Even with the UFC’s top star in Jon Jones out, UFC 187 carries on this weekend with one of the biggest pay-per-view offerings of the year. Headlined by two championship bouts, it should be a very important night of MMA for the UFC.
Up for grabs in the …
Even with the UFC’s top star in Jon Jones out, UFC 187 carries on this weekend with one of the biggest pay-per-view offerings of the year. Headlined by two championship bouts, it should be a very important night of MMA for the UFC.
Up for grabs in the main slot is the light heavyweight championship. Anthony Johnson looks to finish one of the sport’s biggest career turnarounds when he takes on Daniel Cormier, a former title challenger for the vacant belt left behind by Jones.
Then, there’s a middleweight title defense, as Chris Weidman looks to refute the title bid of Vitor Belfort.
It’s a stacked card from top to bottom which should be a great event. With that, we assemble the B/R predictors who have guided you through this year so far. Here are the picks from James MacDonald, Sean Smith, Craig Amos, Scott Harris and yours truly, Riley Kontek.
There are few fighters in the heavyweight ranks who have a more “been there, done that” mentality than Andrei Arlovski.
The Belarusian striker is a two-time former heavyweight champion under the UFC banner and has maintained his status as one of the el…
There are few fighters in the heavyweight ranks who have a more “been there, done that” mentality than Andrei Arlovski.
The Belarusian striker is a two-time former heavyweight champion under the UFC banner and has maintained his status as one of the elite-level heavyweight fighters across the globe for more than a decade. Yet, Arlovksi in his latest form appears to be aiming to get his hands back on championship gold, and that’s exactly what he’s looking to accomplish on the road ahead.
The Pit Bull has won back-to-back showings since returning to the UFC in 2014, and has run his current winning streak to four straight victories going back to March of 2013. This consistency is concrete proof that the former fleet-footed knockout artist has rediscovered his groove and is firing on all cylinders inside the Octagon.
“I have really been moving well in my recent fights and that’s what I’m going to try to do in my next fight as well,” Arlovski told Bleacher Report. “I am at my best when I use my footwork with my striking and I believe going back to having more movement inside the cage has been a big part of my recent success. We worked it a lot for this camp and I’m ready to go.
His surging confidence will be put to the test on Saturday night when he faces former training partner and fellow potential title hopeful Travis Browne at UFC 187. Where Arlovski is chasing his own redemption under the UFC banner, Hapa is after a similar goal as well. The rangy Hawaiian striker has twice been poised to break through into title contention, but has been turned back sharply in both of those outings.
The heavyweight tilt between Arlovski and Browne will see one man’s dreams dashed for the foreseeable future, while it will keep the other man’s fire raging hot. Arlovski is confident he will be the one who goes on while his opponent is sent to the back of the line in the heavyweight ranks. While that particular scenario could be rough waters on the relationship of the former training partners, Arlovski is quick to cite championship ambitions and the fight business in general leaves little room for friendships.
“I am feeling great,” Arlovski said. “My training has gone very well and I had an incredible camp to prepare me for this fight. I’m ready to face Travis Browne on Saturday and I’m excited for the fight.
“This wasn’t my first pick on who I wanted to fight, but at the end of the day it’s business and nothing personal. It is my goal to be champion again one day and I would most likely have to face Travis anyway. We will see what will happen on May 23 and after, but this is just business for me. He accepted the fight as well and I agreed after him. Now we are going to fight and we’ll see what happens.
“I am very happy to be back fighting in the UFC,” he added. “It is the best organization in the world and it is where all the best fighters in the world are. This is where I belong and it is the reason the UFC brought me back. I’m very appreciative to be back and I’m going to/ make the most of my second chance. I’m in my prime so I think my best is still yet to come.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
Let’s jump into the MMA time machine and travel back three short years to 2012. UFC 142 was set to occur in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Anthony Johnson was set to move up to the middleweight division and face off with Vitor Belfort. What occurred wou…
Let’s jump into the MMA time machine and travel back three short years to 2012. UFC 142 was set to occur in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Anthony Johnson was set to move up to the middleweight division and face off with Vitor Belfort. What occurred would forever change Johnson’s career track, but the end result may be completely different than expected.
With a victory at UFC 187 Saturday, Johnson may complete one of the best career turnarounds to date.
