Tag: UFC on Fuel 8

Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchez: What Went Right for Sanchez

In many people’s eyes, bad judging is the only thing that went right for Diego Sanchez in his controversial split decision win over Takanori Gomi at UFC on Fuel 8 last Saturday.  Some are already calling it a “robbery.” G…

In many people’s eyes, bad judging is the only thing that went right for Diego Sanchez in his controversial split decision win over Takanori Gomi at UFC on Fuel 8 last Saturday. 

Some are already calling it a “robbery.”

Gomi was fighting in his home country of Japan, but the judge’s still failed to see that Gomi won every round of that contest, giving it to Sanchez 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.

The only thing Sanchez really did right, was stay on his feet. Considering trends in MMA judging lately, that alone seems to count for a lot. 

The fight started with Gomi in the centre of the cage, and for much of the fight, that’s where he stayed.

In a lesson in using your jab effectively, one Stefan Struve should have heeded ahead of his KO loss to the diminutive Mark Hunt later in the night, Gomi was quick to establish his range and began peppering his opponent with shots. 

For much of the first round, Sanchez was left circling away—desperately searching for an opening against his opponent. But every time he drew near to strike, he was repeatedly beaten to the punch by his opponent. 

Gomi, for his part, was able to do little damage. Sanchez’s strategy—which some are already blaming on coach Greg Jackson—left enough ambiguity after the first round, that it could (at a stretch) have gone either way. 

By the second round, this strategy quickly looked to be failing. Gomi again took the centre of the cage and Sanchez spent more of his time circling around his opponent, unable to find a way in. 

For all watching, this was a different Sanchez than the one who had gone in like a maniac in his Fight of the Night performances against Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger in his previous two matches. 

Perhaps the toll of the weight-cut, which he missed anyway after returning to lightweight for the first time in years, had taken something out of him.

By the third round, his corner imploring him to grab a takedown to steal the match, Sanchez looked to increase the tempo and close the distance. But this proved completely ineffective. 

Gomi was able to stuff all his opponent’s takedowns, but, more importantly, he failed to take Sanchez down himself or to rock him with any significant shots.

Sanchez had, in the eyes of the majority of the judges, done enough to neutralise his opponent to seal the win.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Blame for Diego Sanchez’s Performance Is with the Fighter Not with Greg Jackson

Diego Sanchez took on Takanori Gomi on Saturday’s UFC on Fuel 8 fight card, and let’s just say the end result was not what we have come to expect from a Diego Sanchez fight. True, we got to see one of the most impressive pre-fight scowls th…

Diego Sanchez took on Takanori Gomi on Saturday’s UFC on Fuel 8 fight card, and let’s just say the end result was not what we have come to expect from a Diego Sanchez fight.

True, we got to see one of the most impressive pre-fight scowls this side of the 209 as Sanchez stared Gomi down before the signal came for the fight to begin, but once that fight was underway, it was not really the Sanchez we have all come to love watching in the Octagon.

After Sanchez’s performance—a winning effort via split decision, I might add—out came the knives.

If you think those barbs were directed at Sanchez, you would be way off base. Nope, the man responsible for Sanchez’s performance, was none other than the “sport killer” himself Greg Jackson, or so the Internet would tell you.

One of the biggest names to offer up that opinion was Chris Leben, who tweeted, “@DiegoSanchezUFC what happened?! You used to move straight forward and crush guys. Too much Greg Jackson i think”.

If you’re thinking that maybe Leben forgot his stinker of a fight against Derek Brunson at UFC 155 before posting that tweet, I’m with you, but you also know that it’s hard for many to resist the chance to take a shot at Jackson.

Sure, some of Jackson’s fighters do game plan the nth degree and come out and just concentrate on the win, but by the same token when was the last time that Jackson fighters Jon Jones, Leonard Garcia, Donald Cerrone or Carlos Condit (Nick Diaz fight excepted) have delivered a snoozefest?

Let’s not forget that Sanchez entered this fight coming off three “Fight of the Night” performances prior to the Gomi bout.

I know it’s the hip thing to do to blame Jackson, all the kids are doing it, but c’mon, can we just stop? It’s getting a little old, and while in some cases the finger pointers may have a case, blaming Jackson for “The Dream’s” performance in Japan is off base.

Here’s why.

On Saturday Sanchez was fighting for the first time at lightweight since 2009. Well, he was supposed to be fighting at lightweight, but he missed weight and that’s why we need to place the blame on Sanchez here, not Jackson.

On February 27 Sanchez tweeted that he had checked in at 164.2, a mere 8.2 pounds over the lightweight limit.

