Gegard Mousasi wasn’t going to impress anyone no matter the outcome of his fight against UFC newcomer Ilir Latifi in the UFC on Fuel TV 9 main event.For that reason, Mousasi fought a smart fight by keeping Latifi on the end of his jab for three rounds….
GegardMousasi wasn’t going to impress anyone no matter the outcome of his fight against UFC newcomer IlirLatifi in the UFC on Fuel TV 9 main event.
For that reason, Mousasi fought a smart fight by keeping Latifi on the end of his jab for three rounds. It wasn’t the most fan-friendly main event in recent memory, but Mousasi did what he had to do to remain within striking distance of the elite UFC light heavyweights.
After the event, Mousasirevealed he had suffered a knee injury in training that will require surgery. Without an exact timetable for his return, the options for his next opponent are up in the air.
Nonetheless, let’s take a look at who could be next for Mousasi and the rest of the UFC on Fuel TV 9 competitors.
UFC on Fuel 9 from Stockholm, Sweden, featured three TKO/KO-related stoppages, but two of the fighters who tasted defeat should consider stopping their careers altogether.This is not basketball or baseball where competing too long results in a low batt…
UFC on Fuel 9 from Stockholm, Sweden, featured three TKO/KO-related stoppages, but two of the fighters who tasted defeat should consider stopping their careers altogether.
This is not basketball or baseball where competing too long results in a low batting average or poor shooting percentage. Once you realize you don’t have it in mixed martial arts, the consequences of fighting too long are more severe.
Some fighters are defensively sound enough to defend against crushing strikes, but they don’t have a shot at beating any quality fighters, because they don’t mount enough offense.
Here are the fighters who should be considering a career change.
Phil De Fries
The big man from England has one hope when he gets into the Octagon: take his opponent to the ground and go for submissions.
Unfortunately for him, that plan hasn’t been working well lately. On Saturday night, Matt “Meathead” Mitrione became the third man in four fights to batter De Fries into defeat in the first round.
These losses have happened over a matter of just 14 months.
This beating took only 19 seconds, but it was brutal enough to have lasted 10 minutes. De Fries is done as a serious heavyweight contender. He should step away to save himself from any more damage.
He’s only 26 years old, but he simply doesn’t have the power or striking defense to usher him to the ground game, which is his only redeeming quality.
Michael Johnson
The man they call the Menace hasn’t been very menacing. He took another loss on Saturday night, when he was made to tap out by RezaMadadi via anaconda choke.
Johnson has only lost two in a row, but it’s not just the losing streak, it’s the way he’s losing. Again against Madadi, Johnson showed tentativeness, and he seemed content to try to survive on the ground.
Instead, he was choked out.
Johnson’s record dropped to 12-8, and even though he’s moving down on the UFC food chain, he isn’t looking better against lower levels of competition.
He’s become a name MMA fans frown at when they see it on an event card. That’s not a good thing.
Follow me, because Royce Gracie started me on this MMA path, and now I’m out of control.
Gegard Mousasi may have left some unimpressed on Saturday, but he did exactly what he had to do when he faced Ilir Latifi—he won. Big picture, Mousasi was in a no-win situation when he faced Latifi, a late replacement for his injured original opp…
GegardMousasi may have left some unimpressed on Saturday, but he did exactly what he had to do when he faced IlirLatifi—he won.
Big picture, Mousasi was in a no-win situation when he faced Latifi, a late replacement for his injured original opponent, Alexander Gustafsson. Win, and Mousasi accomplishes exactly what he was supposed to; lose, and a top-10 light heavyweight falls to a fighter who was unknown to all but the most hardcore fans before he was signed to replace Gustafsson.
So Mousasi did what he needed to do, he played it safe and mostly kept himself out of risky predicaments on his way to a unanimous-decision win. Oh yeah, he also accomplished this on a knee that is likely going to send him into surgery at some point in the near future (per Ken Pishna of MMAWeekly.com).
Following the fight, Mousasi had the following to say about how he approached his bout with Latifi (per MMAjunkie.com), “I didn’t want to take any risks. Had nothing to lose, so I fought smart.”
Mousasi used his height and reach to keep Latifi at bay for most of the 15-minute bout, using a highly effective jab that left Latifi’s face a swollen and bloody mess by the end of the fight. In all, according to the FightMetric numbers, Mousasi landed 80 of 150 attempted strikes, most of which were snapping jabs.
The 6’1” Mousasi kept the 5’8” Latifi at distance, and Latifi’s numbers reflected that, as Latifi landed a mere 20 of 114 attempted strikes, only hitting double digits in that department in the third round when he landed 10 strikes.
The win may not have been pretty and it may not advance him up the rankings in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, but Mousasi won and he’ll live to fight another day in the UFC, even if that fight will be somewhat delayed due to injury.
