UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is set for a quick turnaround. While he successfully defended his belt just a few weeks ago at UFC 174, Johnson is now tabbed to defend his belt at UFC 177 opposite Chris Cariaso, according to Ya…
UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is set for a quick turnaround. While he successfully defended his belt just a few weeks ago at UFC 174, Johnson is now tabbed to defend his belt at UFC 177 opposite Chris Cariaso, according to Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole.
Cariaso is currently riding a three-fight winning streak, with victories over Iliarde Santos, Danny Martinez and Louis Smolka. He owns a 4-2 record in the UFC as a flyweight and was an above-average bantamweight before that.
The news that Cariaso was slated for the belt is somewhat surprising. This Saturday, Ian McCall and Brad Pickett face off in a crucial flyweight tilt. While the winner of that fight would have been a solid contender for the champ, the UFC instead opted for a sure thing in Cariaso.
After a solid run in World Extreme Cagefighting, Johnson became the UFC’s first flyweight champion in 2012. In the time since, he has climbed his way up MMA‘s pound-for-pound rankings and cemented his status as one of the best fighters in the sport.
However, in spite of his technical brilliance, fans have been slow to accept him. While the UFC hoped that a brutal one-punch knockout of Joseph Benavidez had warmed up fans enough that he could carry a pay-per-view, reports that UFC 174 hovered around 100,000 buys mired an otherwise masterful victory over Ali Bagautinov.
UFC 177 will go down August 30 in Sacramento, California. The card is headlined by the silly rematch between UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao. While Barao, like Johnson, could scarcely draw crickets to chirp at his pay-per-view fights, the UFC is hoping that doubling up on champions will entice fans.
UFC 176 is the second event in the “modern” era of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to suffer the fate of being cancelled. The news of Jose Aldo’s injury threw the mixed martial arts world into immediate speculation as to what the p…
UFC 176 is the second event in the “modern” era of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to suffer the fate of being cancelled. The news of Jose Aldo’s injury threw the mixed martial arts world into immediate speculation as to what the promotion would do to recover.
The announcement that this event would be scrapped didn’t come as a great surprise to anyone who follows the industry. However, the situation is cause for some concern and negativity, but the benefits of cancelling UFC 176 will be felt at the same time.
The Negative Effects of Cancelling UFC 176
Having to cancel the event due to an injury is a glaring example of how the combination of the current schedule and lack of star power is an issue that needs to be addressed.
With Aldo going down to injury, the UFC scrambled to try to find a replacement main event. Joe Rogan was thrown under the bus when he asked Ronda Rousey if she would be able to compete, even though she had just fought moments earlier at UFC 175. Chris Weidman is also on the shelf. Johny Hendricks is injured. Demetrious Johnson just fought and isn’t the draw the UFC wants him to be. Jon Jones, T.J. Dillashaw, Anthony Pettis and Cain Velasquez are all tied up in other commitments to the UFC.
So who does that leave? No one, and that is the issue.
The UFC doesn’t have the luxury of company men such as Rich Franklin or Chael Sonnen to step up to compete last minute. Plus, there aren’t many other fighters who don’t carry titles who fans would be willing to spend money on a PPV to see. Had the promotion decided to move forward with the card, the show was widely expected to have abysmal numbers. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer (via BJPenn.com) reported that UFC 174 had buy rates lower than Bellator’s premiere on PPV, and the UFC does not want to go through that situation again.
Ten UFC events were planned to be held between July and August, which ties up a large number of fighters that could have been inserted into this slot. The UFC is pushing very hard to interject as much content into the sports world as possible, and that has created a schedule that has stretched their star power and viewer interest very thin.
Unable to find any names that would garner attention in three weeks forced the company to pull the plug.
The Positive Effects of Cancelling UFC 176
The event’s card featured a number of bouts that were highly anticipated. Now that the show is not being held, though, the UFC is forced to move the fights to other events, and the additions will strengthen those cards substantially.
The majority of the fights have been moved to either the UFC Fight Night event on August 23 or UFC 177. The Ronald Souza vs. Gegard Mousassi fight is expected to become the main event of said UFC Fight Night, which improves that card drastically.
One of the main complaints about the UFC planning so many cards at once is that the quality of fights was being diminished. The cancellation of UFC 176 is a short term solution to that problem. The remaining cards are immediately improved, and the potential presents itself that they will now get more viewership than they would have if UFC 176 had not been cancelled.
Chad Mendes versus Jose Aldo II is an important fight in the UFC, but unfortunately, fight fans will have to wait to see what happens the next time these competitors step in the cage.
While the initial response was negative, there are benefits to the cancellation of UFC 176 that should be celebrated, including the immediate improvement of other UFC events in August.
T.J. Dillashaw made good on his promise to shock the world like Chris Weidman did against Anderson Silva by defeating Renan Barao, and, like Weidman, he’ll have to do it all over again at UFC 177.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesda…
T.J. Dillashaw made good on his promise to shock the world like Chris Weidman did against Anderson Silva by defeating Renan Barao, and, like Weidman, he’ll have to do it all over again at UFC 177.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday’s episode of UFC Tonight that the UFC was close to booking a bantamweight championship rematch between Dillashaw and Barao. The bout would likely take place on the August 30 fight card in Sacramento.