From there it should have been a walk in the park for Sanchez. Instead, a few days later he was tweeted that he was in at 165, heavier than his previous tweet. But he also added a new wrinkle, revealing an injury and that he had cut 50 pounds to get to the lightweight limit. 

When Sanchez finally stepped on the scale he was in at 158. It’s hard to fathom what went wrong between February 27 and March 3, but something obviously did and Sanchez even admitted to these things via twitter. Still, the blame gets placed on Jackson. Stunning. 

But hey, why actually analyze the situation for what it is?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Chris Leben Blames Greg Jackson for Diego Sachez’s UFC on FUEL 8 Performance

UFC middleweight fighter Chris Leben has joined the Greg Jackson “unappreciation society” after he blamed Diego Sanchez’s subpar performance at UFC on Fuel 8 on the controversial MMA coach.  Sanchez narrowly won a split decision aga…

UFC middleweight fighter Chris Leben has joined the Greg Jackson “unappreciation society” after he blamed Diego Sanchez‘s subpar performance at UFC on Fuel 8 on the controversial MMA coach. 

Sanchez narrowly won a split decision against Takanori Gomi in Japan this past Saturday, in a fight some are calling a robbery.  

To an extent it’s true. The Sanchez we saw—who now calls himself “The Dream” rather than “The Nightmare”—was far from the reckless maniac who pushed a furious pace in his fights against the likes of Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger. Leben‘s recent Tweet suggested he laid the blame squarely at Jackson’s feet. 

“@DiegoSanchezUFC what happened?! You used to move straight forward and crush guys. Too much Greg Jackson i think,” said Leben (h/t MMA Mania)    

Jackson is a highly regarded MMA coach whose trained champions such as Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones. He’s won Fighters Only’s MMA Coach of the Year award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. However, he hasn’t been without his detractors. 

Many of his fighters are accused of employing a boring, negative strategy—an accusation which has come to taint Jackson’s gym in Albuquerque, N.M.  

Jackson was held responsible for the controversial Carlos Condit decision win last February over Nick Diaz, in which Condit spent much of the fight in retreat. He was later accused of instilling a similar mindset in Clay Guida, when the lightweight lost a decision to Gray Maynard in June. 

Guida has, like Sanchez, gained notoriety as a fearless and tireless fighter. But in his fight against Maynard, his negative style failed to impress the judges or boss Dana White.  

White’s irritation soon turned into vitriol when he accused Jackson of being a “sport killer” for telling his light heavyweight champ Jones not to take a last-minute fight against Chael Sonnen. That decision led to the collapse of UFC 151, the first time that’s happened in the UFC’s history. 

Such caution has done little to endear him to the MMA fraternity, least of all, it seems, to Leben, who is known to have a ferocious propensity to move forward in his fights. However, Leben himself is coming off a very lackluster decision loss to Derek Brunson at UFC 155 this past December. 

Sanchez, meanwhile, was quick to thank Jackson after his win. He said that it was Jackson who told him to “go fight for your family” at the start of the final round which pushed him to victory. 

“That was big time man. I’m about to get all choked up. I got my wife and she’s pregnant with a baby girl, so that’s what this victory was for,” said Sanchez (h/t Yahoo! Sports).

Sanchez was fighting at lightweight on Saturday for the first time since his loss to BJ Penn for the title in 2009, although he did miss weight. The fighter has since announced his intention to fight Nate Diaz, the younger brother of Nick, whom he beat in 2005.

But considering the Diaz camp’s frustration with Jackson-trained Condit last year, it’s still open to question whether Nate would take the Sanchez fight.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Takanori Gomi X-Ray Shows Broken Hand Suffered in First Round Against Sanchez

Former Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi came close to beating Diego Sanchez at UFC on Fuel 8 on Saturday, and he did it with only one hand. Gomi suffered a broken hand during the first round of his fight with Sanchez, which forced him to switch…

Former Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi came close to beating Diego Sanchez at UFC on Fuel 8 on Saturday, and he did it with only one hand.

Gomi suffered a broken hand during the first round of his fight with Sanchez, which forced him to switch up his striking throughout the 15-minute fight with the former Ultimate Fighter winner.

The Japanese lightweight posted a picture of the x-ray of his broken hand in his official blog on Monday showing off the broken bone just below his right index finger.

Regardless of the injury, Gomi battled throughout all three rounds and when it was over, most believed he had done enough to secure the victory over Sanchez.

Unfortunately, the judges felt otherwise and handed down scores of 29-28 favoring Sanchez, with one judge giving the nod to Gomi 29-28.

UFC President Dana White apparently agreed with the judge who voted for Gomi after he watched the event from home.  White tweeted: “how the f—k did Diego win that fight? Crazy s—t.”

