In the latest installment of UFC’s Fight Night series, fans see a card headlined by a pivotal welterweight showdown between Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger. Whichever Jake comes out on top in this one is probably just a fight away from a title …
In the latest installment of UFC’s Fight Night series, fans see a card headlined by a pivotal welterweight showdown between Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger.
Whichever Jake comes out on top in this one is probably just a fight away from a title shot, even despite the fact that Jake Shields lost a title bout to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129.
After approximately a 16-month layoff due to a serious eye injury, Alan Belcher makes his return to the Octagan to take on fight veteran Jason MacDonald.
In a featherweight showdown, Jonathan Brookins takes on Erik Koch in what should be an entertaining grappling affair.
At 185 pounds, Court McGee takes on South Korean prospect Dongi Yang in what is expected to be a good scrap in the middleweight division.
Bleacher Report’s own Dwight Wakabayashi, Vince Carey, JordyMcElroy and myself, John Heinis, will be handling the predictions this time around.
Take a look inside to see who’s going to win on the main card on Saturday night.
Robbie Peralta looks at his UFC debut this Saturday night as a once in a lifetime opportunity. He realizes that a loss will almost certainly send him back down the ladder he has fighting so hard to climb since making his MMA debut in March of 2007. Hav…
Robbie Peralta looks at his UFC debut this Saturday night as a once in a lifetime opportunity. He realizes that a loss will almost certainly send him back down the ladder he has fighting so hard to climb since making his MMA debut in March of 2007.
Having fought predominately for MMAX, an organization that runs its events in South America, and the California based Gladiator Challenge, Peralta has amassed an impressive 14-3 record. 11 of those wins have come by knockout, two by submission and one by decision.
His last loss came over two years ago against Landon Piercy via submission. Since then he has reeled off seven straight wins including what has to be his biggest win to date against Hiroyuki Takaya. The two met on Strikeforce: Daley vs. Diaz card back in April.
The win against Takaya was made more impressive considering the roll Takaya had been on going into his matchup with Peralta. He had defeated both Joachim Hansen and Chase Beebe by knockout and followed those two wins up with a decision win against Bibiano Fernandes on the annual New Year’s Eve card in Japan.
Beating a tough opponent like Takaya on a bigger stage will only help Peralta as he prepares to face Mike Lullo in New Orleans at UFC Fight Night. Although their bout is not scheduled to be televised, Peralta knows what an impressive win will do for his career.
“I’m sure the win I got over Takaya got my name out there,” Peralta told Bleacher Report. “Jeff Clark, who is my manager along with my trainers have been pushing me hard to get to the next level. The opportunity came up and I jumped at the chance. I was stoked and realized that this was something you just don’t pass up. You never know when and if you will ever get a chance like this again.”
Knowing that a loss can hurt him just as much as a win can, Peralta and his team have thrown it into high gear since getting the call to replace Mackens Sermeizer. The UFC is notorious for rewarding fighters who come to fight and are just as well known for cutting guys who don’t perform according to their standards. Peralta knows what he is capable of and is ready to show what he can do.
“The UFC signed to a one fight deal, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, but if I win and do well I’m sure other opportunities will arise, “Peralta said. “I am in no way looking past this fight or Lullo, but I am hoping to come out of this fight in shape to earn a long term contract.”
While most first time UFC fighters come into the octagon with pre-fight jitters and butterflies, Peralta feels as though fighting for Strikeforce against a high profile opponent such as Takaya has given him a little taste of what to expect come Saturday night.
“Fighting in front of my hometown fans in San Diego felt good,” said Peralta excitedly. “Getting the win made it even more special. I train with Xplode MMA which is not too far from where the fight was held. In that respect I felt a little at ease having so much support, but I know Saturday night will be a whole new ball game once my name is called.”
Everyone loves the knockout. They are exciting and can change the way a fight is going all in one punch, but not every fighter has one shot knockout power. Peralta as a matter of fact would rather punish his opponents a little bit before finishing them off.
“I am definitely more of a punisher,” said Peralta. “I like to knock them down and hurt them until the referee pushes me off. I enjoy utilizing my ground and pound.”
Peralta is not your everyday mixed martial artist. He didn’t wrestle in high school and college, he never took any boxing or kickboxing lessons, but he fell in love with the sport the first day he decided to try his hand at it.
“I never wrestled, actually the only thing I did was Tae-Kwon-Do, which I have a black belt in,” Peralta explained. “That’s the grand sum of my MMA background. I was always getting into fights when I was younger so I figured why not get paid for it?”
