going forward.

 

Chris Weidman as the Face of the Promotion

Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida put on a stellar showcase for the middleweight title. Weidman walked away from the contest with the belt in tow and the opportunity to establish himself as the face of the UFC.

Weidman has already become the darling of the MMA community as he’s been featured on a number of different media outlets. Platforms such as ESPN, Fox Sports and other organizations have become Weidman‘s new playground as he promoted UFC 175. His potential to become the next big star of this sport is widely recognized at this point.

“He has the potential to be the next star,” Jay Glazer told MMA Junkie‘s Mike Bohn. “He’s a good-looking guy, and he’s as down to Earth as you’re every going to get. … He’s the future, and he’s legitimately one of the sweetest human beings you’ll ever meet in your life.”

Stars such as Chuck Liddell and Georges St. Pierre helped push mixed martial arts to its current level of popularity. Weidman‘s victory proved he has the skill to be the next man to carry that baton. The challengers that await him at middleweight are just what he needs to build his name. Timing could not be any more perfect as the UFC is in need of stars to build upon.

 

Ronda Rousey‘s Dominance

Sixteen seconds was all Ronda Rousey needed to dismantle the newest challenger to her bantamweight title. Alexis Davis was a true underdog coming into this fight, but this quick finish outcome wasn’t expected by most. That leaves the UFC in a tough predicament with what to do with the fighter that is presented as their biggest star on the roster.

Rousey has already defeated six of the women ranked in the top 10 of this weight class. Cat Zingano was forced to the sideline due to her knee injury, but placing her in an immediate bout against Rousey would leave her at a disadvantage.

Rousey has shown interest in facing Bethe Correia, who has seemed to make it a point to take out the champion’s training partners. That potential fight is still a long ways off before the UFC can justify that booking. The same goes with a rematch against Sara McMann. The options are truly limited with what the company can do with the “Rowdy” one.

Holly Holm and Cristiane Justino sit on the outside looking in as the UFC has struggled to get either of them signed to the promotion. While both of these competitors could be booked as potential threats to Ronda’s reign, the MMA community is still far away from seeing either contest.

The UFC is at a point where it needs Rousey more than ever. Unfortunately, a lack of compelling matchups will make it difficult to properly book their champion.

 

How the UFC will follow up

UFC 175 was set to be a major test for the promotion. 2014 had been less than stellar when it came to pay-per-view buys for the company. This card was stacked with two title bouts in hopes that their defenses would catch the eyes of the viewing public. General response to the event has been widely positive. Now the question turns to how the UFC can follow up for the fans.

UFC 176 was set to go on Aug. 2 and feature the rematch between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. Unfortunately the injury bug has hit Aldo once again and puts that card in serious jeopardy. Outside of Jon Jones, the company has struggled to garner much attention for their champions.

The current model of flooding the market with fights haven’t had the best results at this time. Yet the leaders of the UFC seem undaunted in changing their model.

It will be interesting to see how the promotion follows up to such a strong event. Momentum is vital in the sports promotion industry, so the UFC will best benefit by creating cards that immediately capture the attention of mainstream fans. That has already been difficult for much of 2014, but the organization has to find a way to answer the call.

UFC 175 was a very bright spot for a 2014 that has been filled with challenges for the organization. These are just three of the story lines that now follow key fighters and the organization as a whole.

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Watch Dana White’s Reaction to the “Biggest F Up Ever” at UFC 175 [GIF]


(Dana White establishing a neural link with the production truck. / Photo via Getty)

We’d say Ronda Rousey was the hammer and Alexis Davis was the nail at UFC 175, but that doesn’t even come close to how badly Rousey destroyed her Canadian opponent. Instead, we’ll put it this way: Ronda Rousey was a 500 kilaton hydrogen bomb and Alexis Davis the arid desert or frigid Siberian tundra it was tested on.

The fight wasn’t a fight. Calling it a squash match doesn’t even convey how one-sided it was–that’s how one-sided it was.

Since Rousey, at least as far as the world knew at the time, suffered no damage in her 16-second trouncing of Davis, people thought she might be able to save the day at UFC 176, a card desperately in need of a main event.

One of the people who thought this was a UFC production truck employee. During Rousey’s post-fight interview, Rogan claimed the truck asked him to inquire as to whether Rousey would want to fight at UFC 176. She was friendly but gave a diplomatic non-answer, stating she needed knee surgery and it depended on what her coaches said.

Dana White, however, was not so friendly about it…


(Dana White establishing a neural link with the production truck. / Photo via Getty)

We’d say Ronda Rousey was the hammer and Alexis Davis was the nail at UFC 175, but that doesn’t even come close to how badly Rousey destroyed her Canadian opponent. Instead, we’ll put it this way: Ronda Rousey was a 500 kilaton hydrogen bomb and Alexis Davis the arid desert or frigid Siberian tundra it was tested on.

