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2012 has been a year of change in MMA.While some things like the UFC’s position at the top have remained the same, others like woman’s MMA growth, Viacom preparing to move Bellator to Spike and FOX proving to be serious about promoting MMA have all bee…
2012 has been a year of change in MMA.
While some things like the UFC’s position at the top have remained the same, others like woman’s MMA growth, Viacom preparing to move Bellator to Spike and FOX proving to be serious about promoting MMA have all been positives for the sport.
But who is the biggest non fighter winner of 2012?
Keep reading to find out.
For most fans, it came as no surprise that TUF runner up Damarques Johnson was released from his UFC contract after losing to Icelandic sensation Gunnar Nelson at UFC on Fuel TV 5 two weeks ago. The only surprise was that it took so long to reach that …
For most fans, it came as no surprise that TUF runner up Damarques Johnson was released from his UFC contract after losing to Icelandic sensation Gunnar Nelson at UFC on Fuel TV 5 two weeks ago.
The only surprise was that it took so long to reach that decision, after Johnson had lost his third straight fight—a fight for which he missed weight by more than 7 lbs.
However, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has now given full details of what transpired leading up to the decision to cut Johnson. (H/T MMA Fighting).
Johnson was a late replacement for Pascal Kraus, who was supposed to fight Nelson, but an injury left Silva searching for a different opponent.
At first, Silva approached American Top Team prospect Rich Attonito. Silva was later informed that Attonito would not make the 170 lb weight limit. Silva then, according to MMA Fighting, offered a 175 lb catch-weight fight, which Attonito again agreed to. However, the next day, Silva was told Attonito could not make that weight either, and Silva promptly decided to release the fighter
It was then that Johnson was approached and fully briefed on the story that had gone down with Attonito. Aware of all the risks, Johnson, on September 17, agreed to step in and take the fight against Nelson.
What must have felt like déjà vu for Silva, Johnson called him later in the week, telling him he was unlikely to make 170, and once again, it was decided that the match would take place at 175 lb catch-weight. But on the night, Johnson weighed in at 183 lbs.
“I thought it was incredibly unfair to Gunnar Nelson to fight someone that much larger than him,” Silva told MMA fighting. “Johnson told me he could make the weight. He’s not doing me a favour if he missed weight because I could have gotten someone else who would have made the weight.
“I never pressure anyone to take late notice fights. I got a bunch of guys who want to fight. If one says no, I will find someone else. No problem.”
Fighters who miss weight are marked men within the UFC, even moreso than those who rack-up three fight losing streaks. On Saturday September 29, Johnson achieved both feats simultaneously and was, a week later, given his marching orders.
Johnson has had a torrid time in the UFC, going 5-6 in his fights for the promotion. What’s most surprising to me, is that he was reportedly walking around at 210 lbs when he was offered the fight in mid-September, knew full well that he had two straight losses on his record and took the fight anyway.
Definitely a crisis of his own making.
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(Johnson secures a dominant position against Mike Swick at UFC on FOX 4, shortly before it all fell apart.)
After suffering his third-straight stoppage loss against newcomer Gunnar Nelson at UFC on FUEL 5: Struve vs. Miocic, UFC welterweight DaMarques Johnson has been released by the promotion. Johnson confirmed the news via Twitter late last night. “And the hits keep on coming,” Darkness wrote. “No longer a UFC fighter.”
The TUF 9 finalist complied an official record of 4-6 within the Octagon, with none of those fights going to decision — a stat that placed him in a first-place tie on the “Least Decision-Prone UFC Fighters of All Time” leaderboard. His most recent fight was somewhat controversial in that it came just 56 days after a brutal knockout loss to Mike Swick. Johnson faced Gunnar Nelson on short notice as an injury replacement, and while the UFC usually gives extra leeway to fighters who step up to save fights, the fact that Johnson didn’t even come close to making weight likely sealed his fate.
In other firing news…
(Johnson secures a dominant position against Mike Swick at UFC on FOX 4, shortly before it all fell apart.)
After suffering his third-straight stoppage loss against newcomer Gunnar Nelson at UFC on FUEL 5: Struve vs. Miocic, UFC welterweight DaMarques Johnson has been released by the promotion. Johnson confirmed the news via Twitter late last night. “And the hits keep on coming,” Darkness wrote. “No longer a UFC fighter.”