Where Peralta ends up won’t be determined until he finishes his fight with Lullo on Saturday night. Fortunately for him, Lullo is just as inexperienced as he is when it comes to fighting on a bigger show. Lullo lost his one and only UFC bout to Edson Barboza via TKO (Leg Kicks) at UFC 123 in November. None of that concerns Peralta as he has his mind on becoming a permanent fixture in the UFC Featherweight division.
“Fans can expect me to go with the flow and I will make it exciting no matter where it goes,” Peralta assured Bleacher Report. “I am hoping to make my way up the ladder in the UFC and one day getting close to a championship fight. It’s all about taking it one fight at a time.
“I’ve gotten as far as I have with hard work and the help of some very important people. I can’t thank my manager Jeff Clark enough for being there for me. My trainer Johnny Hughes pushes me to be my best; I couldn’t train without the help of my sponsors, TapouT, RevBrew and all of my training partners at Xplode MMA.”
Filed under: UFC, NewsNEW ORLEANS – In a lot of ways, had Jason MacDonald reinjured the ankle that he hurt at UFC 113, it would have at least kept him from being conflicted down the road.
As it is, MacDonald’s ankle feels healthy, he said, and he fee…
NEW ORLEANS – In a lot of ways, had Jason MacDonald reinjured the ankle that he hurt at UFC 113, it would have at least kept him from being conflicted down the road.
As it is, MacDonald’s ankle feels healthy, he said, and he feels good about where he’s at heading into his Saturday fight against Alan Belcher at UFC Fight Night 25.
MacDonald said a reaggravation of that injury might have forced him to retire from MMA. But it’s not the ankle that will ultimately wind up deciding when it’s time for him to quit – it’s the realistic mindset he prides himself on.
“I’m interested, I’m still motivated to go train every day, I still enjoy it – so I’m still going to do it,” MacDonald said Thursday at the New Orleans Athletic Club. “The moment I don’t want to put in the work, I’ll be a guy who steps away. I’m not going to wait until I’ve been knocked out four times in a row and just hang on for that one more pay day. I have things to fall back on. There are other things in my life besides fighting. When I stop having fun, I’m going to move on in life.”
It’s ironic that MacDonald was recently in the position to come back after a long injury layoff. An injury against John Salter at UFC 113 in Montreal last year kept him on the shelf until UFC 129 in April, when he ignited his home country Canadian fans in Toronto with a submission win over Ryan Jensen.
Now MacDonald (25-14, 6-6 UFC) faces Belcher (16-6, 7-4 UFC), who has been out since, coincidentally, UFC 113 with eye problems that required surgery. And MacDonald said he knows what Belcher has on his mind.
“I can relate to what he’s going through,” MacDonald said. “I know the things that were going through my head before Toronto: ‘Am I gonna get back good enough to do this? Am I gonna reaggravate the injury and call it wrap, call it a career?’ There are lots of unanswered questions there. I was able to answer those questions in Toronto, and obviously Alan’s going to have to answer those questions. I think I can understand some of the things going through his head.”
Belcher had plenty of momentum on his side before his layoff – four straight fight night bonuses and a 3-1 mark which had just a controversial split decision loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama as a blemish.
But MacDonald said even a win over Belcher doesn’t mean he can necessarily count on sticking around for a while to go on a title run.
“For me, I know I belong here,” MacDonald said. “I’m no one-fight wonder. If you look at my fights and my record, I’ve fought a who’s who of the middleweight division. It’s not a question of if I belong here, it’s how much longer can I do this for? How much longer do I want to do this for?”
MacDonald said Chris Lytle‘s retirement last month had him thinking about his own situation with four kids at home, and being closer to 40 than 30. He also said keeping it real comes in handy.
“I’m not a title contender,” MacDonald said. “People might say that’s a poor thing to say, but I’m realistic. Even if I beat Alan on Saturday, I’m a lot of fights away from a title shot. You start asking yourself, ‘How many more fights do I want to do this for?’ When it’s time to step away, it’s time to step away. I don’t know the answer to that question yet. I’m 37 years old, I’ve had a good run and now it’s time to start looking forward.
“But right now, right here, right this second, I’m focused on Saturday night.”
MacDonald and Belcher open the main card of UFC Fight Night 25 on Spike TV at 9 p.m. Eastern. The main event features a welterweight fight between Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger.
NEW ORLEANS – It’s not like Court McGee wanted to be on the sidelines for 11 months.
But while out of action, he managed to find a way to get his frame of mind reinvigorated for what he needs to be doing, one day at a time.