No two fights are created equal. Every matchup ends up being different than any others that have taken place before it. Some end by knockout, while others go to the judges’ scorecards. Some are can’t-miss thrill rides while others make you feel a bit d…
No two fights are created equal. Every matchup ends up being different than any others that have taken place before it. Some end by knockout, while others go to the judges’ scorecards. Some are can’t-miss thrill rides while others make you feel a bit drowsy.
With UFC on Fuel 9 on the books, we at Bleacher Report have had the chance to sit down and rank every fight that took place on the main card. That way, if you missed the show and plan to catch a replay later, you know which fights should take precedence.
For your viewing pleasure, here is the power ranking of all main card fights at UFC on Fuel 9.
Irish-born fighter Conor McGregor made a great first impression with the UFC, and he already has his next fight booked on the same night he made his debut. Without any definitive plans for the UFC to return to McGregor’s homeland in Ireland, his next l…
Irish-born fighter ConorMcGregor made a great first impression with the UFC, and he already has his next fight booked on the same night he made his debut.
Without any definitive plans for the UFC to return to McGregor‘s homeland in Ireland, his next landing spot will be in an American city with plenty of Irish heritage.
UFC on Fox Sports 1 will land in Boston on August 17, and while UFC president Dana White rarely likes to book anything on the night of a fight card, it was a natural fit to slot McGregor on that show for his next bout.
“The answer is yes,” White said when asked about McGregor ending up on the Boston card at the UFC on Fuel 9 post-fight press conference.
A quarter of the people in Massachusetts claim Irish heritage, which is the highest in the United States. McGregor won’t be at home, but he’s certain to feel the love from the Boston crowd when he enters the Octagon in August.
As for his first night as a UFC fighter, McGregor will celebrate not just the win but the windfall that came with it.
According to the young fighter, prior to making his debut on Saturday, he was in dire financial straits living at home in Ireland. Now he has his contracted pay, a win bonus and an additional $60,000 for the “Knockout of the Night” at UFC on Fuel 9.
“I just got $60,000, I’m thinking of what I’m going to spend it on. Just last week I was connecting to social welfare,” McGregor revealed at the post-fight press conference. “I didn’t have money before this.
“Like I said, I was collecting 188 euro a week off the social welfare and here I am with like 60 G’s bonus and then my own pay. I don’t know what the f—k’s going on to be honest. This is the biggest one all right.”
While his fight was part of the Facebook preliminary portion of the show, McGregor received the attention of a main event fighter throughout the night and even at the press conference.
Now the UFC not only has a popular and charismatic Irishman on its roster—it also happens to have a very good featherweight as well.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
Gegard Mousasi was in an impossible position this week after his original opponent, Alexander Gustafsson, was forced out of their bout at UFC on Fuel 9. Instead of facing a top-three fighter and potential title contender, he drew relative unknown Ilir …
GegardMousasi was in an impossible position this week after his original opponent, Alexander Gustafsson, was forced out of their bout at UFC on Fuel 9.
Instead of facing a top-three fighter and potential title contender, he drew relative unknown IlirLatifi for the main event. And beyond the stylistic differences between the opponents, he was already going into the fight at less than full health as well.
“Mousasi had knee problems all through his camp. He checked with his doctor and his doctor said, ‘You can make it through this fight and you’re going to have to have surgery after the fight,'” White stated.
“Kid wants to fight because he’s going to come in here and fight the No. 3-ranked light heavyweight in the world. He doesn’t want to give up this opportunity, he wants to fight him.
“Shows up here to fight him, (Gustafsson) gets stopped on a cut…we won’t even get into that. We’ll leave that alone because we all know what’s up with that. He’s training for this tall striker. He ends up fighting a short, strong, southpaw wrestler and still accepts the fight and takes it.”
Despite facing a 5’8″ Greco-Roman wrestler that most people hadn’t heard about before this week, Mousasi accepted the challenge and went on to win a unanimous decision in a fairly one-sided bout.
Mousasi consistently kept Latifi at the end of his punches and bloodied his face with jabs over the course of all three rounds. The Dutch fighter was the clear winner, but he admitted after the fight that he wasn’t about to do something stupid and become the subject of one of the greatest upsets in UFC history.
“I didn’t want to take any risks,” Mousasi admitted after the fight. “He’s got nothing to lose, so I fought smart.”
As far as his knee injury goes, Mousasi didn’t want to go into too much detail about what happened or how long it may delay his return to action.
It was bad enough, however, for him to believe that most fighters in the same situation would have likely backed out of the fight and not taken the same chance that he just did on Saturday.
“I don’t want to talk a lot about my injury. I can tell with this injury I’m pretty sure 95 percent wouldn’t fight, from other fighters,” said Mousasi. “I stepped up, I didn’t cancel the show.”
The only other detail that Mousasi gave about the injury was to say “it’s nothing small,” and obviously it was severe enough that it may cause him to undergo surgery to repair whatever damage was done.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
