Although it was previously reported that Jackson would duke it out with Mauricio Rua in a rematch of their PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 fight, our fanboyish dreams were almost immediately squashed when Page was forced to undergo double knee surgery in the fallout of his UFC 144 decision loss to Ryan Bader. Not wanting to sit on the shelf for too long, Rua has opted to take another fight, possibly at UFC 147, to stay active.
Sources within FightersOnly have stated that the Zuffa brass were eyeing the winner of the Silva/Gustafsson bout before they even threw down at last weekend’s event. Silva and Rampage were originally supposed to square off at UFC 130, until Silva pissed hot following his UFC 125 scrap with Brandon Vera and was replaced by Matt Hamill. The fight that resulted was disappointing to say the least.
Jon Jones comparisons aside, Gustafsson has been on an absolute tear as of late, and a win over Rampage would do a lot for him in terms of drawing power and marketability. Granted Jackson is nowhere near the fighter he once was, at least not in his last performance, but a win over a former UFC champ would be a huge accomplishment for “The Mauler,” and could put him in line for a title shot in the very near future.
It has also been rumored that Jackson was offered a fight with Phil Davis previously, but turned it down due to his well known hatred of fighting anyone with a ground game whatsoever. This is a former MMA champion, ladies and gentlemen. Though Gustafsson possesses strong enough grappling abilities to give Rampage trouble, he is primarily a striker and could make for one hell of a fight for Jackson to go out on. Not as great as his fight with Shogun would likely have been, but satisfying to some degree.
Alexander Gustafsson: Rocking Thiago Silva early, Gustafsson was able to pick apart the aggressive Brazilian with an array of uber-accurate strikes to coast his way to a UD victory, and cement his position as a top-tier light-heavyweight. Can you say title eliminator? Gustafsson vs. Dan Henderson sounds good to me. I know Dan is waiting for his guaranteed title shot, but Jon Jones and Rashad Evans both have a history of post-fight injuries, and to assume that the winner will be healthy after their title fight might be unrealistic. So unless Hendo doesn’t mind a year-long break to challenge the title-holder, a battle against the Mauler could be the next best thing.
Thiago Silva: Silva’s suspension gave him a year off to think about what he’s done and rehab a plethora of injuries that have kept him performing at less than 100%. Judging by his performance on Saturday, his comeback still has a long way to go. Though Silva could use a fight against a UFC newcomer to rebound in the 205-pound division, I’d give him a good dose of reality and slate him against Phil Davis, who’s coming off his own loss to Rashad Evans. Two big, well-known scrappers with a lot to lose — promoting this one should be a no-brainer.
(Just call him Jon “Bjönes” Jones. / Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges)
Alexander Gustafsson: Rocking Thiago Silva early, Gustafsson was able to pick apart the aggressive Brazilian with an array of uber-accurate strikes to coast his way to a UD victory, and cement his position as a top-tier light-heavyweight. Can you say title eliminator? Gustafsson vs. Dan Henderson sounds good to me. I know Dan is waiting for his guaranteed title shot, but Jon Jones and Rashad Evans both have a history of post-fight injuries, and to assume that the winner will be healthy after their title fight might be unrealistic. So unless Hendo doesn’t mind a year-long break to challenge the title-holder, a battle against the Mauler could be the next best thing.
Thiago Silva: Silva’s suspension gave him a year off to think about what he’s done and rehab a plethora of injuries that have kept him performing at less than 100%. Judging by his performance on Saturday, his comeback still has a long way to go. Though Silva could use a fight against a UFC newcomer to rebound in the 205-pound division, I’d give him a good dose of reality and slate him against Phil Davis, who’s coming off his own loss to Rashad Evans. Two big, well-known scrappers with a lot to lose — the fight promotes itself.
Brian Stann: All-American hero Brian Stann is one of the most electric middleweights in the UFC. In the first minute of his fight with Alessio Sakara he was able to showcase his highly developed Muay Thai with great leg kicks and clinch knees that would make Wanderlei Silva proud. Except for his setback against Chael Sonnen last fall, Stann has shit on all of his middleweight opponents. With most high-level 185′ers tied up in matchups, it might be a while before Stann gets a fight, but I’d love to see him face Mark Munoz in his return match.
Dennis Siver: Mr. Spinning Back Kick has found a new home in the featherweight division. The stocky striker went toe-to-toe with Diego “The Gun” Nunes and kept a fast pace that guided him to a unanimous decision win. Now that he’s made his cut to 145, I don’t think we need to wait another six months for his next fight. I’d slate him for a late July matchup against the winner of Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin next week at UFC 145.
Brad Pickett: Picking Brad Pickett and Damacio Page for Fight of the Night was a no-brainer. Pickett used his superior boxing to get the better of the standup exchanges, stunning Page with a slip and left hook and again with a right uppercut. Once he dropped Page it was easy to secure his rear-naked choke. After this win, Pickett deserves the chance to recapture his top-five bantamweight ranking. I could see him facing the winner of Miguel Torres and Michael McDonald, who fight next week at UFC 145, with the loser of that fight meeting Damacio Page.
Siyar Bahadurzada: Former Golden Glory badass Siyar Bahadurzada is a great stand-up fighter who has been praised by the likes of Alistair Overeem, Sergei Kharitonov, and Fabricio Werdum. Unknown to casual fans before this weekend, the Afghan welterweight’s UFC debut was a resounding success, as he scored a 42-second KO of Paulo Thiago via short uppercut. Bahadurzada should celebrate, but then get right back in the Octagon and KO another poor sucker to prove it wasn’t just a fluke. Two other victorious WW’s from the “Gustafsson vs. Silva” card — either long-limbed Norwegian Simeon Thoresen or American prospect James Head — would both make sense as the next body to throw against Bahadurzada as soon as possible.