For the 26-year-old, who doesn’t shy away from talking about his past as a heroin addict if it’s brought up, a potentially frustrating and lengthy layoff – thanks to a bad knee and a busted-up hand – turned into an affirmation of his mindset.
“Having some time off, I got to rethink – and I never questioned the reason I was fighting,” McGee said Thursday after a short workout at the New Orleans Athletic Club. “No. 1, I do it to carry the message. No. 2, I do it because the payout means I can better take care of my family – my wife, my two sons, my training partners, my team. And No. 3, because I love competition.”
For McGee, that message is to help make a difference for someone who might be venturing down the path he found himself on more than five years ago. “Whatever changed in me made a difference,” he said. “If I can do this for someone else and make a difference, that’s a big deal.”
McGee (13-1, 2-0 UFC) fights Dong Yi Yang (10-1, 1-1 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 25 on Saturday in New Orleans, the promotion’s first trip back to “The Big Easy” since UFC 27.
The Season 11 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” had built up some nice momentum in his first two UFC middleweight bouts – both submission victories. He tapped Kris McCray to win the TUF 11 title, then submitted Ryan Jensen at UFC 121 last October.
But despite his generally positive outlook on everything, McGee said the injury did have him down when it happened – but just for a couple days, and then just sporadically when he was reminded that he could be in a training camp instead of watching with his hand in a cast after a training injury on the heels of a knee injury.
“The frustration (came from) putting in over 4,000 hours to get where I was at,” McGee said. “I won at UFC 121, I’m in the UFC, and now it’s time to come in and prepare and focus and really pursue greatness, and to have the injury it was just like … man. All I can control is healing my hand, healing my knee and making sure I’m there for my wife and sons, and I’m there for my teammates and coaches. So that’s what I do. That’s part of my job – a place of maximum usefulness and service to others. That’s my job. My career is an MMA fighter.”
Against Yang, who has nine of his 10 wins by knockout, McGee said the that though on paper it would appear he would want to take the fight to the ground, the challenge of mixed martial arts is never knowing just what’s going to happen.
“I love being in the fight,” McGee said. “I love taking 15 minutes and figuring out how to beat somebody. He’s a bigger, quite possibly stronger opponent. So I’m going to have to overcome that and figure out how to beat him, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
And that is perhaps what keeps McGee the most grounded. He’s not throwing around lofty goals of winning titles. He’s not saying he wants to fight Anderson Silva. All he said he’s trying to think about is what’s next – even if what’s next isn’t the fight, or making weight. Even if what’s next is just talking to three reporters.
“I take this one day at a time,” McGee said. “I don’t look at a destination, I don’t look at the championship. Of course the goal is to be the world champion, but it’s not a realistic goal today. My goal today is to stay focused, relaxed, be in this interview and give you guys 100 percent of my attention.”
(McGee vs. Yang, the middleweight showdown that UFC fans have been…wait a minute, remind me again who Yang is?)
Unless you’re one of those Bud Light ‘Battle on the Bayou’ contest winners, you’re probably not overly excited about Saturday’s “Shields vs. Ellenberger” UFC event on Spike. Boxing already has Saturday night locked up, with Floyd Mayweather‘s ring-return against 24-year-old WBC Welterweight champ Victor Ortiz, and it feels like UFC Fight Night 25 will be an overlooked prelude to next week’s Jones vs. Rampage card.
But let’s not admit defeat so soon. We’ll be liveblogging the Shields vs. Ellenberger main card on CagePotato.com starting at 9 p.m. ET, and it would be nice if a few of you showed up to keep us company. Could it be one of those “crap on paper, bonkers in reality” events? Who knows, but consider the following…
All Eyes on Jake: So far, Jake Shields‘s UFC career has consisted of an underwhelming (and razor-thin) split-decision victory over Martin Kampmann, and a rout at the hands of Georges St. Pierre. His dominant stretch of eight-straight stoppage victories in 2006-2009 are a distant memory in the minds of MMA fans, and he needs a dramatic win here, badly. Shields’s dance partner, Jake Ellenberger, has been spent years fighting for recognition, and with four straight Octagon wins over serious competition, he’s starting to get it. Stylistically, the fight might not be a barn-burner, but it could have career-altering implications for the headliners.
(McGee vs. Yang, the middleweight showdown that UFC fans have been…wait a minute, remind me again who Yang is?)