There are fighters who have a hard time making weight. Then there was Johnson and his continued struggles. After repeated struggles to make welterweight, Johnson was to move up to middleweight. He stepped on the scale the day before UFC 142 at 197 pounds—11 pounds over the limit. Needless to say, the leaders of the organization were not happy.
“This is not the first time this has happened with Johnson. He moved up to 185 pounds so this wouldn’t happen to him at 170 pounds, and here we are in the same position again,” UFC President Dana White is quoted by Michael David Smith of MMA Fighting. “[Belfort] came in like a professional on weight, and Anthony Johnson comes in as a total unprofessional, way overweight.”
Johnson’s punishment would be very swift. Not only would he be finished by Belfort in the first round, he would lose his job before the weekend was over. John Morgan of MMA Junkie covered the story.
“This is his third time,” White said. “Three strikes and you’re gone.”
Most individuals who receive their walking papers from the UFC struggle to find their way back to the Octagon. Usually they jump on a card as a last-minute replacement, which isn’t the best situation. Johnson was forced to return to smaller promotions. In doing so, he made the best of that opportunity.
Johnson would win six straight fights in less than two years outside of the UFC. Those wins would put him in position to be welcomed back as a Zuffa employee, which is exactly what would happen in 2014.
The run wouldn’t stop there, as he would win three more fights to push his streak to nine victories in three years. The most important of which would come with his first-round smashing of Alexander Gustafsson in front of the Swede’s home crowd. With that victory he would officially find himself the No. 1 contender within the UFC’s official rankings.
Quite the career turnaround.
If Johnson can claim the light heavyweight crown at UFC 187, this will be one of the best MMA comebacks of all time. Johnson will stand as an example to his peers, especially those who are working so hard to cut weight down to the lowest point possible. He’s done his best work since shedding those drastic measures and fighting in weight classes more comfortable to his frame.
“If anybody brings up 186 pounds to me, I look at them cross-eyed,” Johnson said in a piece by Brett Okamoto of ESPN. “Honestly, I start feeling sick when I get to 204 pounds. My body won’t allow it. It’s most likely a mental thing but I don’t even want to think about it.”
Johnson’s health, the UFC and fans alike should thank him for that change. Johnson has become a fan favorite in his return, mostly due to his ultra-violent, knockout-first style. Thankfully, his story did not end in 2012. The next chapter in his career may be his best, but he still has a lot of work to do in the form of defeating Daniel Cormier at UFC 187.
Before “Thug” Rose Namajunas, she was considered to be the next Ronda Rousey, even by the women’s bantamweight champion herself. According to MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz, Rousey stated, “I really think she has all the tools to be the next influent…
Before “Thug” Rose Namajunas, she was considered to be the next Ronda Rousey, even by the women’s bantamweight champion herself. According to MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz, Rousey stated, “I really think she has all the tools to be the next influential champion.”
However, those dreams of being the first women’s strawweight champion were dashed at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale, as she was defeated by Carla Esparza.
After that loss, Namajunas has matured and understands the pressures of being a title contender. On The MMA Hour, she told Ariel Helwani that she got caught in the hype of being considered the next Ronda Rousey at being such a young age.
“It was too much all at once. You do get carried away. So it’s good [the loss] happened now, so I learn to stay cool,” said Namajunas.
This is a perfect time for her to level her head and find her way back into getting a title shot very soon. The women’s strawweight division is a very volatile division. After being in existence for only three months, the title changed hands as Joanna Jedrzejczyk dethroned Esparza. The shark-tank quality of the division was further demonstrated as unknown MarynaMoroz defeated Joanne Calderwood in Krakow.
This volatility could lead Thug Rose back to a title shot before the end of 2015, maybe even after her next fight if she beats Nina Ansaroff at UFC 187.
Currently, Thug Rose sits at No. 4 in the division and Jedrzejczyk has wins over the top two fighters in the division and is set to face third-ranked Jessica Penne in Berlin next month. Jedrzejczyk could be slated for a rematch against Claudia Gadelha if she beats Penne. But if that match isn’t made right away, then Namajunas would be the next logical opponent for the title.
On the other hand, givingNamajunas a title shot if she defeats Ansaroff may be too soon. Ideally, she should face one of the higher-ranked fighters ahead of her to officially cement herself as a valid title contender. If she defeats one of them, then there is no other option but to give Thug Rose a chance at the strawweight belt.