Dillashaw, who entered the first bout as an 8-1 underdog, made oddsmakers look silly by netting a fifth-round TKO stoppage over Barao. Many considered the Brazilian to be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but he never had an answer for Dillashaw’s speed and ability to change angles and keep him guessing on the feet.
Dillashaw not only dethroned Barao but also snapped a 32-fight unbeaten streak.
The general consensus is that Dillashaw’s dominance warrants a new opponent, particularly Raphael Assuncao. The Brazilian bantamweight was initially set to contend for the UFC title, and he is the last fighter to record a win over Dillashaw.
But, like every great champion, the UFC appears to be rewarding Barao’s past greatness with an opportunity to hit the rewind button. UFC President Dana White hinted at the rematch during a media scrum in June (h/t BloodyElbow.com):
Tell me if I’m wrong. As we sat there and started looking through the list of guys to fight T.J., how do you not give it to Barao, the guy who was undefeated all those years? I agree he got a five-round a** whooping and got finished, but how does it make sense to not give him the rematch? And who doesn’t want to see it? I want to see it.
Marlon Sandro, Barao’s teammate, recently pinned the loss on the UFC in an elongated rant on Instagram. He called the UFC “crooks” for not giving the former champ ample time to rest and “forcing” him to fight Dillashaw after having just fought Urijah Faber in February.
Will a second time be the charm for Barao? More importantly, does he even deserve it?
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
Very few people seem to know for sure where things stand between the UFC and Jon Jones at the moment.
Those who do? They aren’t talking.
“You got to ask Jon Jones that,” said UFC President Dana White during a media scrum over the weekend, when a…
Very few people seem to know for sure where things stand between the UFC and Jon Jones at the moment.
Those who do? They aren’t talking.
“You got to ask Jon Jones that,” said UFC President Dana White during a media scrum over the weekend, when asked why the fight company’s most dominant champion still hadn’t signed for a rematch against Alexander Gustafsson. “I don’t know. I don’t like it, I don’t like it at all.”
In a sport where sometimes it seems like every bit of minutia commands its own story, and everybody who’s anybody has a video blog, this murkiness is notable. With White firing off nebulous quotes and Jones addressing the situation only with cheeky replies on his Twitter page, you know the rumor mill is going to jump at the chance to fire up its engines.
Are the world’s best fighter and the world’s best fight company at odds? Is Jones still upset that the company seems to be throwing more promotional weight behind Ronda Rousey? Is he miffed at the UFC’s insistence on propping up champions in nearly every other weight class as No. 1 pound-for-pound? Is he plotting a shocking defection?
Sadly for the gossip-mongers, smart money says, nah, probably not. At least at this point, we don’t really have cause to believe it’s time to push the panic button on all our big plans for the rest of the year.
Chances are, what we’re witnessing here is a fairly run-of-the-mill round of contract negotiations. It may be a bit more rancorous and public than most in MMA, but rancor and overexposure are essentially our sport’s default settings when it comes to All Things Bones.
It’s standard operating procedure for the UFC to try to re-sign fighters (especially its champions) before their existing contracts lapse, and that’s exactly what CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said he wanted to do with Jones during a recent episode of UFC: Embedded.
“We’re going to walk him through why it makes sense to fight Alexander Gustafsson,” Fertitta said at the 18-second mark, making it sound like talks were very much in their infancy, “and we’re going to make an offer to extend his contract.”
It’s that last part that’s likely the sticking point right now. If the UFC wants Jones to sign a new multifight deal as part of agreeing to take on Gustafsson, it stands to reason the two sides would have a lot to talk about. After all, this not only represents the company’s chance to re-up with Jones, but his best/only chance to renegotiate before he locks in again.
In other words, expect delays, but eventually, business as usual.
Don’t let White’s terse reply spur you into alarm. He’s the president of the company. He’s supposed to act put out when one of his laborers asks for more money.
Don’t let Gustafsson’s Facebook posts fool you either. He’s about to get his second crack at a UFC title. Think he’ll pass up a chance to try to get in the champion’s head?
And as for Daniel Cormier’s recent outburst to SportsWorldNews.com’s Franklin McNeil that he’ll gladly fight “the kid” (meaning the 16-2 Gustafsson) for an interim title if Jones doesn’t want to do it? Cormier seems to have gone from 0-60 in the self-promotion lane since defeating Dan Henderson at UFC 173. This is an easy way for him to keep his name in the headlines and remind everyone that he’s the guy we really want to see fight for the title, eventually. Fair play to him for that.
On all sides, the timing of these moves is likely no accident. Four days after Fertitta and White met with Jones’ manager, as captured on Embedded, the company confirmed to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that it was targeting Jones-Gustafsson II for UFC 177 on Aug. 30. That means the executives are either confident the fight will be signed and delivered, or they’re trying to squeeze Jones a bit.
