(26. Stare at this picture of Dana White for 45 minutes. / Photo via Getty)
The gap between fights on FS1 broadcasts is massive. We realized it was senseless to just watch all the commercials. Instead, let’s all be productive with our time. Here’s a list of several (but not all) things you can do during the huge amount of time in between fights.
1. Watch several fights from a previous UFC PPV on Fight Pass.
2. Go get ice cream or pizza.
3. Perform the recommended amount of daily exercise.
4. Read a chapter from the latest trendy YA novel.
5. Try to educate the heathens next to you at Buffalo Wild Wings about the finer points of MMA.
6. Do DDP Yoga.
7. Read a chapter from Matt Hughes‘ autobiography (don’t worry, it’s not exactly War and Peace).
(26. Stare at this picture of Dana White for 45 minutes. / Photo via Getty)
The gap between fights on FS1 broadcasts is massive. We realized it was senseless to just watch all the commercials. Instead, let’s all be productive with our time. Here’s a list of several (but not all) things you can do during the huge amount of time in between fights.
1. Watch several fights from a previous UFC PPV on Fight Pass.
2. Go get ice cream or pizza.
3. Perform the recommended amount of daily exercise.
4. Read a chapter from the latest trendy YA novel.
5. Try to educate the heathens next to you at Buffalo Wild Wings about the finer points of MMA.
6. Do DDP Yoga.
7. Read a chapter from Matt Hughes‘ autobiography (don’t worry, it’s not exactly War and Peace).
8. Calculate how much interest you’ll earn from your savings account this year.
9. Come up with a better tagline for the upcoming TUF than “Easy on the eyes, hard on the face.”
10. Try to explain the concept of _______ to the average MMA fan (there’s a lot of different ways to go with this one).
11. Try to explain “Alpha Male Shit” to a person with a functioning brain.
12. Illegally download the terrible action film they’re hawking on the broadcast that night, watch it in three-minute installments.
Welcome to the non-liveblog of UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto, a pay-per-view card so shockingly irrelevant that we’ll barely be covering it tonight. Basically, we’ll update the results through the night — which you can find after the jump — and that’s about it. If something particularly interesting happens, we’ll let you know, and if we find any good GIFs, we will link you to them. Thanks for checking in with us, and follow us on twitter for bonus commentary.
Welcome to the non-liveblog of UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto, a pay-per-view card so shockingly irrelevant that we’ll barely be covering it tonight. Basically, we’ll update the results through the night — which you can find after the jump — and that’s about it. If something particularly interesting happens, we’ll let you know, and if we find any good GIFs, we will link you to them. Thanks for checking in with us, and follow us on twitter for bonus commentary.
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT)
– Derek Brunson vs. Lorenz Larkin
– Anthony Hamilton vs. Ruan Potts
– Chris Wade def. Cain Carrizosa via submission (guillotine choke), 1:12 of round 1
Aside from Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson, TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao 2 was the most anticipated of all championship rematches. Because of apparent complications with Barao’s weight cut, that bout won’t be happening.
Former Bellator champion Joe…
Aside from Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson, TJ Dillashaw vs. RenanBarao 2 was the most anticipated of all championship rematches. Because of apparent complications with Barao‘s weight cut, that bout won’t be happening.
Former Bellator champion Joe Soto is stepping up to face Dillashaw. The headliner isn’t the only cancellation crippling the UFC 177 show. Former Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo was pulled from what would have been his UFC debut against Scott Jorgensen.
This ought to be interesting.
That bout headlines the card, but it really doesn’t appear to be a lineup that should be defined as a pay-per-view. While the fights don’t look strong on paper, there’s always the possibility that we could see thrilling performances from some unexpected or little-known fighters.
Here’s a look at the complete schedule, viewing information and fight card set for Saturday’s action.
UFC 177: Viewing Info, Card and Predictions
UFC Fight Pass Preliminary
Matchup
Weight Class
Prediction
Chris Wade vs. Cain Carrizosa
Lightweight
Carrizosa by submission
Fox Sports 1 Preliminary
Matchup
Weight Class
Prediction
Ruan Potts vs. Anthony Hamilton
Heavyweight
Hamilton by KO
Lorenz Larkin vs. Derek Brunson
Middleweight
Brunson by TKO
PPV Main Card – PPV only with cable provider, TV Set Top Boxes, including PlayStation 4
Yancy Medeiros vs. Damon Jackson
Lightweight
Jackson by submission
Ramsey Nijem vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira
Lightweight
Ferreira by decision
Bethe Correia vs. Shayna Baszler
Women’s Bantamweight
Correia by decision
Tony Ferguson vs. Danny Castillo
Lightweight
Ferguson by TKO
UFC Bantamweight Title—(c) T.J. Dillashaw vs. Joe Soto
Bantamweight
Dillashaw by TKO
Fights That Could Be Better Than Expected
Bethe Correia vs. Shayna Baszler
Let’s face it—neither Correia nor Baszler looks like a serious threat to Ronda Rousey‘s title. In fact, Baszler is a member of Rousey‘s female MMA crew called the Four Horsewomen of MMA.