The win moved Sanchez back into the positive column after sitting out most of the last year due to injury, and officially welcomed him back to the lightweight division after a three-year absence.

As for Gomi, the loss broke his two-fight win streak after back-to-back wins over Eiji Mitsuoka and former Ultimate Fighter winner Mac Danzig.

Overall since coming to the UFC in 2010, Gomi has gone 3-4, as he looks to find solid ground in his new home.  The broken hand will keep Gomi on the sidelines until he can heal up, but he will likely have a job when he comes back to action later this year.

The UFC has made the message clear that they need to slim the roster down by about 100 fighters, but Gomi‘s performances in victory and defeat almost assuredly made his job safe.  Add to that the fact that UFC president Dana White personally believed he won his bout against Sanchez, and Gomi is almost a lock for another fight when he returns to action after letting his broken hand heal.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve: What Went Right for Mark Hunt?

Mark Hunt’s KO of Stefan Struve at UFC on Fuel 8 on Saturday will go down as the most important victory in the Super Samoan’s career. It’s catapulted him to a top-five contender, and his four straight wins have given him the longest running win streak …

Mark Hunt’s KO of Stefan Struve at UFC on Fuel 8 on Saturday will go down as the most important victory in the Super Samoan’s career.

It’s catapulted him to a top-five contender, and his four straight wins have given him the longest running win streak in the heavyweight division.

Struve is no joke, and he was riding a four-fight win streak going into this match himself. But there were three parts to this fight which let the Dutch fighter down.

Firstly, his BJJ just wasn’t good enough. The submissions game is perhaps Hunt’s weakest point, and he’s often been left looking hopeless on the ground. Struve thought that this was his best chance of defeating Hunt. He wanted nothing to do with Hunt’s stand-up, despite the significant reach advantage, but the New Zealander had clearly mastered some BJJ techniques since his first UFC fight when he got arm-barred by Sean McCorkle.

Hunt evaded all submission attempts from Struve, and for much of the first round, the two fighters exhausted each other in a stalemate on the mat.

But when the fighters got to their feet, the tide clearly turned in Hunt’s favour. It’s remarkable that at only 5″10″ fighting as a heavyweight, Hunt can topple the biggest giants. He showed this in his first-round TKO of Cheick Kongo, a 6’4″ giant himself, last year. Against Struve, it was clear the Dutchman could find no way of using his considerable reach advantage against Hunt.

By the third round, after getting frustrated on the ground and on his feet, Struve had run out of answers. Hunt, meanwhile, who had shown himself as a very well-rounded fighter by this stage, took charge, laying into his opponent with vicious left hooks.

But he too was exhausted. Conditioning has always been a problem for Hunt, but it was surprising to see Struve barely being able to last three rounds. Clearly, as so happens to heavyweights, fighting on the ground had emptied his tank, and for much of the third round he could barely keep his hands up against his opponent.

Big mistake.

As the third round went deeper, Hunt smelled blood. Striking his opponent on the jaw repeatedly, he beat Struve to the punch every time and finally landed the left hook that KO’d his opponent.

Hunt walked away nonchalantly as he has so often done to his past victims in this very arena.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on FUEL 8 Results: Tom Watson Calls out Wanderlei Silva for Next Fight

Following his spectacular knockout of Brian Stann at UFC on FUEL 8, it was inevitable an up-and-coming fighter was going to call out Wanderlei Silva for a fight. However, some fans and analysts were caught a little off guard by the man who wants t…

Following his spectacular knockout of Brian Stann at UFC on FUEL 8, it was inevitable an up-and-coming fighter was going to call out Wanderlei Silva for a fight. 

However, some fans and analysts were caught a little off guard by the man who wants the next crack at “The Axe Murderer.” 

Former BAMMA middleweight champion Tom “Kong” Watson said on Twitter he’d be happy to meet the PRIDE legend at 185 pounds in his next bout:

“Kong” has won four of his past five fights, though is a newcomer to the Octagon, with just a 1-1 record under the UFC banner. 

Last month at UFC on FUEL 7, Watson earned both “Knockout of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” honors for his slugfest with former heavy-handed light heavyweight Stanislav Nedkov. 

Silva has won two of his past three bouts, though is just 3-4 in his past seven matchups.

The Brazilian clearly still has the desire and knockout power that made him a star, but after 49 professional fights, the 36-year-old can’t have too many wild brawls left in him. 

With that being said, since Silva’s days as a contender are behind him, this matchup could be a “Fight of the Night” contender for any upcoming FX or FUEL event.

However, the matchup remains unlikely since Silva hasn’t fought at middleweight since UFC 139 in November 2011, and Watson has fought all 21 of his professional fights at 185 pounds. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com