Tag: UFC Fight Night 29

UFC Fight Night 29 Fight Card Gets Jeremy Stephens vs. Rony Jason

Rony Jason will look to remain undefeated inside the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 29.
On Thursday, MMAWeekly.com reported Jason’s fourth UFC bout would come against Jeremy Stephens.
After beating Godofredo Pepey to win The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, …

Rony Jason will look to remain undefeated inside the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 29.

On Thursday, MMAWeekly.com reported Jason’s fourth UFC bout would come against Jeremy Stephens.

After beating Godofredo Pepey to win The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, Jason has defeated two more TUF veterans to earn a solid 3-0 UFC record. He will face a step up in competition against Stephens, a former lightweight with 15 UFC fights under his belt.

Following three straight losses, Stephens recently made the decision to drop down to 145 pounds. In his featherweight debut, he picked up a win over Estevan Payan.

Despite his long UFC tenure, Stephens is actually two years younger than Jason, who joined the world’s top MMA organization 14 months ago. With a second win in the featherweight division, the 27-year-old could finally be on his way toward title contention.

While Stephens is most noted for his knockout power, he has underrated wrestling. That could be useful against Jason, who has picked up more than half of his wins via submission.

Scheduled to take place on Oct. 9, UFC Fight Night 29 will be held in a Brazilian city to be determined. The fight card is slowly coming together and now looks like this:

  • Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim
  • Thiago Silva vs. Matt Hamill
  • Jeremy Stephens vs. Rony Jason

 

 

Sean Smith is a Featured MMA Columnist for Bleacher Report who has also had work promoted on UFC.com and TheMMACorner.com. Follow on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA. 

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 29 Fight Card Gets Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim

A battle between welterweight fringe contenders Erick Silva and Dong Hyun Kim has been added to the UFC Fight Night 29 fight card.
Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com confirmed the matchup with Silva’s coach, Josuel Distak. 
Silva’s climb toward the…

A battle between welterweight fringe contenders Erick Silva and Dong Hyun Kim has been added to the UFC Fight Night 29 fight card.

Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com confirmed the matchup with Silva’s coach, Josuel Distak. 

Silva’s climb toward the top of the 170-pound division was slowed with a loss to UFC veteran Jon Fitch. However, he recently bounced back with a submission win over Jason High. An equally impressive victory over Kim would put the 29-year-old Brazilian back in position to compete against a top-10 welterweight.

Undefeated in five official UFC bouts, Kim was on his way toward title contention heading into a July 2011 bout with Carlos Condit. A flying knee from the “Natural Born Killer” led to Kim losing twice across three fights, though. Now, Kim is back on the right track with back-to-back wins and could catapult himself into a big fight by beating Silva.

Kim has been criticized for his methodical grappling in the past, but Silva showed he has the ability to make this matchup exciting by earning Fight of the Night honors against a somewhat similar opponent in Fitch. 

Scheduled to be held on Oct. 9, UFC Fight Night 29 will be held in a Brazilian city to be determined. The event fight card currently includes:

  • Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim
  • Thiago Silva vs. Matt Hamill
  • Rony Jason vs. Jeremy Stephens

 

Sean Smith is a Featured MMA Columnist for Bleacher Report who has also had work promoted on UFC.com and TheMMACorner.com. Follow on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA. 

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Matt Hamill to be Beaten Back Into Retirement by Thiago Silva at “Fight Night 29? in Brazil


(Oh, this? Shaving accident.)

If Matt Hamill’s uninspired victory over Roger Hollett at UFC 152 didn’t make him reconsider his decision to hastily unretire from MMA just a year after retiring, perhaps his next fight will.

MMAWeekly is reporting that the TUF 3 alum and 14-fight UFC veteran is currently in talks to face Brazilian slugger Thiago Silva at the tentatively-titled “Fight Night 29” card that goes down on October 9th. The only other fight currently booked for the card is Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim.

As much as we respect Hamill’s skills both inside the octagon and around the opposite sex, this matchup worries us, and not just because Brazilians are unstoppable killing machines when fighting in the motherland. Without getting into the age old debate of whether or not retirement should be up to the fighter and the fighter alone, can we all just agree that Hamill’s prime years in the spotlight have come and gone?


(Oh, this? Shaving accident.)

If Matt Hamill’s uninspired victory over Roger Hollett at UFC 152 didn’t make him reconsider his decision to hastily unretire from MMA just a year after retiring, perhaps his next fight will.

MMAWeekly is reporting that the TUF 3 alum and 14-fight UFC veteran is currently in talks to face Brazilian slugger Thiago Silva at the tentatively-titled “Fight Night 29″ card that goes down on October 9th. The only other fight currently booked for the card is Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim.

As much as we respect Hamill’s skills both inside the octagon and around the opposite sex, this matchup worries us, and not just because Brazilians are unstoppable killing machines when fighting in the motherland. Without getting into the age old debate of whether or not retirement should be up to the fighter and the fighter alone, can we all just agree that Hamill’s prime years in the spotlight have come and gone? He’s getting up there in age, he’s fighting in a division currently being cleaned out by the man who did this to him and he looked like a shadow of his former self against Hollett (who has since been fired, BTW). Could ring rust have been at least partially responsible for that last one? Sure, we’ll give him that, but that doesn’t change what we’ve come to know about his place in the current light heavyweight landscape.

Then again, maybe title glory isn’t what Hamill is trying to capture. Maybe the Gustafsson loss (and the Hollett win, for that matter) left a bad taste in his mouth and he’s just seeking a “good” win to go out on. Maybe he re-retires after the Silva fight whether he loses or wins. Only Hamill could tell us what he’s after, but doesn’t pairing him with Silva seem a little…soon?

Granted, Silva just managed to score his first win in 4 years and has seen so many ups and downs (mostly downs) lately that Hamill might come out the winner (or at least the NC not-loser) regardless of how he actually fares. One thing’s for sure; unless Hamill has made some tremendous improvements to his plodding stand up, he’s going to lose a lot of brain cells along the way.

–J. Jones

Ross Pearson vs. Takanori Gomi Head-to-Toe Breakdown

According to MMA Junkie, Ross “The Real Deal Pearson has asked for Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi as his UFC Fight Night 29 co-main event opponent. While the fight is not yet booked, it could hold considerable significance for both fighters if agreed…

According to MMA Junkie, Ross “The Real Deal Pearson has asked for Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi as his UFC Fight Night 29 co-main event opponent. While the fight is not yet booked, it could hold considerable significance for both fighters if agreed upon. A win or loss can mean the continuation or end to each fighter’s respective bids as a contender in the always-crowded lightweight division.

Both fighters looked sharp in their most recent bouts, but neither have been able to create a quality string of wins in the last three years. Both “The Real Deal” and “The Fireball Kid” have to know this is their lone remaining opportunity to avoid a drop to career gatekeeper or relegation from the league.

The depth and scope of the lightweight division also adds a particular need for a quality showing from one or both fighters. A decision win, unless accompanied by Shogun-vs.-Henderson-like effort, will not move the winner into a contender position. Only a dominating or devastating finish guarantees to put either man within striking distance of a top-contender bout.

 

 

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