The fight wasn’t a fight. Calling it a squash match doesn’t even convey how one-sided it was–that’s how one-sided it was.

Since Rousey, at least as far as the world knew at the time, suffered no damage in her 16-second trouncing of Davis, people thought she might be able to save the day at UFC 176, a card desperately in need of a main event.

One of the people who thought this was a UFC production truck employee. During Rousey’s post-fight interview, Rogan claimed the truck asked him to inquire as to whether Rousey would want to fight at UFC 176. She was friendly but gave a diplomatic non-answer, stating she needed knee surgery and it depended on what her coaches said.

Dana White, however, was not so friendly about it…


(via r/MMA)

He’d later tell ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that Rousey being asked that question was the “biggest F up ever.”

Damn. We know White has a flair for the dramatic, but this is a bit over the top. Biggest F up EVER?

What ever you say, Uncle Dana!

Here Are Some Pics of Ronda Rousey’s and Uriah Hall’s Nasty Injuries


(Photo via Getty)

UFC 175 was a great card, but its gravitas was lessened if you were among the squeamish.

What happened?

We’ll start off with the least serious injury first: Ronda Rousey’s hand stitches.

Conceptualizing how Ronda Rousey could’ve possibly gotten injured in her 16-second OBLITERATION of Alexis Davis is beyond the mental faculties of mid-tier MMA bloggers. Somehow it happened though. Rousey hurt her hand, and even had stitches on it by the end of the right. Joe Rogan stated this was why she couldn’t headline UFC 176 in August.

See two photos of the injury that have been circulating on Twitter after the jump…


(Photo via Getty)

UFC 175 was a great card, but its gravitas was lessened if you were among the squeamish.

What happened?

We’ll start off with the least serious injury first: Ronda Rousey’s hand stitches.

Conceptualizing how Ronda Rousey could’ve possibly gotten injured in her 16-second OBLITERATION of Alexis Davis is beyond the mental faculties of mid-tier MMA bloggers. Somehow it happened though. Rousey hurt her hand, and even had stitches on it by the end of the right. Joe Rogan stated this was why she couldn’t headline UFC 176 in August.

Here are two photos of the injury that have been circulating on Twitter:


(via Twitter)


(via Twitter)

These pics are kid stuff compared to UFC 175‘s most grotesque highlight: Uriah Hall‘s broken toe:


(via r/MMA)

The injury was worse than the picture shows (there was a close-up of the bone jutting out of the skin during the live broadcast but there doesn’t appear to be a screenshot…yet). The best part is that Hall’s cornermen bullied the doctor into not doing anything about Hall’s clearly f*cked up toe when he checked it out between rounds. Actually, scratch that, the best part was Hall dancing around with a bone sticking out of his foot and actually kicking with that leg. That took bravado and some serious pain tolerance–and it’s those attributes that earned him a decision win over Thiago Santos.

We’ll post any more pics as they surface. Until then, enjoy your Sunday, Potato Nation.

Blerg! Jose Aldo Injured, UFC 176 Rematch With Chad Mendes Cancelled


(At least he seems to be taking it…well.)

In a loss that should downgrade the card from a pay-per-view to a free night of fights but undoubtedly won’t, Jose Aldo has been injured and is out of his featherweight title fight rematch with Chad Mendes scheduled for UFC 176.

MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani broke the bad news on last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, and Dana White confirmed that the fight had been cancelled shortly thereafter. Nova Uniao released a statement as to the severity of Aldo’s injury late last night:

Nova Uniao announced on Wednesday night that Aldo has suffered a shoulder and cervical spine injury after being taken down in training on July 1. According to the release, Aldo started physical therapy Wednesday and won’t be able to train for three weeks, when he will be examined again for the cervical spine injury.

For the time being, it appears that the loss of Aldo-Mendes II will move the co-main event rematch between top middleweights Gegard Mousasi and Ronaldo Souza into the main spot. Not a bad matchup by any means, but take a gander at the rest of the PPV card and ask yourself, “Is this worth $60?”

The answer is of course, f*ck no. Unless the UFC decides to shuffle in a more worthy main event, or at the very minimum, downgrade the price of the PPV. No, *you* sound crazy.

So, on what side of the 200k benchmark do we see this card landing in terms of PPV buys?

–J. Jones


(At least he seems to be taking it…well.)

In a loss that should downgrade the card from a pay-per-view to a free night of fights but undoubtedly won’t, Jose Aldo has been injured and is out of his featherweight title fight rematch with Chad Mendes scheduled for UFC 176.

MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani broke the bad news on last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, and Dana White confirmed that the fight had been cancelled shortly thereafter. Nova Uniao released a statement as to the severity of Aldo’s injury late last night:

Nova Uniao announced on Wednesday night that Aldo has suffered a shoulder and cervical spine injury after being taken down in training on July 1. According to the release, Aldo started physical therapy Wednesday and won’t be able to train for three weeks, when he will be examined again for the cervical spine injury.

