Tag: UFC 184

Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington Re-Booked for UFC 184


(Photo via WomensMMA)

Undefeated bantamweight contender Holly Holm was supposed to make her UFC debut against Raquel Pennington earlier this month at UFC 181, but a neck injury knocked her out of the fight. Now it appears that Holm vs. Pennington has been rescheduled for UFC 184: Weidman vs. Belfort (February 28th, Los Angeles), according to an MMAJunkie report.

The delay turned out to be the best thing for this matchup. Originally, Holm vs. Pennington seemed like a cruel mismatch — and then Pennington damn near murdered Ashlee Evans-Smith, her replacement opponent at UFC 181. Pennington will still be a steep underdog here, but she proved that she’s not to be taken lightly. Also, Holm vs. Pennington will now take place on the same card as the bantamweight title fight between Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano, which will make any post-fight callouts a little more interesting.

UFC 184 is shaping up to be the best card of the UFC’s loaded January/February schedule. The current lineup is…


(Photo via WomensMMA)

Undefeated bantamweight contender Holly Holm was supposed to make her UFC debut against Raquel Pennington earlier this month at UFC 181, but a neck injury knocked her out of the fight. Now it appears that Holm vs. Pennington has been rescheduled for UFC 184: Weidman vs. Belfort (February 28th, Los Angeles), according to an MMAJunkie report.

The delay turned out to be the best thing for this matchup. Originally, Holm vs. Pennington seemed like a cruel mismatch — and then Pennington damn near murdered Ashlee Evans-Smith, her replacement opponent at UFC 181. Pennington will still be a steep underdog here, but she proved that she’s not to be taken lightly. Also, Holm vs. Pennington will now take place on the same card as the bantamweight title fight between Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano, which will make any post-fight callouts a little more interesting.

UFC 184 is shaping up to be the best card of the UFC’s loaded January/February schedule. The current lineup is…

Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort
Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Silva
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Yoel Romero
Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington
Roan Carneiro vs. Mark Munoz
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Roman Salazar
Jake Ellenberger vs. Josh Koscheck
Alan Jouban vs. Richard Walsh
Derrick Lewis vs. Ruan Potts

Chris Weidman Set Up for a Potentially Huge 2015…If He Can Stay Healthy

Chris Weidman is on the cusp of mixed martial arts stardom. Since the start of his run in the UFC, Weidman’s maturity in competition has been something worth watching. As 2015 approaches, the current middleweight champion finds himself in a posit…

Chris Weidman is on the cusp of mixed martial arts stardom. Since the start of his run in the UFC, Weidman’s maturity in competition has been something worth watching. As 2015 approaches, the current middleweight champion finds himself in a position to have a huge year, if he can continue to stay victorious and healthy.

The UFC has set up an interesting start to next year. The middleweight division is filled with a number of contenders. Vitor Belfort, Yoel Romero, Ronaldo Souza and Luke Rockhold are the four names that leap to recognition as potential challengers for the current champion. Belfort has his shot at the belt in two months at UFC 184. Romero and Souza are set to fight that same evening, with the winner presumably getting the next shot at the belt, per a report by Adam Guillen Jr. of MMA Mania.

If Weidman can defeat any three of those competitors next year, it would be hard to deny him a nomination for “Fighter of the Year” in 2015. Defending his title multiple times in 12 months would help him put together one of the most difficult runs in recent MMA history. However, Weidman has one factor working against him at times—his physical health.

As with many other fighters, Weidman has been forced to back out of multiple fights due to injury. His proposed bout against Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 was pushed back due to a shoulder injury (via MMA Fighting). Weidman’s next complication would come before facing Lyoto Machida in which a knee injury pushed that fight from UFC 173 to UFC 175 (via UFC.com). His title defense against Belfort was originally scheduled for this weekend’s UFC 181, but a broken hand suffered by Weidman caused this fight to be postponed to UFC 184 (via Newsday).

These are just the injuries that are known to the public. As with every other mixed martial artist who competes, chances are that Weidman has and will continue to compete while dealing with other physical issues. This is a serious precaution when predicting how great of a fighter he may become.

At 30 years old, Weidman has nearly six years of professional experience. That combination may allow him to stay around in the sport longer, but his potential for greatness and bout with injuries can draw a comparison to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Rua is just 33 years old, but numerous dealings with knee injuries have stifled his ability to remain at the top of the light heavyweight division (via Sports on Earth).

Weidman has already broken through some of the barriers that have stopped other MMA athletes. Appearances in major magazines and on networks such as ESPN will only fuel his rise within the sport. If he can stay healthy and victorious throughout 2015, Chris Weidman may finally reach the point of super stardom that has been projected for his career.

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Do-or-Die Alert: Josh Koscheck Now Faces Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184


(I really have no caption for this, but would just like to say that Richard Kiel is a legend. Via Kos’ instagram.)