The TUF 9 finalist complied an official record of 4-6 within the Octagon, with none of those fights going to decision — a stat that placed him in a first-place tie on the “Least Decision-Prone UFC Fighters of All Time” leaderboard. His most recent fight was somewhat controversial in that it came just 56 days after a brutal knockout loss to Mike Swick. Johnson faced Gunnar Nelson on short notice as an injury replacement, and while the UFC usually gives extra leeway to fighters who step up to save fights, the fact that Johnson didn’t even come close to making weight likely sealed his fate.
In other firing news…
UFC lightweight Shane Roller also confirmed his release — and apparent retirement — on Twitter, writing “Looks like I’m hanging up the gloves for good. It was fun, but time to move on. Sux that it ended like that. Now startn the next chapter!!”
Roller competed on the preliminary card of last weekend’s Browne vs. Bigfoot card, and lost to Jacob Volkmann via first-round neck crank. It was Roller’s fourth loss in his last five fights, and Volkmann’s first stoppage victory in nine UFC appearances; neither of those details would suggest future employment for Shane Roller. On the bright side, now there’s more space on the UFC lightweight roster for Gilbert Melendez. See? We always try to find the positive around here.
It’s time to step into the Octagon for the second time in two weeks, as we take a look back at the UFC’s latest trip to my homeland for their latest Fuel TV show, shown live this past Saturday night on ESPN here in Britain. The broadcast be…
It’s time to step into the Octagon for the second time in two weeks, as we take a look back at the UFC’s latest trip to my homeland for their latest Fuel TV show, shown live this past Saturday night on ESPN here in Britain.
The broadcast began with welterweight action as Che Mills went up against Duane Ludwig.
This one didn’t last long, but what we saw was pretty encouraging and pretty good.
Mills took the fight to the ground early on with a nice trip and his offense looked sound until Ludwig managed to get back to his feet. Mills soon took the fight back down, but after Ludwig scrambled up again his knee gave out.
Ludwig knew immediately that he was done and the referee quickly stepped in to give Mills the TKO win.
With some time to kill, it was on to filler material and the featherweight clash between Jason Young and Robbie Peralta.
This was quick. After the initial feeling out period, both fighters began to swing for the fences and when Peralta connected with a big right, Young went crashing. Peralta followed him down but it wasn’t long before the referee stopped the action, giving Peralta the knockout win.
Normal service resumed with more welterweight action as John Hathaway took on John Maguire.
This was the perfect example of how a fighter can use his size and reach advantage to good effect.
For almost three entire rounds Hathaway used the gifts that nature has given him to tremendous effect. Maguire just couldn’t handle Hathaway’s attack and although he managed to get in a few good shots he just couldn’t get the distance.
Hathaway’s striking was sound and effective and when he scored with a takedown in the second, his ground and pound also hit the spot.
Maguire’s best moment came when he scored with a takedown of his own late on, but with just over a minute left in the fight it was too little too late.
So with the fight going the distance it came as no surprise when the judges gave each and every round to Hathaway.
It was down to lightweight for the next fight as Paul Sass faced Matt Wiman.
Now this was good. Sass scored with the early takedown and went to work straight away, moving his man towards the fence and going for a variety of submissions.
But it wasn’t all one-way traffic. Wiman did an excellent job in countering Sass’ submission attempts with some attempts of his own and as the first round neared it’s final minute, Wiman locked in an armbar for the impressive submission win.
More filler material followed in the form of the catchweight encounter between DaMarques Johnson and Gunnar Nelson.
I’m glad they showed this one. Having seen a bit of Nelson in recent times, I was eager to see how he performed on the big stage.
He didn’t disappoint. He opened his UFC career with a big head kick, scoring with a takedown moments later, and although Johnson went for a couple of submissions, Nelson dominated. It wasn’t long before Nelson took his man’s back, taking the submission win with a rear naked choke.
Normal service resumed again with bantamweight action as Brad Pickett took on Yves Jabouin.
Can I use my now this was good line again? I’m going to anyway, because this was a great back and forth striking battle.
Both guys had their moments throughout, and if truth be known Jabouin looked the better of the two fighters.
That was until Pickett lived up to his nickname and dropped Jabouin with just one shot, a right uppercut. Pickett followed him down briefly until the referee stepped in to give One Punch the knockout win.
Then it was back to welterweight as hometown boy Dan Hardy faced Amir Sadollah.
This proved to be one of those very intriguing battles. The emotion of the occasion looked like it got to Hardy in the first round as Sadollah looked the better of the two fighters, but as soon as the second round began Hardy managed to impose his will on the fight.
Everything he did looked good, from his striking to his takedowns, he more or less dominated, opening up a couple of nasty cut’s on Sadollah‘s face, and although Sadollah was always on the look out for a submission off his back, Hardy was always one step ahead of him.