John Maguire: John Maguire certainly should have earned his black belt in Gypsy Jitsu with his second-round armbar over the always exciting and goofy DaMarques Johnson. His kimura reversal was a thing of beauty that earned him Submission of the Night honors. This UFC welterweight newcomer has a lot of options for his next matchup. Give him a follow-up against a seasoned vet with a bigger name — Brian Ebersole and Dennis Hallman immediately come to mind — which should give us a better sense of where Maguire really falls in the 170-pound pecking order.
At UFC on Fuel 2, young light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson won his fifth-straight fight when he defeated Thiago Silva. Gustafsson, who was fighting in his home Swedish crowd, became just the third man to defeat Silva.Gustafsson has had a simil…
At UFC on Fuel 2, young light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson won his fifth-straight fight when he defeated Thiago Silva.
Gustafsson, who was fighting in his home Swedish crowd, became just the third man to defeat Silva.
Gustafsson has had a similar rise to fame to current UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
Both men have defeated some of the UFC’s top stars despite being under the age of 26.
Both men also have a similar build and can be dangerous in the striking and submission departments.
But while the two often get comparisons, last night Gustafsson looked more like bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.
Gustafsson used good movement and distance to keep Silva at bay and to out-strike him.
In fact, Gustafsson rarely stopped moving throughout the fight. He was very reminiscent of how Cruz usually dances throughout his fights.
It makes sense for Gustafsson to look like Cruz, though.
After his loss to Phil Davis, Gustafsson started training with him at Alliance MMA.
Alliance MMA is the same gym that Cruz currently calls home.
Besides training in the same place and having similar styles, both Gustafsson and Cruz started their careers 9-0 before losing their first fight. Neither man has lost ever since.
If Gustafsson continues to be more Cruz-like, he will soon find himself in a title fight for the UFC light heavyweight championship.
If Gustafsson can win the title, he will have to worry less about people comparing him to a champion and more about the next rising young star being compared to him.
The UFC was in Sweden on Saturday, presenting UFC on Fuel TV 2—a card that was headlined by a light heavyweight scrap between Alexander Gustafsson and Thiago Silva. The event, the first UFC card to be held in Sweden was witnessed by 15,428 f…
The UFC was in Sweden on Saturday, presenting UFC on Fuel TV 2—a card that was headlined by a light heavyweight scrap between Alexander Gustafsson and Thiago Silva.
The event, the first UFC card to be held in Sweden was witnessed by 15,428 fans who packed the sold-out Ericsson Globe Arena.
The card, a fine tablesetter for the upcoming UFC 145, was very entertaining, with only four of the 12 fights going the distance. One of the fights that went the distance was the main event, marking the first time in seven UFC fights that Gustafsson had heard scores read for one of his fights.
What follows are some of the more memorable moments from Saturday’s fight card.
Well, you can now officially stop getting your hopes up. At the post-event press conference for UFC on FUEL 2, Dana White issued the following statement about the online rally (as transcribed by BJPenn.com):
Well, you can now officially stop getting your hopes up. At the post-event press conference for UFC on FUEL 2, Dana White issued the following statement about the online rally (as transcribed by BJPenn.com):
“They can keep rallying. It ain’t going to happen… I have apologized and praised Mark Hunt for what he’s accomplished in the situation he was in. And I think this fight with Struve is a good fight for him. If he beats Struve, he’ll break in and start fighting some of the top five heavyweights in the world. Anything can happen in a fight, but in all reality, it’s not fair to Mark Hunt either, to throw the guy right in there with Junior Dos Santos for a title shot. The guy worked his way up, he beats Struve, he fights somebody in the top five. I guarantee you this, he beats Struve, his next fight will be someone in the top five that can get him closer to that title shot.”
But this begs the question: Assuming that the NSAC doesn’t buy into a pre-packaged “testosterone deficiency/replacement therapy” excuse, who do you want to see fight Junior Dos Santos on such short notice? To demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have learned nothing from my own article, I have started a #RallyForWerdum campaign of my own. Your thoughts, Potato Nation.
In February 2009, Paulo Thiago was making his UFC debut. Despite being 10-0 at the time and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt, Thiago was coming into the fight as an underdog against former TUF competiter Josh Koscheck. Although he wa…
In February 2009, Paulo Thiago was making his UFC debut.
Despite being 10-0 at the time and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt, Thiago was coming into the fight as an underdog against former TUF competiter Josh Koscheck.
Although he was supposed to be the inferior striker, Thiago ended up knocking out Koscheck in the first round of their fight.
Fast forward three years, and it’s Thiago on the receiving end of a knockout from a debuting UFC fighter.
At last night’s UFC on Fuel 2, Thiago was not only knocked out by Siyar Bahadurzada; it only took 42 seconds for Bahadurzada to knock him unconscious.
Thiago has now gone 3-4 in his last seven fights after starting his career 11-0.
While Thiago has had wins against lower-level welterweights, his losses have come to top contenders like Jon Fitch, Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann.
While Thiago could have been talked about as one of the upper-tier welterweights in the division, he is now looking to stay relevant and climb back up the division.
With the quick KO loss sinking in, Thiago should take some time off and try to figure out what he needs to do to change his game.
Of course last night’s loss could have simply been Thiago just getting caught. As quick as it came, it was the first loss by stoppage in his career.
But Thiago is in danger of possibly getting cut if he does not put together multiple wins.
What’s next for Thiago? Maybe a rematch with Jon Fitch, who is also coming off of a quick KO loss, could push him back up the division.
If that’s shooting too high, then a matchup with fellow losers from last night, Papy Abedi or DeMarques Johnson, could be in order for Thiago.
At 