While admittedly not much of a Josh Koscheck fan over the years (my uncle is a male nurse, bro), even I scratched my head when it was announced that he would return from a 15-month layoff to face Neil Magny at UFC 184. Being that one of them is riding a three fight skid and the other just tied the record for most consecutive wins in a year, it seemed unusual and a bit cruel that Koscheck was essentially being used as a stepping stone in what could very well be the final performance of his storied UFC career*.

Thankfully, it appears the UFC has come to its senses and decided to place Kos against a similarly struggling (and therefore more appropriate) opponent: Jake Ellenberger. Having also dropped his past three, Ellenberger is practically Koscheck’s doppelganger in the welterweight division — an aging wrestler with heavy hands who has seemingly been surpassed by the “new breed” of martial artists in recent years — albeit a much nicer one to be around.

Koscheck is on the heels of back-to-back KO losses (to Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley, respectfully), whereas Ellenberger’s most recent loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 180 was his first to come by submission since 2007. Methinks we’re going to be in for a good old fashioned slugfest here, or possibly three rounds of methodically paced wall-n-stall. Either or.

Predictions, please.

Check out the UFC 184 lineup after the jump. 


(I really have no caption for this, but would just like to say that Richard Kiel is a legend. Via Kos’ instagram.)

While admittedly not much of a Josh Koscheck fan over the years (my uncle is a male nurse, bro), even I scratched my head when it was announced that he would return from a 15-month layoff to face Neil Magny at UFC 184. Being that one of them is riding a three fight skid and the other just tied the record for most consecutive wins in a year, it seemed unusual and a bit cruel that Koscheck was essentially being used as a stepping stone in what could very well be the final performance of his storied UFC career*.

Thankfully, it appears the UFC has come to its senses and decided to place Kos against a similarly struggling (and therefore more appropriate) opponent: Jake Ellenberger. Having also dropped his past three, Ellenberger is practically Koscheck’s doppelganger in the welterweight division — an aging wrestler with heavy hands who has seemingly been surpassed by the “new breed” of martial artists in recent years — albeit a much nicer one to be around.

Koscheck is on the heels of back-to-back KO losses (to Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley, respectfully), whereas Ellenberger’s most recent loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 180 was his first to come by submission since 2007. Methinks we’re going to be in for a good old fashioned slugfest here, or possibly three rounds of methodically paced wall-n-stall. Either or.

Predictions, please.

Check out the UFC 184 lineup after the jump. 

UFC 184

-Chris Weidman (12-0) vs. No. 3 Vitor Belfort (24-10)

-Ronda Rousey (10-0) vs. No. 1 Cat Zingano (9-0)

-Antonio Silva (18-6, 1 NC) vs. No. 13 Frank Mir (16-9)

-Ronaldo Souza (21-3, 1 NC) vs. No. 6 Yoel Romero (9-1)

– Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Roman Salazar

*Then again, the UFC’s insane schedule has provided nothing if not job security nowadays. See: Yamamoto, Kid. 

–J. Jones

UFC Utopia: Ranking the 15 Best Fights Between UFC 181 and UFC 184

The UFC is set for a historic run of top-notch fight cards. Ten events will take us through the end of 2014 and to the beginning of 2015.
What are the best fights you’ll have to watch? That’s what we are here to tell you.
The UFC has been criticized as…

The UFC is set for a historic run of top-notch fight cards. Ten events will take us through the end of 2014 and to the beginning of 2015.

What are the best fights you’ll have to watch? That’s what we are here to tell you.

The UFC has been criticized as of late for poor events, but that won’t be the case over the next three months. They have loaded the next 90 days with a fantastic slate of fights for us all.

Exciting stylistic matchups, title tilts and much more help round out the action. This isn’t a scientific list, and you may have your own favorite upcoming fights. Title bouts and interesting storylines helped to elevate some matchups up the list.

This ranking features fights in seven different weight classes.

These are the top 15 fights you’ll see starting Saturday through February’s UFC 184 pay-per-view.

Begin Slideshow

Kid Yamamoto Returns to the Octagon, Will Face Roman Salazar at UFC 184

After three years away from MMA competition, Japanese legend Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto will be returning to action at UFC 184: Weidman vs. Belfort (February 28th, Los Angeles) against fellow bantamweight Roman Salazar. The UFC announced the booking last night.

Yamamoto has gone 0-3 under the UFC banner — good enough for an honorable mention in our biggest UFC busts list — including decision losses to Demetrious Johnson and Darren Uyenoyama back in 2011, and a first-round armbar loss to Vaughan Lee at UFC 144 in February 2012. Kid was supposed to come back last September against Ivan Menjivar, but withdrew for undisclosed reasons. The 37-year-old has only won a single fight since December 2007.