The only thing missing was a finish, which meant more work for the judges as all three scored in favour of Hardy, much to the delight of the hometown fans.
The main event featured heavyweight action as Stefan Struve went up against Stipe Miocic.
For a main event this wasn’t too bad. Miocic took control early on, using some good foot work to get inside Struve so he could connect with some hard body shots.
It looked as if Miocic was executing the perfect game plan when the big Dutchman was having trouble finding the distance.
But as soon as the second round began Struve finally went to work, and although Miocic still managed to get in a few good shots, particularly to the body, Struve repaid him in kind. Miocic was on rubber legs when Struve connected with an uppercut that more or less ended things. Miocic didn’t go down and it took a referee stoppage to give Struve the TKO win.
In conclusion – looks like they’ve done it again.
The UFC’s latest trip to merry old England certainly delivered some quality fights filled with great action, and although it was a night of mixed fortunes as far as the British fighters were concerned, it didn’t detract from what was a great show.
As for my fight of the night, while the experts went for the Struve/Miocic encounter, yours truly is going out of the box a little by giving my prestigious no-prize to Gunnar Nelson and DaMarques Johnson for Nelson’s outstanding performance.
So with all of that out of the way let’s wrap this thing up by giving the UFC’s latest Fuel TV show the big thumbs up.
Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for over 12 years and contains articles, reviews, fiction, personal journals and more.
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Aside from displaying a much improved striking game in his second round TKO win over up-and-coming prospect Stipe Miocic last weekend, veteran heavyweight Stefan Struve put to rest all of the speculation regarding his chin (at least for the moment) by successfully eating the Clevelander’s best punches without looking much worse for the wear. But what most of the general public was completely unaware of heading into last weekend’s main event was the plight of Struve’s father, who had been diagnosed with cancer just a couple months ago and has been battling the disease ever since.
Obviously the news did not come easy to Struve, who was training for his fight with Miocic at the time, but the Dutchman managed to push through the onslaught of emotions and turn in a Brett Favre-esque performance on Saturday night. It wasn’t until his victorious post-fight interview that Struve brought everything to light, breaking down in heartrending fashion:
My dad [found out he had] cancer two months ago. He’s in therapy. He’s doing well, but, still. Yeah, I’ve been wanting to go home. It will be good to go home and see him again.
Having recently lost a family member to cancer, I can tell you first hand how difficult a process it is to deal with for all parties involved. I’m sure many of you readers could say the same. But like Struve said, his father is doing fine for the time being, so Struve should rest assured that he will be bringing his biggest victory inside the octagon home with him. We here at CP would like to let the Struve family know that our thoughts and prayers are with them in this difficult time. If Stefan’s performances inside the octagon are any indication, we imagine that his father will likely beat that pussy cancer inside of three rounds.
After the jump: A full video of the UFC on FUEL 5 post-fight press conference in which Dana White discusses his broner for Brad Pickett, pokes fun at the emotionless cyborg known as Gunnar Nelson, and tells everyone who thought the card sucked to stick it “right up your ass.” If only the President of this great nation could be so frank.
Aside from displaying a much improved striking game in his second round TKO win over up-and-coming prospect Stipe Miocic last weekend, veteran heavyweight Stefan Struve put to rest all of the speculation regarding his chin (at least for the moment) by successfully eating the Clevelander’s best punches without looking much worse for the wear. But what most of the general public was completely unaware of heading into last weekend’s main event was the plight of Struve’s father, who had been diagnosed with cancer just a couple months ago and has been battling the disease ever since.
Obviously the news did not come easy to Struve, who was training for his fight with Miocic at the time, but the Dutchman managed to push through the onslaught of emotions and turn in a Brett Favre-esque performance on Saturday night. It wasn’t until his victorious post-fight interview that Struve brought everything to light, breaking down in heartrending fashion:
My dad [found out he had] cancer two months ago. He’s in therapy. He’s doing well, but, still. Yeah, I’ve been wanting to go home. It will be good to go home and see him again.
Having recently lost a family member to cancer, I can tell you first hand how difficult a process it is to deal with for all parties involved. I’m sure many of you readers could say the same. But like Struve said, his father is doing fine for the time being, so Struve should rest assured that he will be bringing his biggest victory inside the octagon home with him. We here at CP would like to let the Struve family know that our thoughts and prayers are with them in this difficult time. If Stefan’s performances inside the octagon are any indication, we imagine that his father will likely beat that pussy cancer inside of three rounds.