At the young age of 22, Thug Rose is already drawing Rousey comparisons. Her loss to Esparza has given her a foundation on which she can bounce back and live up to those expectations placed upon her. There is no doubt that we will be seeing her back in the octagon fighting for the title again by the beginning of 2016.
Numbers be damned, Chris Weidman is approaching legendary status in the UFC’s middleweight division.
The 30-year-old Serra-Longo product faces Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort on Saturday, May 23 at UFC 187 in Las Vegas, where he’ll attempt to defend his mid…
Numbers be damned, Chris Weidman is approaching legendary status in the UFC’s middleweight division.
The 30-year-old Serra-Longo product faces Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort on Saturday, May 23 at UFC 187 in Las Vegas, where he’ll attempt to defend his middleweight title for the third time.
Before there were talks of UFC title defenses for the Long Island native, however, there was an obsession with one man: UFC legend Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
Silva was not only the king in Weidman‘s weight class, he was widely regarded as the greatest fighter to ever compete in the sport. He was, as they say, the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time).
Weidman knew Silva had something special—and he was determined to take it from him.
“Every time I trained for a fight, I didn’t train to beat the guy I was fighting,” Weidman wrote for the Players’ Tribune. “I trained to beat Anderson Silva.”
After nine straight wins, Weidman got his chance against The Spider at UFC 162, famously knocking out the longtime king and ushering in a new era in the UFC’s middleweight division. For Weidman, this was a defining win, a grand payoff for all the years of studying, training and grinding toward Silva’s title.
Weidman has since added two additional title defenses to his legacy—one more over Silva and one over Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida—and he’ll look to extend his run against Belfort on Saturday evening in what may prove to be his toughest test to date.
Should Weidman do what he does inside the cage and snag another title defense on Saturday evening, it will be time to have a little talk about the greatest middleweight in history.
And this talk will feel a lot like a debate.
Silva’s run as the UFC middleweight champion was magical. He was hands down the most dominant fighter I’ve ever watched go to work, toying, dancing and playing with grown men before sending them into another dimension with his pinpoint strikes.
His 10 consecutive title defenses are the most in the promotion’s history. His 14 finishes? Also tops.
He had the kind of run at 185 pounds that felt like it would never face a legitimate challenge. He was the division’s Cy Young, and everybody else was playing an impossible game of catch-up.
But if Weidman gets past Belfort at UFC 187, we’ll need to have a discussion. A one-two-three run over Silva, Machida and Belfort would look a lot like the beginning stages of Jon “Bones” Jones’ run at light heavyweight when he assumed the throne in March 2011.
Jones demolished legends and former champs, and he was widely considered the best light heavyweight of all time even before he matched Tito Ortiz’s then-record of five consecutive title defenses.
Weidman can do the same.
The quantity of wins and accolades is not there for him just yet, and he may never match Silva fight-for-fight. Consider this: Silva had already notched four UFC title defenses by the time Weidman made his pro MMA debut.
Weidman may never be able to close this gap in terms of sheer quantity, but man, oh man, is he making up for it with quality.
Like Jones, Weidman seized control of his division and rattled off victories over some of the best fighters the sport has ever seen.
He needed just 12-and-a-half minutes to slay the G.O.A.T. twice. No big deal, but none of Silva’s 15 other UFC opponents could do it even once. Some of them even had a second chance at him and still couldn’t seal the deal.
If sending The Spider packing wasn’t dramatic enough, Weidman then bested Machida at his own game, out-striking the karate expert over five rounds in a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 175. Again, no big deal, but the lifelong wrestler and grappling specialist just stood toe-to-toe with an expert striker and won.
Compared to Silva’s resume, well, there’s no comparison.
This is like having two Lamborghinis and a Ferrari in your garage and comparing it to a garage with four Mustangs, a Camaro and five souped-up Civics.
Sure, Silva has more pink slips, but put any of his 10 cars against Weidman‘s Ferrari, and it’ll end poorly for the former champ.
Making matters worse for The Spider’s case, Weidman‘s garage has some bays just begging to be filled by more supercars.
Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza await after Belfort, and either fighter would stand among or above the best on Silva’s hit list. Silva’s garage is locked. Weidman is building an addition.
On Saturday, Weidman has the opportunity to begin this construction by adding another victory over a former UFC champ to his record. Beating Belfort is arguably the best win of Silva’s title reign, so this fight can give us a better understanding of how Weidman and Silva match up against common opponents as well.