Salazar is the 9-3 cable guy who was submitted by Mitch Gagnon during his Octagon debut last month at UFC Fight Night 54. He’s a rebound opponent for Yamamoto, plain and simple. Then again, we thought the same thing about Vaughan Lee, so who knows. As Reed Kuhn recently pointed out, even one year of time away from the cage can have a drastically negative effect on a fighter’s win percentage. And you expect Kid Yamamoto to be effective after three years of inactivity, when he wasn’t doing that well in the first place? Let’s keep our expectations reasonable, here.

Side note: One of the unexpected benefits of the UFC’s over-saturated schedule is that veteran fighters seem to have more job security, because they’re needed to fill out main cards. Frank Mir has lost four in a row and was recently booked to fight Antonio Silva. Yves Edwards just ate his fifth consecutive defeat when he was submitted by Akbarh Arreola at UFC Fight Night 57 (although his loss against Yancy Medeiros last November was changed to a no-contest). Josh Koscheck has lost his last three, and he’ll be fighting at UFC 184 as well. So it shouldn’t really be a surprise that Yamamoto has been given another shot. Even if he loses to Salazar, the UFC might still need him for its next Fight Pass card in Japan.

After three years away from MMA competition, Japanese legend Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto will be returning to action at UFC 184: Weidman vs. Belfort (February 28th, Los Angeles) against fellow bantamweight Roman Salazar. The UFC announced the booking last night.

Yamamoto has gone 0-3 under the UFC banner — good enough for an honorable mention in our biggest UFC busts list — including decision losses to Demetrious Johnson and Darren Uyenoyama back in 2011, and a first-round armbar loss to Vaughan Lee at UFC 144 in February 2012. Kid was supposed to come back last September against Ivan Menjivar, but withdrew for undisclosed reasons. The 37-year-old has only won a single fight since December 2007.

Salazar is the 9-3 cable guy who was submitted by Mitch Gagnon during his Octagon debut last month at UFC Fight Night 54. He’s a rebound opponent for Yamamoto, plain and simple. Then again, we thought the same thing about Vaughan Lee, so who knows. As Reed Kuhn recently pointed out, even one year of time away from the cage can have a drastically negative effect on a fighter’s win percentage. And you expect Kid Yamamoto to be effective after three years of inactivity, when he wasn’t doing that well in the first place? Let’s keep our expectations reasonable, here.

Side note: One of the unexpected benefits of the UFC’s over-saturated schedule is that veteran fighters seem to have more job security, because they’re needed to fill out main cards. Frank Mir has lost four in a row and was recently booked to fight Antonio Silva. Yves Edwards just ate his fifth consecutive defeat when he was submitted by Akbarh Arreola at UFC Fight Night 57 (although his loss against Yancy Medeiros last November was changed to a no-contest). Josh Koscheck has lost his last three, and he’ll be fighting at UFC 184 as well. So it shouldn’t really be a surprise that Yamamoto has been given another shot. Even if he loses to Salazar, the UFC might still need him for its next Fight Pass card in Japan.

KID Yamamoto Returns at UFC 184 Against Roman Salazar

Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto (18-6, 1 NC) will return to the UFC for the first time in three years when he steps inside the cage on February 28, 2015 at UFC 184.KID’s return was posted on the UFC’s Japanese website on Tuesday evening, and h…

Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto (18-6, 1 NC) will return to the UFC for the first time in three years when he steps inside the cage on February 28, 2015 at UFC 184.

KID’s return was posted on the UFC’s Japanese website on Tuesday evening, and his return is slated to come against Roman Salazar (9-3).

Salazar made his UFC debut in October in a loss to Mitch Gagnon. He succumbed to a rear-naked choke in just two minutes and six seconds.

Yamamoto was one of the most highly regarded lighter-weight fighters in the world for a number of years. He spent the majority of his career fighting for K-1, where he came away with one of the fastest knockouts in MMA history to that point: a four-second KO of Kazuyuki Miyata in 2006.

The success of KID hit a wall when he joined DREAM in 2009. He lost back-to-back fights to Joe Warren and Masanori Kanehara before earning a victory against Federico Lopez in 2010. It was after that victory that Yamamoto finally signed on the dotted line for the UFC.

The Japanese superstar did not find success inside the Octagon in his initial run. Three fights between February 2011-February 2012 ended in losses. His UFC debut came against current UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

Yamamoto is now 37 years old, and the successes he once had are all but a distant memory. His fight at UFC 184 will hope to bring back flashes of his brilliance in a fight against Salazar.

After dropping his initial UFC fight, Salazar is now being given a golden opportunity to make a name for himself with a victory against Yamamoto.

As the UFC rebounded from a rough 2014, the Yamamoto vs. Salazar bout is another exciting addition to the 2015 slate.

UFC 184 is headlined by two title fights. In the main event, Chris Weidman defends his UFC middleweight championship against Vitor Belfort. The co-main event features Ronda Rousey putting her UFC women’s bantamweight title on the line against top contender Cat Zingano.

UFC 184 hails from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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