After the jump: A full video of the UFC on FUEL 5 post-fight press conference in which Dana White discusses his broner for Brad Pickett, pokes fun at the emotionless cyborg known as Gunnar Nelson, and tells everyone who thought the card sucked to stick it “right up your ass.” If only the President of this great nation could be so frank.
The UFC’s long-awaited return to the United Kingdom was met with mixed reactions leading up to the event. British fans feel that the UFC stays away for far too long, while the UFC brass points out that it is trying to cultivate new markets and it canno…
The UFC’s long-awaited return to the United Kingdom was met with mixed reactions leading up to the event. British fans feel that the UFC stays away for far too long, while the UFC brass points out that it is trying to cultivate new markets and it cannot be everywhere at once.
However, after the event was over, I think that the fans were pleased with the action on Saturday night. Dan Hardy won his bout to great approval and there were slugfests, submission wins and three great knockouts on the card. So, even though Paul Sass suffered a loss by submission and John Hathaway was ho-hum in his performance, the event was still a roaring success if you ask me.
I understand that the English fans might feel a bit left out after the UFC invested a lot of time and effort there from 2007-2009 to strengthen that market and now they have to begin to watch the UFC visit less and less as it continues its global expansion.
Either way, Britain still seems to get a UFC event year after year which is much more than I can say for my home state of Illinois (It is also important to note that my state is in the country of the UFC’s origin and is still largely ignored). The UFC is “going everywhere” as Dana White likes to say and they cannot be everywhere simultaneously so I think we all need to simmer down and relax a bit. Patience is part of game folks. In the current context of what Zuffa is trying to do with the UFC, this is likely to happen to a lot of markets so they are not being singled out in any way.
The biggest winner from UFC on Fuel 5, both literally and symbolically, had to be Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve. Stefan has looked increasingly good in wins over Pat Barry, Dave Herman and Lavar Johnson. All of these wins came via stoppage.
Struve looked sharp on Saturday, landing good strikes at range and finally seeming to utilize his 84.5″ reach to his advantage on his way to notching his fourth straight win in the UFC. Stipe Miocic was a game opponent and gave Stefan a good run for his money in the first round with solid standup and clinch skills, however Struve used a popping jab and some crushing uppercuts to set up a second-round TKO in Nottingham.
With this win in hand who should Stefan Struve face next? He certainly had an interesting idea when, after the fight, Struve called out Brazilian heavyweight and top contender Fabricio Werdum.
I’m not so sure I like that matchup for him right now, instead I have three other options that I think make a lot more sense for his progression while not pushing him too fast, which could be the case with booking the Werdum fight right now.
Option No. 1
Struve could face the winner of the Travis Browne-Antonio Silva bout that takes place this coming Friday in Minnesota at UFC on FX 5. This fight is appealing for three reasons.
The first is that the timing is ideal. Both fighters, if healthy, would be able to get back into the cage soon, which is usually appealing to up-and-comers.
Secondly, I think this would be a step up but not too far. Browne is undefeated but for whatever reason he doesn’t have a lot of hype behind him and neither does Silva, however, they both are solid top-10 guys like Struve.
Lastly, if Browne wins in particular a rematch of a previous fight with Struve could be an easy sell and no doubt would provide some great pre-fight trash talk.
Option No. 2
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would be another great choice for Struve at this point in his career ascension. Big Nog is not only a legend, but he is fighting Dave Herman, whom Struve beat not that long ago to get to where he is.
When we combine this with the fact that Nogueira is a name opponent and a known commodity, this fight just makes sense. If Rodrigo emerges unscathed from his UFC 153 bout, this is a viable option for Skyscraper.
Option No. 3
Why not Cheick Kongo? Many newer fans may not think this man is a top heavyweight but he is a top-10 UFC heavyweight.
Since 2010 Kongo is 4-1-1, with the loss coming to Mark Hunt and the draw was against Travis Browne, another top heavyweight fighter. In fact, Cheick is a combined 11-5-1 in the UFC, which is much better than a lot of naysayers would think.
It is true that he has lost five times, but the only decisive losses were against Mark Hunt, Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez who are all top tier heavyweights.
Kongo could be a perfect fit for Struve because he is a top-10 heavyweight, a veteran and not too much of a step up at this point. But Kongo will test Struve‘s skills and his Octagon moxy, which Stefan needs to beat the top UFC heavyweights. In my opinion this is actually the best option right now because it moves him forward but he won’t be reaching too far and end up getting Superman punched out of the top ten again. Ouch! That one had to hurt.
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