Don’t expect Weidman to front-kick Belfort‘s face into the second row like Silva did, but don’t be shocked if the American is able to thoroughly dismantle the aging Phenom any way he sees fit.
If he does, he’ll take one more leap toward snatching Silva’s claim as the greatest middleweight in the sport’s history.
The game of catch-up Weidman signed up for when he entered the middleweight division as a pro fighter in 2009 was supposed to be impossible, but so was beating Silva in the first place.
It seems Weidman has a different perspective on what’s possible, and he’s blazing a trail to show us things his way. Pretty soon, we’ll have to open our eyes and accept him for what he’s becoming: the greatest middleweight of all time.
Despite the toll taken by injuries and pending criminal cases, UFC 187 remains one of 2015’s most outstanding cards. The event is stacked like few others in this age of oversaturation. Topping the bill is a fight between Anthony “Rumble&rdq…
Despite the toll taken by injuries and pending criminal cases, UFC 187 remains one of 2015’s most outstanding cards. The event is stacked like few others in this age of oversaturation. Topping the bill is a fight between Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Daniel Cormier to crown a new UFC light heavyweight champion for the first time in over four years.
It’s a curious position for the promotion to be in. While the lineal champ is busy trying to stay out of prison, the show must go on. The UFC is now charged with convincing fans that the title remains legitimate in the absence of the sport’s most dominant fighter—no offense to Ronda Rousey.
This task would be much easier in almost any other weight class. Stripping Rafael dos Anjos of the lightweight title? Sure, we might be able to get past that—particularly if KhabibNurmagomedov has the strap. Trying to convince consumers that someone other than Jon Jones is the light heavyweight division’s best is a much tougher pill to swallow.
We’re talking about a long-reigning champion who has steamrolled almost every challenger to his throne. Indeed, he comfortably bested Cormier just a few months ago. It’s difficult to criticise the UFC too harshly on this occasion, though.
Should the organisation have created an interim title instead? Remember, there is no guarantee that Jones will retain his freedom. If we’re to believe Jones’ manager, MalkiKawa, he may never even step foot inside the octagon again. How true that is remains to be seen. It’s difficult to take someone like Kawa seriously.
The UFC was in a tough spot. Holding the title up while Jones’ situation resolves doesn’t actually serve the division’s interests. This way, the promotion can at the very least sell the more casual fan on the legitimacy of the light heavyweight title.
Is it possible that the winner of UFC 187’s main event will eventually make us forget about Jones? The worst-case scenario for the promotion is a Cormier win. His fight with Jones was close through three rounds, but one could argue that the former Olympian was mentally broken in the fight.
Those championship rounds did nothing to support the perception of Cormier as “King of the Grind.” Should he beat Johnson on Saturday night—as I expect him to—the UFC will have a hard time scrubbing the image of Jones repeatedly dumping Cormier on his rear from the minds of everyone who watched the fight unfold.
If Johnson wins, the UFC’s job is made a little easier. He and Jones have never fought, so our imagination isn’t constrained by the reality of past encounters. What’s more, he did what the former champion couldn’t do and took out Alexander Gustafsson in a single round. MMA math has all the precision of an Andrew Golota body shot—a reference for 1990s boxing fans among you—but some people find such comparisons compelling.
It’s worth remembering that sports fans have a short memory and are remarkably good at rationalising what they want to be true. If we are sufficiently attached to a fiction, it’s not difficult to manufacture arguments to support our delusions.
Should Rumble win, we can expect to hear his supporters argue for his claim to the throne: He matches up well with Jones; the former champ hasn’t faced the kind of power Johnson brings to bear, his relentless aggression would wear Jones down over five rounds, etc.
If Cormier wins, his fans will likely take a different approach in light of the loss: He would have beaten Jones if Cain Velasquez was available for his UFC 182 training camp; he was too emotional for the first fight; he would pace himself better if they fought a second time, etc.
Whether Johnson or Cormier can make us forget about Jones isn’t what the UFC should bank on. Selling consumers on the legitimacy of the light heavyweight title depends more on the extent to which fans will delude themselves. Sports fans seem to suffer from a collective form of retrograde amnesia, so don’t be surprised if Jones is perceived like Dominick Cruz within a year.
There are few fighters in the heavyweight ranks who have a more “been there, done that” mentality than