Correia has called out each member of the crew. After beating Jessamyn Duke, part of Rousey‘s group, Correia held up four fingers and then dropped one. Having already vanquished Duke, Correia now sets her sights on Baszler. It feels like Correia is the Bride from Kill Bill and she’s hunting the group down one by one.
In this scenario, Rousey would certainly be O-Ren Ishii. While Baszler is a step up from Duke, I wouldn’t call her GogoYubari.
Correia is approaching her own marketing the right way. The call-out brought some attention to someone else in the weight class besides Rousey. It created intrigue in the second level of the weight class.
Can Baszler stop Correia‘s crusade?
Lorenz Larkin vs. Derek Brunson
Like Jorgensen, Lorenz Larkin is an underachiever, but he too doesn’t seem to know how to have a dull fight.
Larkin brings a hit-and-be-hit approach to the Octagon. If he lands one of his bombs first, then he’ll likely leave the cage the winner. If it’s the other way around, the fight will look a lot like his most recent defeat to CostasPhilippou in May.
Larkin was stopped in the first round of that bout. It marked his second loss in a row and third in his last four outings.
Brunson is a slugger in his own right. He is also coming off a loss to the very scary Yoel Romero. With both Larkin and Brunson trying to bounce back, we may see caution thrown to the wind in an entertaining scrap.
Follow Brian Mazique, aka FranchisePlay, the Sports Video Game Journalist.
There is not much buzz surrounding the UFC 177 pay-per-view after several marquee fights were removed from the card, and the task of selling the event to casual fans got tougher with the removal of former champion Renan Barao from the main event, accor…
There is not much buzz surrounding the UFC 177 pay-per-view after several marquee fights were removed from the card, and the task of selling the event to casual fans got tougher with the removal of former champion RenanBarao from the main event, according to UFC.com.
UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw will now defend his title against Joe Soto.
This is terrible news for the fight fans who were actually excited about this card. While there is always a chance Soto could stun Dillashaw the same way Barao was stunned in the first fight, there is no mainstream appeal to this card.
Dillashaw vs. Soto is a solid fight, but it’s not worthy of a PPV main event. Here is the full fight card, predicted winners in every fight and a preview of Saturday’s top bout.
Breaking Down the Main Event
The main event of UFC 177 should have been the rematch between Dillashaw and Barao for the bantamweight championship, but according to Damon Martin of FoxSports.com, Barao fainted during the weight-cutting portion of the fight prep and his team was forced to call an ambulance.
Barao was taken to the hospital after suffering from “extreme dehydration,” according to Martin, and was removed from the main event. UFC president Dana White also said in the same article that the former champion will not be awarded a title shot when he is cleared to compete again.
MMA fanatic Joe Rogan was adamant about his opinion of the card (some language NSFW):
Former WWE wrestler CM Punk also chimed in on the situation:
Now that Barao is on the sideline, it’s Joe Soto’s time to shine.
Soto is a gifted bantamweight who will be making his debut with the UFC on Saturday night in the main event. The former Bellator featherweight champion was a dominant force in both Bellator and Tachi Palace Fights, going 15-2 during his time in both promotions.
Out of Soto’s 15 victories, eight came via submission and five came via knockout or TKO, making him a legitimate threat to any fighter he steps in the Octagon with. The new challenger currently holds a six-fight winning streak as well.
Even Soto himself took to Twitter to thank the fans for their unwavering support:
The biggest key of the fight will be how Dillashaw reacts to the change in style and game plan. Soto and Barao are different fighters with different strengths and weaknesses. Barao is a striker who possesses a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. For the weeks leading up to this fight, Dillashaw had likely been working on his striking and defending the clinch.
Instead of getting what he expected, Dillashaw will now square off with a challenger with an extensive background in wrestling (Soto went to school with Jon Jones and Cain Velasquez) and a unique mixture of power in his striking and submission prowess.
For Dillashaw, this is an entirely different fight. Fortunately for the champion, he has a wrestling background of his own and has won seven of his 12 career fights by knockout or submission. The defending champion has prepared for this fight and is in elite physical shape, so it’s just a matter of switching up the game plan.
While there is no doubt that Soto could come out and surprise Dillashaw, the champion should be in defense mode for the first several minutes of the fight as he tries to decipher anything he can about his opponent.
The defensive game plan will not make fans happy, but Dillashaw did not prepare to fight Soto and must be cautious of his power and quickness. Soto was a champion in two other companies, and Dillashaw’s camp will quickly develop a scouting report to catch its fighter up to speed.
There are low expectations for this fight after Barao pulled out, but the hope now is that both men engage in a classic fight that involves plenty of back-and-forth action and makes UFC fans forget about the previously scheduled main event.
Sacramento, California, we have a problem.
Sactown native T.J. Dillashaw took Renan “The Baron” Barao apart in their first meeting at UFC 173 in May. The rematch was set for Saturday at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. It could have been a homecomi…
Sacramento, California, we have a problem.