Unless you’re one of those Bud Light ‘Battle on the Bayou’ contest winners, you’re probably not overly excited about Saturday’s “Shields vs. Ellenberger” UFC event on Spike. Boxing already has Saturday night locked up, with Floyd Mayweather‘s ring-return against 24-year-old WBC Welterweight champ Victor Ortiz, and it feels like UFC Fight Night 25 will be an overlooked prelude to next week’s Jones vs. Rampage card.
But let’s not admit defeat so soon. We’ll be liveblogging the Shields vs. Ellenberger main card on CagePotato.com starting at 9 p.m. ET, and it would be nice if a few of you showed up to keep us company. Could it be one of those “crap on paper, bonkers in reality” events? Who knows, but consider the following…
All Eyes on Jake: So far, Jake Shields‘s UFC career has consisted of an underwhelming (and razor-thin) split-decision victory over Martin Kampmann, and a rout at the hands of Georges St. Pierre. His dominant stretch of eight-straight stoppage victories in 2006-2009 are a distant memory in the minds of MMA fans, and he needs a dramatic win here, badly. Shields’s dance partner, Jake Ellenberger, has been spent years fighting for recognition, and with four straight Octagon wins over serious competition, he’s starting to get it. Stylistically, the fight might not be a barn-burner, but it could have career-altering implications for the headliners.
TUF Winners Return: Due to poorly-timed injuries, Court McGee and Jonathan Brookins — the winners of TUF 11 and TUF 12, respectively — haven’t competed since last year. Nevertheless, McGee is still a solid favorite over Dongi Yang, the South Korean fight-finisher who has split a pair of Octagon appearances, most recently TKO’ing Rob Kimmons in March. I’m much more concerned for Brookins, whose first post-TUF bout will be against Erik Koch, the Roufusport-trained killer who has won Knockout of the Night bonuses in his last two fights. My money’s on Koch here, especially considering the way Brookins was gobbling punches against Michael Johnson — and I’d also call this bout an early front-runner for Fight of the Night.
The Crowd-Pleaser: The UFC knew what they were doing in booking middleweights Alan Belcher and Jason MacDonald to kick off the main card. Both guys go for broke in every fight, and have eight combined performance bonuses to show for it. With back-to-back stoppage wins over Wilson Gouveia and Patrick Cote in his pocket, Belcher returns to the cage after the eye-ailment that nearly ended his career. And speaking of miraculous comebacks, MacDonald is coming off his first-round submission win against Ryan Jensen, which followed his gnarly leg-snap against John Salter.
Do or Die for Dunham: Once an undefeated blue-chip prospect in the lightweight division, Evan Dunham now has his back against the wall following two straight losses — one a bullshit decision against Sean Sherk, the other an ugly TKO against Melvin Guillard. His next opponent, Strikeforce/TUF 13 veteran Shamar Bailey, is a hefty underdog, but he’s got the wrestling skills and power to make it a contest. Can Dunham get his head back in the game and take care of business? Because if he doesn’t, he’ll very likely be out of a job.
Don’t Sleep On the Prelims: The entire “Shields vs. Ellenberger” preliminary card will be streamed on Facebook.com/UFC, and Dunham vs. Bailey isn’t the only match to keep an eye on. Following his Fight of the Night-worthy loss to Yves Edwards in January, Cody McKenzie — and his dreaded “McKenzietine” choke — will return against Vagner Rocha. Plus, Saturday night will kick off with the debut of Jorge Lopez, a 22-year-old welterweight who took a break from high-school at the age of 14 to train with Wanderlei Silva — which sounds a hell of a lot cooler than what I was doing at 14.
UFC Fight Night Live: Shields versus Ellenberger will be held on September 17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.Highlighting the night’s event will be a welterweight matchup between the seasoned veteran and former mult…
UFC Fight Night Live: Shields versus Ellenberger will be held on September 17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Highlighting the night’s event will be a welterweight matchup between the seasoned veteran and former multiple champion Jake Shields as he faces the hard-hitting up-and-coming prospect Jake Ellenberger.
It will be an evening full of young prospects as they make their mark within the sport’s biggest promotion. These young practitioners will have their moment to shine on the big stage.
Please follow along as I dissect all the night’s bouts and provide analysis and predictions for each matchup on the card.
Enjoy the fights.
You can “Like” Todd Seyler on Facebook and Follow him on Twitter
Robbie Peralta looks at his UFC debut this Saturday night as a once in a lifetime opportunity. He realizes that a loss will almost certainly send him back down the ladder he has fighting so hard to climb since making his MMA debut in March of 2007.
NEW ORLEANS – In a lot of ways, had 
NEW ORLEANS – It’s not like 