Tag: UFC fight videos

UFC 168 Free Fights: Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami, Chris Weidman vs. Mark Munoz, Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche [VIDEOS]

(Fight starts at the 12:05 mark)

The UFC, in its infinite grace, has released three more classic fights featuring UFC 168 headliners. Above, you’ll see Anderson Silva‘s second-round TKO of Yushin Okami from UFC 134 back in August 2011. The fight marked Silva’s ninth middleweight title defense, and his first UFC appearance in his home country of Brazil.

Below: Chris Weidman‘s savage knockout of Mark Munoz at UFC on FUEL 4 in July 2012, which earned the All-American his fifth UFC victory and a shot at Anderson’s belt the following year. After the jump: Ronda Rousey‘s historic title-fight against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in February, which ended (unsurprisingly) in Rousey’s seventh-consecutive first-round armbar — or her ninth, if you count her ammy record. Can she make it a perfect 10 this Saturday?

(Fight starts at the 12:05 mark)


(Fight starts at the 12:05 mark)

The UFC, in its infinite grace, has released three more classic fights featuring UFC 168 headliners. Above, you’ll see Anderson Silva‘s second-round TKO of Yushin Okami from UFC 134 back in August 2011. The fight marked Silva’s ninth middleweight title defense, and his first UFC appearance in his home country of Brazil.

Below: Chris Weidman‘s savage knockout of Mark Munoz at UFC on FUEL 4 in July 2012, which earned the All-American his fifth UFC victory and a shot at Anderson’s belt the following year. After the jump: Ronda Rousey‘s historic title-fight against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in February, which ended (unsurprisingly) in Rousey’s seventh-consecutive first-round armbar — or her ninth, if you count her ammy record. Can she make it a perfect 10 this Saturday?


(Fight starts at the 12:05 mark)


(Fight starts at the 11:17 mark)

‘TUF 18? Semifinal Fight Video: Sarah Moras vs. Julianna Pena

(Props: TheUltimateFighterFX)

Last night’s TUF 18 semifinal fight between Team Tate members Julianna Pena and Sarah Moras was actually a rematch. In April 2012, the two fighters met at a Conquest of the Cage event in Washington, and Moras won by doctor’s stoppage TKO at the end of two rounds, after popping Julianna’s elbow with an armbar. (As Moras explained during last night’s episode, Pena refused to tap.)

The majority of the TUF 18 cast was rooting for Moras to repeat history, as Pena had become the most despised female fighter in the house. The Venezuelan Vixen had other plans, however. Check out the video above to watch the complete two-round scrap, which Pena dominated in the standup and on the mat. Though Sarah searched for another armbar in round 2, she found herself bloodied by Pena’s elbows, and tapped to a guillotine choke when she turtled to escape the abuse.

Pena’s victory earned what might have been the saddest, least enthusiastic round of applause in TUF history. But screw the haters — she’s punched a ticket to the Finals against the winner of Raquel Pennington vs. Jessica Rakoczy.

Sarah Moras actually lost twice in this episode, if you count her living-room wrestling match fiasco against Anthony Gutierrez. You can watch that clip after the jump.


(Props: TheUltimateFighterFX)

Last night’s TUF 18 semifinal fight between Team Tate members Julianna Pena and Sarah Moras was actually a rematch. In April 2012, the two fighters met at a Conquest of the Cage event in Washington, and Moras won by doctor’s stoppage TKO at the end of two rounds, after popping Julianna’s elbow with an armbar. (As Moras explained during last night’s episode, Pena refused to tap.)

The majority of the TUF 18 cast was rooting for Moras to repeat history, as Pena had become the most despised female fighter in the house. The Venezuelan Vixen had other plans, however. Check out the video above to watch the complete two-round scrap, which Pena dominated in the standup and on the mat. Though Sarah searched for another armbar in round 2, she found herself bloodied by Pena’s elbows, and tapped to a guillotine choke when she turtled to escape the abuse.

Pena’s victory earned what might have been the saddest, least enthusiastic round of applause in TUF history. But screw the haters — she’s punched a ticket to the Finals against the winner of Raquel Pennington vs. Jessica Rakoczy.

Sarah Moras actually lost twice in this episode, if you count her living-room wrestling match fiasco against Anthony Gutierrez. You can watch that clip after the jump.

If Anybody Cares, Here’s the Semifinal Fight From Last Night’s Episode of TUF 18 [VIDEO]

(Props: YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighterFX)

After an action-packed Fight for the Troops broadcast, we had no intention of sticking around for an extra hour just to watch the silly-string pranks and Harley Davidson advertorials that made up last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18. Recapping this thing is probably a waste of our time, but we can’t let Episode 10 slip by completely without mention, so here’s the semi-final match between Team Rousey’s Michael Wooten and Team Tate’s Chris Holdsworth, which ended in a first-round rear-naked choke victory for Holdsworth.

The only other notable moment from the episode was the guest-appearance from Nate Diaz, who dropped in to lead a Team Rousey grappling session. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, you can watch it here.


(Props: YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighterFX)

After an action-packed Fight for the Troops broadcast, we had no intention of sticking around for an extra hour just to watch the silly-string pranks and Harley Davidson advertorials that made up last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18. Recapping this thing is probably a waste of our time, but we can’t let Episode 10 slip by completely without mention, so here’s the semi-final match between Team Rousey’s Michael Wooten and Team Tate’s Chris Holdsworth, which ended in a first-round rear-naked choke victory for Holdsworth.

The only other notable moment from the episode was the guest-appearance from Nate Diaz, who dropped in to lead a Team Rousey grappling session. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, you can watch it here.

‘UFC Fight for the Troops 3? Video Highlights: Tim Kennedy Scores a Knockout for America, Rustam Khabilov Tries Some Spinnin’ Sh*t + More

(Kennedy vs. Natal finish, via YouTube.com/FoxSports)

Despite the enthusiastic and supportive Fort Campbell crowd, last night’s Fight for the Troops 3 event began with some bitter defeats for the handful of UFC fighters with military backgrounds. Army Staff Sgt./TUF 16 winner Colton Smith kicked off the main card by tapping to a rear-naked choke from TUF 15 winner Michael Chiesa — which earned Chiesa a $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus — while former Marine Liz Carmouche ate her second UFC defeat in a decision loss to Alexis Davis.

Luckily, Tim Kennedy saved the operation. The Special Forces vet fed off the energy in the room and tagged Rafael Natal with a long left hook that put the Brazilian’s lights out near the end of round 1, and won Kennedy a $50,000 Knockout of the Night bump. As he explained after the fight:

“I had to wait for the crowd to stop cheering because I was afraid to emotionally commit to something and not do it for the right reasons,” he said. “They’re screaming, ‘Ranger up! Ranger up!’ And I want to start throwing overhands and blitz the guy. I was waiting for them to stop, and they didn’t stop. Then they started cheering ‘U-S-A!,’ and ‘Kennedy!,’ and I was like, ‘For the love of God.’

“It had a negative effect on me because I was waiting and apprehensive. If there was any amount of pressure that could be put on a single fighter for a fight, I can’t think of a situation that would be more stressful than this.”

By the way, Kennedy tore his quad in the last week of training camp, but as he told Ariel Helwani later, “There’s no way you’re getting me off this card. They would have had to shoot me. If they had to roll me up with a wheelchair, I would have got in that cage, I didn’t care.”

Check out video of Kennedy’s knockout above, check out full results from the fight card right here, and follow us after the jump for lots more UFC Fight for the Troops 3 video highlights…


(Kennedy vs. Natal finish, via YouTube.com/FoxSports)

Despite the enthusiastic and supportive Fort Campbell crowd, last night’s Fight for the Troops 3 event began with some bitter defeats for the handful of UFC fighters with military backgrounds. Army Staff Sgt./TUF 16 winner Colton Smith kicked off the main card by tapping to a rear-naked choke from TUF 15 winner Michael Chiesa — which earned Chiesa a $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus — while former Marine Liz Carmouche ate her second UFC defeat in a decision loss to Alexis Davis.

Luckily, Tim Kennedy saved the operation. The Special Forces vet fed off the energy in the room and tagged Rafael Natal with a long left hook that put the Brazilian’s lights out near the end of round 1, and won Kennedy a $50,000 Knockout of the Night bump. As he explained after the fight:

“I had to wait for the crowd to stop cheering because I was afraid to emotionally commit to something and not do it for the right reasons,” he said. “They’re screaming, ‘Ranger up! Ranger up!’ And I want to start throwing overhands and blitz the guy. I was waiting for them to stop, and they didn’t stop. Then they started cheering ‘U-S-A!,’ and ‘Kennedy!,’ and I was like, ‘For the love of God.’

“It had a negative effect on me because I was waiting and apprehensive. If there was any amount of pressure that could be put on a single fighter for a fight, I can’t think of a situation that would be more stressful than this.”

By the way, Kennedy tore his quad in the last week of training camp, but as he told Ariel Helwani later, “There’s no way you’re getting me off this card. They would have had to shoot me. If they had to roll me up with a wheelchair, I would have got in that cage, I didn’t care.”

Check out video of Kennedy’s knockout above, check out full results from the fight card right here, and follow us after the jump for lots more UFC Fight for the Troops 3 video highlights…


(Tim Kennedy bum-rushes Rogan and Goldie’s event recap in hilarious fashion. And please, Mike, stop trying to make “The Sniper” happen. It’s not happening.)


(Cuban middleweight Yoel Romero’s just-as-nasty KO of Ronny Markes, also from the main card.)


(Rustam Khabilov shows he’s more than just “that suplex guy,” landing a sweet spinning heel kick to Jorge Masvidal’s neck. Somehow Masvidal recovered and fought on, but Khabilov still won the fight by unanimous decision, pushing his UFC record to 3-0. Both men earned $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses for their efforts.)



(Bobby Green’s controversial TKO win over James Krause, and his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.)


(Francisco Rivera’s second-round smash-up of George Roop.)

The UFC hasn’t posted video of Michael Chiesa’s rear-naked choke of Colton Smith, but you can see Zombie Prophet‘s GIF of the finish right here.

Classic UFC Fight: Cain Velasquez Beats Bejesus Out of Brock Lesnar, Wins Heavyweight Title

(Fight starts at the 3:03 mark. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

With UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez set to make his Octagon return next month at UFC 166, the UFC has released the video of his first-ever title fight, which took place at UFC 121 on October 23rd, 2010. His opponent that night was Brock Lesnar, the reigning champ who had proven his toughness the previous July with a classic comeback win against Shane Carwin. Lesnar was gigantic, athletic, and had legit talent as a wrestler. To stand a chance at winning, Velasquez would need to be faster, more efficient with his striking, and more willing to take abuse before giving it back. And that’s exactly what happened.

After some rather hoarse-voiced introductions from The Buff, Lesnar bull-rushes the smaller challenger right away, hoping to establish himself as alpha-male. And it actually works, at first. Brock stuffs some knees into Velasquez’s midsection (including a flying knee), and Cain has to retreat momentarily. He storms back with some punches but Lesnar responds by nailing a takedown and landing on top — a position that had spelled doom for the majority of his past opponents. But Cain gets to his feet immediately.

Brock struggles to put Velasquez’s back on the mat once again, and momentarily succeeds, but Velasquez is up even quicker the second time, and deftly escapes Lesnar’s grasp. It’s here that the momentum shifts. Velasquez begins popping Lesnar with punches, showing off his significant advantage in striking technique, before single-legging Lesnar to the mat and firing down some punches from above as Lesnar is turtled. Eventually he escapes to his feet, but he looks much worse for the wear, hunched over, dazed, swatting at Velasquez in panic.


(Fight starts at the 3:03 mark. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

With UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez set to make his Octagon return next month at UFC 166, the UFC has released the video of his first-ever title fight, which took place at UFC 121 on October 23rd, 2010. His opponent that night was Brock Lesnar, the reigning champ who had proven his toughness the previous July with a classic comeback win against Shane Carwin. Lesnar was gigantic, athletic, and had legit talent as a wrestler. To stand a chance at winning, Velasquez would need to be faster, more efficient with his striking, and more willing to take abuse before giving it back. And that’s exactly what happened.

After some rather hoarse-voiced introductions from The Buff, Lesnar bull-rushes the smaller challenger right away, hoping to establish himself as alpha-male. And it actually works, at first. Brock stuffs some knees into Velasquez’s midsection (including a flying knee), and Cain has to retreat momentarily. He storms back with some punches but Lesnar responds by nailing a takedown and landing on top — a position that had spelled doom for the majority of his past opponents. But Cain gets to his feet immediately.

Brock struggles to put Velasquez’s back on the mat once again, and momentarily succeeds, but Velasquez is up even quicker the second time, and deftly escapes Lesnar’s grasp. It’s here that the momentum shifts. Velasquez begins popping Lesnar with punches, showing off his significant advantage in striking technique, before single-legging Lesnar to the mat and firing down some punches from above as Lesnar is turtled. Eventually he escapes to his feet, but he looks much worse for the wear, hunched over, dazed, swatting at Velasquez in panic.

Lesnar stumbles across the cage after botching a takedown attempt, and Velasquez moves in for the kill, landing a vicious knee to the body, and following Lesnar down to the mat with punches and elbows. The fight is close to being stopped right then, but Lesnar stays active in defending himself against the onslaught, and manages to make it to his feet for two or three seconds, before Velasquez scores another knockdown and swarms him for the TKO finish.

“Complete, total domination!” Joe Rogan says. “That was a matter of technique vs. horsepower, and technique just won in a big way.”

Since that night, Velasquez lost his title to Junior Dos Santos, beat up Antonio Silva, won his belt back from Junior Dos Santos, beat up Antonio Silva again, and will be fighting Junior Dos Santos for the third time next month just for the hell of it. Hopefully Velasquez vs. Dos Santos 3 will put their rivalry to bed — at least temporarily — and Velasquez can throw down against some new opponents next year.

Classic Fight: Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 [VIDEO]

(Match starts at the 10:48 mark. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

To hype up Frank Mir‘s return to the Octagon at UFC 164 this coming Saturday, the UFC has released one of Frank’s career highlights — his first-round submission victory against pro-wrestling star Brock Lesnar at UFC 81, back in February 2008. Lesnar had first dipped his toes into the MMA pool the previous June, when he swallowed up Min Soo Kim at Dynamite!! USA in Los Angeles. That was enough to earn him an invitation to the UFC, but his debut fight would not be an easy one.

Lesnar wasted absolutely no time in dumping Mir on his back and firing some nasty shots from above. Then, referee Steve Mazzagatti makes a rather controversial choice, halting the action after Lesnar lands some punches to the back of Mir’s head. Theoretically, it’s the right call to make; Lesnar clearly lands at least four rabbit-punches at the video’s 11:08-11:12 mark. But how many times have you actually seen a UFC referee enforce that rule so quickly, without previous warnings? The Mazz deducts a point from Lesnar and re-starts the action with the fighters in a standing position. It’s a lucky break for Mir, who gets a moment to clear the cobwebs.


(Match starts at the 10:48 mark. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

To hype up Frank Mir‘s return to the Octagon at UFC 164 this coming Saturday, the UFC has released one of Frank’s career highlights — his first-round submission victory against pro-wrestling star Brock Lesnar at UFC 81, back in February 2008. Lesnar had first dipped his toes into the MMA pool the previous June, when he swallowed up Min Soo Kim at Dynamite!! USA in Los Angeles. That was enough to earn him an invitation to the UFC, but his debut fight would not be an easy one.

Lesnar wasted absolutely no time in dumping Mir on his back and firing some nasty shots from above. Then, referee Steve Mazzagatti makes a rather controversial choice, halting the action after Lesnar lands some punches to the back of Mir’s head. Theoretically, it’s the right call to make; Lesnar clearly lands at least four rabbit-punches at the video’s 11:08-11:12 mark. But how many times have you actually seen a UFC referee enforce that rule so quickly, without previous warnings? The Mazz deducts a point from Lesnar and re-starts the action with the fighters in a standing position. It’s a lucky break for Mir, who gets a moment to clear the cobwebs.

That is, until Lesnar punches Mir to the mat — or did Mir fall down on purpose, to bait him? — and gets back on top. As Brock fires down punches, Mir establishes guard, then wraps up Lesnar’s leg when Lesnar makes the mistake of standing up. Mir grabs a kneebar, and Brock taps.

For those MMA fans who felt that a pro-wrestler could never be competitive in “real fighting,” it was a satisfying moment to see the big man toppled. But Lesnar was far from finished: He dominated Heath Herring in his next UFC fight, TKO’d Randy Couture to become the UFC heavyweight champion (!), wrecked Frank Mir in a rematch at UFC 100 that took in 1.6 million pay-per-view buys, and defended his belt for the second time in a classic comeback-fight against Shane Carwin at UFC 116.

Eventually, diverticulitis and an inability to hang with dangerous strikers sent Brock packing back to the WWE. But from 2008-2010, Lesnar really was the “Next Big Thing” in MMA, and Frank Mir deserves much of the credit for putting him over.