On the fighter’s side? Same thing. If the UFC is going to go ahead and advertise a fight before Jones agrees to do it, well, that seems like a great time to try to hold the company’s feet to the fire for those few extra perks the champion has been dreaming about.
Jones and his handlers have been mum on his fighting future since his late-April victory over Glover Teixeira at UFC 172, but given that he’s back on social media now goosing the haters, it seems most likely he still has his 2014 pretty well all planned out.
Is it possible a bigger rift emerges here? Absolutely. Any time a sport’s biggest star and his employers sit down to talk mathematics, disaster looms. But a lengthy holdout? A standoff? The possibility Jones has his next fight anywhere besides the Octagon? Doubt it. Common sense and the champion’s clause in the UFC’s standard fighter contract say those things are unlikely.
I suspect all parties will go on not liking each other very much for a few more days (or weeks) and eventually come to a workable agreement to proceed with the moneymaking.
Top UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson doesn’t officially have a deal in place to fight divisional champion Jon Jones, but no one would know it based on the way he’s hyping up this potential rematch.
In an interview with MMA Plu…
Top UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson doesn’t officially have a deal in place to fight divisional champion Jon Jones, but no one would know it based on the way he’s hyping up this potential rematch.
In an interview with MMA Plus on Thursday, “The Mauler” essentially guaranteed a finish if he squares off with Jones inside the Octagon one more time (transcription per MMA Fighting):
I learned a lot from that fight. As a person, I learned that I could push myself. …
We beat each other up. Now I know that we can push hard. I know that I can take a spinning elbow and keep going. I know now that he’s not a super human. I know he’s beatable. … He knows now, it’s a bad fight for him. I think I’m a little bit in his head. I know that I can beat him. … It’ll be a finish. I’ve done the distance thing before and I don’t do it again. A finish and I’m taking that belt.
Gustafsson and “Bones” first traded leather at UFC 165 in September. The back-and-forth brawl was almost unanimously considered 2013’s “Fight of the Year” by countless MMA media outlets.
While many fans, analysts and fighters alike believed the challenger did enough to unseat the seemingly untouchable Jones, the Greg Jackson’s MMA product earned a narrow decision on all three judges’ scorecards.
Gustafsson was told he’d get another crack at the belt if he looked impressive against previously unbeaten prospect JimiManuwa at UFC Fight Night 37 in March. The Swedish striker did just that, overwhelming “Poster Boy” with a flurry of strikes early in the second round.
The 27-year-old has won seven of his past eight fights, also defeating notables such as Thiago Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua during that three-and-a-half-year stretch.
Meanwhile, Jones, the top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC’s official rankings, is riding an 11-fight win streak (eight finishes) and has the UFC light heavyweight record of six consecutive title defenses.
The Greg Jackson’s MMA standout recently shined in a clear-cut decision over Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 in April, routinely outstriking and outworking the Brazilian slugger.
While the UFC is aiming to make Jones vs. Gustafsson II for either late August or early September, the matchup remains a bit of a question mark, as the champion has not signed the bout agreement yet. He is currently negotiating a new contract, per MMA Fighting‘s David Doyle.
Will Jones vs. Gustafsson II happen no later than this fall, or will the details of Jones’ new deal get messy and force the fans to sit back and wait awhile on this heavily anticipated rematch?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
News broke during UFC 173 on Saturday that the highly anticipated rematch between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Swedish contender Alexander Gustafsson was almost a done deal. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto posted the news on Twitter:
Breaking: UF…
News broke during UFC 173 on Saturday that the highly anticipated rematch between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Swedish contender Alexander Gustafsson was almost a done deal. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto posted the news on Twitter:
Breaking: UFC targets Aug. 30, Las Vegas for Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson rematch. Gustafsson already accepted. http://t.co/MLHgtGwc4M
Jones and Gustafsson first faced off in September at UFC 165. While The Mauler was a huge underdog entering the fight, fans were treated to a highly competitive battle. The bout was regarded by many as the best mixed martial arts fight of 2013, but fans were shocked when Jones passed on a rematch, instead opting to face Brazilian slugger Glover Teixeira.
Gustafsson would go on to face JimiManuwa in London in March, beating him badly en route to a second-round knockout. Similarly, Jones faced Teixeira in April and beat the Brazilian in lopsided fashion at UFC 172.
A title bout seemed like an inevitability given the fan reception to their first showdown, but Jones has seemed generally reluctant to accept the bout, saying that Gustafsson and fellow light heavyweight standout Daniel Cormier should fight for a title shot.
In April, UFC President Dana Whitetold reporters that Jones vs. Gustafsson 2 could go down in Sweden. Gustafsson is an absolute sensation there, and a stadium show headlined by the title bout would be incredibly lucrative for all parties. That, however, seems to be off the table, as UFC 177 is slated for Las Vegas, Nevada.
As stated by Okamoto, the only barrier left for this bout is for Jones to put pen to paper. Stick with Bleacher Report for more updates on the card as they become available.
UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is set for a quick turnaround. While he successfully defended his belt just a few weeks ago at UFC 174, Johnson is now tabbed to defend his belt at UFC 177 opposite Chris Cariaso, according to Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole.