After trading leather with Garcia for the majority of the first two rounds, Jung begins to step on the gas, landing a flying knee to Garcia’s grill and pouncing when Bad Boy slips to the mat. From there, it’s nasty elbows from the top, a scramble for back control, and the first “twister” submission in UFC history — with just one second remaining in the round.
After the jump: Jose Aldo wins the WEC featherweight title in November 2009 thanks to a second-round TKO of Mike Brown. Aldo would go on to defend the WEC belt twice against Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan, before kicking off his current reign in the UFC. So answer me this — will Jung be Aldo’s toughest challenge in the UFC thus far, or will the champ be celebrating another victory in the cheap seats?
After trading leather with Garcia for the majority of the first two rounds, Jung begins to step on the gas, landing a flying knee to Garcia’s grill and pouncing when Bad Boy slips to the mat. From there, it’s nasty elbows from the top, a scramble for back control, and the first “twister” submission in UFC history — with just one second remaining in the round.
After the jump: Jose Aldo wins the WEC featherweight title in November 2009 thanks to a second-round TKO of Mike Brown. Aldo would go on to defend the WEC belt twice against Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan, before kicking off his current reign in the UFC. So answer me this — will Jung be Aldo’s toughest challenge in the UFC thus far, or will the champ be celebrating another victory in the cheap seats?
Picture it: Saitama, March 2013. Thirty-eight-year-old slugger Mark Hunt has improbably battled his way to a three-fight win streak in the UFC, and is booked to face Stefan Struve, who stands 14 inches taller than him, and is on an impressive four-fight victory run of his own.
The MMA Gods were angry that night, my friend. By the time that Hunt and Struve stepped into the cage, fans at the Saitama Super Arena had suffered through 24 consecutive rounds without a finish — eight straight decision fights, half of which were so close that the judges didn’t all agree on who had won. It would take a miracle to save this card. Or maybe, just a beefy Samoan who knew how to exploit Struve’s maddening inability to use his range.
Picture it: Saitama, March 2013. Thirty-eight-year-old slugger Mark Hunt has improbably battled his way to a three-fight win streak in the UFC, and is booked to face Stefan Struve, who stands 14 inches taller than him, and is on an impressive four-fight victory run of his own.
The MMA Gods were angry that night, my friend. By the time that Hunt and Struve stepped into the cage, fans at the Saitama Super Arena had suffered through 24 consecutive rounds without a finish — eight straight decision fights, half of which were so close that the judges didn’t all agree on who had won. It would take a miracle to save this card. Or maybe, just a beefy Samoan who knew how to exploit Struve’s maddening inability to use his range.
Hunt spent the first two rounds wearing Struve down — at times even out-grappling (!) the Dutch submission specialist — and was up two rounds to zip on the Official CagePotato Scorecard going into round three. Though both men were clearly fading in the final frame, Hunt was still able to throw heavy shots while Struve increasingly had trouble keeping his hands up. Over and over again, Struve allowed Hunt to walk into his range and throw bombs. An exchange of leather that began with Hunt on the retreat actually ended with Struve getting stunned, and Hunt waded forward for one final onslaught, shattering Struve’s jaw with a sledge-hammer left hook that put Skyscraper on his ass. Hunt walked off about five seconds before the fight was officially stopped. The power of suggestion, I guess. The knockout lifted the storm-clouds at the Super Arena, which allowed this to happen.
Hunt is now on a four-fight win streak, with three of those wins by KO/TKO, and will face former UFC heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos in the co-main event of UFC 160 this Saturday. Will Hunt be able to pull off another dramatic upset? And considering that he was previously on a losing streak that lasted nearly five years before his current run of success, would a win against Dos Santos mark the greatest career comeback in MMA history?
In this clip from FUEL TV’s Ultimate Matt Hughes special, the UFC Hall of Famer (and current Vice President of Athlete Development and Government Relations) recalls his infamous welterweight title fight at UFC 34 back in November 2001, in which he defeated Carlos Newton via slam-knockout, despite being nearly finished by a triangle choke. At the time, Hughes was returning to the UFC after building up a seven-fight win streak outside of the organization, and Newton had just become champion by bulldog-choking Hughes’s homey Pat Miletich seven months earlier at UFC 31.
From the moment that Newton emerged for his pimpin’-pimpin’ walkout to the cage, Hughes wasn’t impressed. (“This guy’s off in la-la land, thinkin’ this is some entertainment show…I’m gonna mop this guy up.”) And Hughes did just that for a while, until he found Newton’s legs wrapped around his neck. As was often the case when Hughes found himself in trouble in a fight, he picked up his opponent and carried him like a bale of hay.
Hughes claims that he slammed Newton intentionally — even though it kind of looked like he just passed out on the spot — but he does admit that he was dazed afterwards, half-asleep from the affects of Newton’s triangle choke. But since Newton was completely unconscious, the belt went to the challenger. Hughes would defend the title five times during his first championship reign, including a fourth-round TKO win over Newton in a rematch the following year. Newton never fought for a UFC title again, and is currently trying to sell his afro wig on eBay.
In this clip from FUEL TV’s Ultimate Matt Hughes special, the UFC Hall of Famer (and current Vice President of Athlete Development and Government Relations) recalls his infamous welterweight title fight at UFC 34 back in November 2001, in which he defeated Carlos Newton via slam-knockout, despite being nearly finished by a triangle choke. At the time, Hughes was returning to the UFC after building up a seven-fight win streak outside of the organization, and Newton had just become champion by bulldog-choking Hughes’s homey Pat Miletich seven months earlier at UFC 31.
From the moment that Newton emerged for his pimpin’-pimpin’ walkout to the cage, Hughes wasn’t impressed. (“This guy’s off in la-la land, thinkin’ this is some entertainment show…I’m gonna mop this guy up.”) And Hughes did just that for a while, until he found Newton’s legs wrapped around his neck. As was often the case when Hughes found himself in trouble in a fight, he picked up his opponent and carried him like a bale of hay.
Hughes claims that he slammed Newton intentionally — even though it kind of looked like he just passed out on the spot — but he does admit that he was dazed afterwards, half-asleep from the affects of Newton’s triangle choke. But since Newton was completely unconscious, the belt went to the challenger. Hughes would defend the title five times during his first championship reign, including a fourth-round TKO win over Newton in a rematch the following year. Newton never fought for a UFC title again, and is currently trying to sell his afro wig on eBay.
Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s first-round knockout of Thiago Tavares at Saturday’s UFC on FX 7: Belfort vs. Bisping immediately joined Melendez vs. Kawajiri and Miocic vs. Del Rosario in the pantheon of vicious elbows-from-above MMA finishes. The win also upped Nurmagomedov’s career record to a remarkable 19-0, and represented his third straight win in the Octagon. It’s clear that the Russian Sambo/Judo ace has the potential to make a serious impact in the UFC’s lightweight division. So who should he face next? Well, he’s got an opinion about that.
After the fight, FUEL TV’s Heidi Androl talked to “The Eagle” about his ball-busting t-shirt at the weigh-ins and his training at American Kickboxing Academy. Nurmagomedov also mentioned that he really wants to face Nate Diaz in his next fight. It was a smart bit of post-fight matchmaking, as a meeting with Diaz could give Nurmagomedov the exposure that he’ll need to break into the title mix.
On the other hand, Diaz might not want to face a relative newcomer without much name value. (As with the frequently-ducked Glover Teixeira, there just isn’t much upside to fighting a dangerous, non-star like Nurmagomedov.) Though I’m sure Diaz vs. Nurmagomedov would be an entertaining scrap, I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC books Khabib against another mid-level opponent before letting him in the cage with Top 5-caliber competition. Any other ideas on who Nurmagomedov should take on next?
Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s first-round knockout of Thiago Tavares at Saturday’s UFC on FX 7: Belfort vs. Bisping immediately joined Melendez vs. Kawajiri and Miocic vs. Del Rosario in the pantheon of vicious elbows-from-above MMA finishes. The win also upped Nurmagomedov’s career record to a remarkable 19-0, and represented his third straight win in the Octagon. It’s clear that the Russian Sambo/Judo ace has the potential to make a serious impact in the UFC’s lightweight division. So who should he face next? Well, he’s got an opinion about that.
After the fight, FUEL TV’s Heidi Androl talked to “The Eagle” about his ball-busting t-shirt at the weigh-ins and his training at American Kickboxing Academy. Nurmagomedov also mentioned that he really wants to face Nate Diaz in his next fight. It was a smart bit of post-fight matchmaking, as a meeting with Diaz could give Nurmagomedov the exposure that he’ll need to break into the title mix.
On the other hand, Diaz might not want to face a relative newcomer without much name value. (As with the frequently-ducked Glover Teixeira, there just isn’t much upside to fighting a dangerous, non-star like Nurmagomedov.) Though I’m sure Diaz vs. Nurmagomedov would be an entertaining scrap, I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC books Khabib against another mid-level opponent before letting him in the cage with Top 5-caliber competition. Any other ideas on who Nurmagomedov should take on next?
In advance of Georges St. Pierre‘s long-awaited return at UFC 154 on November 17th, the UFC has made four of the welterweight champ’s greatest performances available on YouTube, along with the last four fights from the interim champ, Carlos Condit. Unfortunately the videos aren’t embeddable, but you can use the handy player above to give yourself a refresher course on the following…
– GSP’s blitzkrieg of Jay Hieron in his Octagon debut at UFC 48.
– GSP’s rear-naked choke of Frank Trigg at UFC 54.
– GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Hughes to win his first title at UFC 65.
– GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Serra to reclaim the unified belt at UFC 83.
– Carlos Condit snatching a knockout victory from the jaws of defeat against Rory MacDonald at UFC 115.
– Condit’s highlight-reel knockout of Dan Hardy at UFC 120.
– Condit’s demolition of Dong-Hyun Kim at UFC 132.
– Condit’s controversial decision win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143.
And for a different take on GSP’s historic reign in the sport, check out lookoutawhale‘s classic “Bloodsport Karma” film after the jump. We know it’s a lot to watch, so feel free to take the rest of the day off.
In advance of Georges St. Pierre‘s long-awaited return at UFC 154 on November 17th, the UFC has made four of the welterweight champ’s greatest performances available on YouTube, along with the last four fights from the interim champ, Carlos Condit. Unfortunately the videos aren’t embeddable, but you can use the handy player above to give yourself a refresher course on the following…
– GSP’s blitzkrieg of Jay Hieron in his Octagon debut at UFC 48.
– GSP’s rear-naked choke of Frank Trigg at UFC 54.
– GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Hughes to win his first title at UFC 65.
– GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Serra to reclaim the unified belt at UFC 83.
– Carlos Condit snatching a knockout victory from the jaws of defeat against Rory MacDonald at UFC 115.
– Condit’s highlight-reel knockout of Dan Hardy at UFC 120.
– Condit’s demolition of Dong-Hyun Kim at UFC 132.
– Condit’s controversial decision win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143.
And for a different take on GSP’s historic reign in the sport, check out lookoutawhale‘s classic “Bloodsport Karma” film after the jump. We know it’s a lot to watch, so feel free to take the rest of the day off.