For the time being, it appears that the loss of Aldo-Mendes II will move the co-main event rematch between top middleweights Gegard Mousasi and Ronaldo Souza into the main spot. Not a bad matchup by any means, but take a gander at the rest of the PPV card and ask yourself, “Is this worth $60?”

The answer is of course, f*ck no. Unless the UFC decides to shuffle in a more worthy main event, or at the very minimum, downgrade the price of the PPV. No, *you* sound crazy.

So, on what side of the 200k benchmark do we see this card landing in terms of PPV buys?

–J. Jones

Jose Aldo Pulls out of UFC 176 Title Defense, Citing Injury

The UFC got some bad news Wednesday when word came that Jose Aldo, the UFC featherweight champ and one of the two or three finest fighters in the world at any class, is once again relegated to the shelf after suffering another injury.
He was set to def…

The UFC got some bad news Wednesday when word came that Jose Aldo, the UFC featherweight champ and one of the two or three finest fighters in the world at any class, is once again relegated to the shelf after suffering another injury.

He was set to defend his belt Aug. 2 at UFC 176 in a rematch with Chad Mendes. There was no immediate word on a new main event for the card or the nature of the injury that sidelined Aldo.

The news was first reported by broadcaster Ariel Helwani on the UFC Tonight cable program (h/t Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting):

UPDATE: Per Mike Chiappetta of Fox Sports, Aldo fell while training and suffered what appeared to be fairly serious back and neck injuries.

It is the latest in a frustrating litany for Aldo, who, at just 27 years old, has already defended the UFC title seven consecutive times. His biggest enemy is certainly his own body, and this mysterious injury is just the newest case in point.

Aldo’s UFC debut against Erik Koch was removed from UFC 125 after Aldo suffered a neck injury. After stringing together three consecutive wins between spring 2011 and winter 2012, Aldo suffered a series of injuries and complications (including some that resulted from a motorcycle accident) that kept him on the sidelines for a year.

A broken foot after his fight with Chan Sung Jung resulted in another delay.

It would not have been the first time Aldo and Mendes locked horns. They did so in January 2012 at UFC 142. Aldo won by first-round knockout.

Even with his injury history, Aldo is 24-1 as a pro MMA fighter, including a perfect 6-0 mark in the UFC. He most recently fought in February, when he won a convincing decision over Ricardo Lamas. Still, because of injuries, he has only been able to fight an average of 2.5 times per year. Many fighters enter the cage four times or even more in an average year.

The UFC 176 card does not appear to have a ready-made new main event on its roster as currently constituted. The co-main event pits Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza against Gegard Mousasi, which is a terrific match but probably not main event material.

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Gegard Mousasi vs. Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza Rematch Set for UFC 176 in Los Angeles

UFC middleweight contenders Gegard Mousasi and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will square off in the UFC 176 co-main event on August 2, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. 
The bout serves as a rematch for the two 185-pound standouts, as Mousasi prev…

UFC middleweight contenders Gegard Mousasi and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will square off in the UFC 176 co-main event on August 2, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. 

The bout serves as a rematch for the two 185-pound standouts, as Mousasi previously knocked Souza out with an upkick at Dream 6 in 2008. 

Since the loss to Mousasi, Souza has gone 10-1 (1 NC), capturing the Strikeforce middleweight championship and becoming the No. 4-ranked UFC middleweight along the way. With his world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills and ever-improving stand-up attack, Souza established himself as a legitimate threat in the UFC’s 185-pound division immediately upon his arrival in May 2013. 

After choking out Chris Camozzi in his promotional debut, Souza knocked out Yushin Okami at UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. Bader four months later and added a dominant decision victory over Francis Carmont to set himself up for a high-profile showdown. 

Against Mousasi, Souza will have the chance to avenge a prior defeat and stake his claim as the No. 1 contender to the UFC middleweight title. 

Mousasi, meanwhile, is just 1-1 as a UFC middleweight, but the one defeat was to current title challenger Lyoto Machida, and Mousasi impressed critics in that bout with his well-rounded, polished game. After the loss, Mousasi choked out Mark Munoz at UFC Fight Night: Munoz vs. Mousasi in Round 1, re-establishing his forward momentum in the UFC. 

While this UFC 176 co-main event has not been announced as a No. 1 contender’s bout, it certainly looks the part at first glance. 

The middleweight championship will be contested July 5—less than a month before UFC 176—so it makes sense from a scheduling standpoint that the winner of Souza vs. Mousasi II would fight the winner of UFC 175’s main event between champion Chris Weidman and Machida.

Despite the fact that Mousasi won the first bout in emphatic fashion, Souza controlled the ground game nicely and looked strong before the finish. The Brazilian ground ace has improved everywhere since that fight, and I think he’ll make it four wins in a row and earn his title shot at UFC 176. 

What do you think? Who do you favor in this rematch? 

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