Sactown native T.J. Dillashaw took Renan “The Baron” Barao apart in their first meeting at UFC 173 in May. The rematch was set for Saturday at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. It could have been a homecoming of sorts for Dillashaw. The new UFC bantamweight champion seemed ready to dish out out another lopsided beatdown in the rematch.
Well…Dillashaw might be giving someone a beating, but it won’t be Barao. Per multiple sources, Barao is out of the fight due to health reasons and will be replaced by former Bellator champion Joe Soto.
While some might look at this matchup and automatically assume Dillashaw will make mincemeat of Soto, having opponents switched this close to the fight can cause major issues.
Emotional letdowns and style changes can be the difference between winning and losing.
Will Dillashaw suffer a such letdown and lose to Soto? Don’t bet on it.
While it is probably a bummer for Dillashaw that he won’t get a chance to further silence the critics who still question if he is indeed better than Barao, the needed intensity will be supplied by his home crowd.
There’s no way Dillashaw will want to give anything besides his best with the opportunity to defend his title in his hometown. If having his opponent switched has any effect on Dillashaw, it’ll be a positive one. He was already miffed that Barao remained ahead of him on the pound-for-pound list—even after he handily defeated him in May.
This occurrence will likely only fuel the me-against-the-world fire that seems to be burning inside the bantamweight champion. Soto will almost certainly try to do what Barao should have done in the first fight, and that’s take Dillashaw to the mat.
Eight of Soto’s 15 professional wins have come by submission, and that’s going to be the best course of action against the nimble and slick Dillashaw. I’m sure the champion’s team will have him as prepared for Soto as possible. One also has to remember, Soto didn’t train for Dillashaw either.
He was originally set to face Anthony Birchak on Saturday. Birchak is the one left out in the cold so far in this situation. He doesn’t have an opponent yet. The UFC is presumably scrambling to find a body to bring the fight count up to nine.
He is still listed on the card on UFC.com, but his opponent is TBA.
Yes, things have suddenly gotten real. The hardcore fans will be there no matter what.
If fight fans in Sacramento only want to see a Dillashaw win and don’t care about the strength of the undercard, they’ll be happy. However, if they are looking to get the most bang for the buck, maybe it’ll be wiser to watch Person of Interest or something.
Follow Brian Mazique aka FranchisePlay, the Sports and Video Game Journalist on Twitter.
Injuries have plagued the UFC 177 fight card during the build-up to the event, and now even former champion and No. 1 contender Renan Barao has pulled out of his rematch with bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, according to UFC’s official websi…
Injuries have plagued the UFC 177 fight card during the build-up to the event, and now even former champion and No. 1 contender RenanBarao has pulled out of his rematch with bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, according to UFC’s official website.
Barao will be replaced with Joe Soto (15-2).
While most MMA fans will be focused on whether Soto can upset Dillashaw the same way the champion upset Barao in their first fight, the most underrated battle of the night could be the women’s bantamweight bout between Bethe Correia and Shayna Baszler.
Here are the predictions for every match on the card and a focus on the undercard match most worthy of casual MMA fans’ attention.
Undercard Match of the Night: Bethe Correia vs. Shayna Baszler
Everything in the women’s bantamweight division goes through Ronda Rousey, but Dana White and UFC officials are doing everything in their power to build viable contenders to the champion’s throne.
Brazilian fighter Bethe Correia could be a serious threat if she can knock off Shayna Baszler.
Correia is one of the brightest championship contenders in the sport and has been on fire since debuting in the UFC. She has an overall record of 8-0 and has defeated Julie Kedzie and Jessamyn Duke since she joined the world’s top promotion.
As some fans may know, Duke and Baszler are members of Rousey’s Four Horsewomen group, and Correia has made it clear her plan is to take down anyone in her path of gold. By beating all of the fighters closest to Rousey, Correia is building the suspense and anticipation for an eventual bout with the champion.
When asked about a potential title fight if she wins at UFC 177, Correia spoke to Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com regarding what she would do to get a title shot and how no one will keep her from accomplishing her ultimate goal:
I’m not in the UFC to be just another fighter. I will get to the title one way or the other. I will get there. I want a title shot and I will get there by talking or fighting – or both. I want the title and nobody can stop me.
I think I deserve a title shot. I will be 3-0 in the UFC with another win. That’s my dream and that’s what I’m fighting for. Let them decide. If they think I deserve it, I will honor this chance and do a great show.
For Baszler, there is an element of the unknown. She has not fought in the UFC yet and she has a mediocre 15-8 career record. The South Dakota native has gained notoriety as part of Ronda Rousey’s inner circle, but she will need to prove herself in the ring.
Baszler has a background in wrestling and is dangerous on the ground. There are weaknesses in her game, though, as she showed in her submission loss to Alexis Davis in her final fight with Invicta.
On the other hand, Correia is a striker who loves to do her damage standing up. While both fighters have trained in each discipline preparing for this fight, the ultimate winner will be the one who can counter their opponent’s strengths the best.
Correia is the better all-around fighter and will earn the decision win.
Aside from Jon Jones vs. Alexander 