“So you want to be a fighter?”Dana White’s iconic quote makes fans and fighters alike consider how impossibly difficult it is to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Cross-training in multiple disciplines and spending most of your time in the…
“So you want to be a fighter?”
Dana White‘s iconic quote makes fans and fighters alike consider how impossibly difficult it is to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Cross-training in multiple disciplines and spending most of your time in the gym is beyond the limits of normal men and women. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that we look up to successful mixed martial artists.
Today’s article is a celebration of the fighters who go above and beyond the normal UFC schedule. We will look at fighters who fight frequently against hefty competition, and those fighters who are ready to assist Joe Silva in case a scheduled fighter is affected by injury.
In this article, we look at the UFC stars who say they will fight anyone, any time, anywhere…and actually mean it.
UFC 145 competitor Jon Jones earned his spot on this list with his fantastic 2011. One more fighter who is fighting on Saturday night made the list too. Can you guess which one?
Note: For the sake of this article, I only included fighters who are on the active UFC roster.
The likely main event for June’s UFC on FX 4 looks to be a battle of perennial top contenders as lightweights Gray Maynard and Clay Guida are set to clash inside the Octagon.Maynard hasn’t fought since being knocked out by then-champion Frankie Ed…
The likely main event for June’s UFC on FX 4 looks to be a battle of perennial top contenders as lightweights Gray Maynard and Clay Guida are set to clash inside the Octagon.
Maynard hasn’t fought since being knocked out by then-champion Frankie Edgar last October and he has his sights set on getting back into title contention. Guida finds himself in a similar situation as he looks to bounce back from a unanimous decision loss to current champ Benson Henderson at UFC on FOX 1, a loss that cost him a shot at the lightweight crown.
With both fighters hungry for a date with the champion and possessing similar skill sets, it will be interesting to see how this bout pans out. Here is the head-to-toe breakdown of this surefire war.
(Dammit! This was so much easier to escape in the video game!)
On the heels of two straight submission via rear-naked choke losses courtesy of Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller, former “top contender” Melvin Guillard’s stock is probably at an all time low. The UFC, likely recognizing Melvin’s need to step up his ground game or GTFO, are not cutting him any slack, as they have paired him against 3rd degree (uh-oh) BJJ black belt (not good) under Royler Gracie (dear God) Fabricio Camoes. The worst part: Camoes is coming off a submission by rear-naked choke victory at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller.
Matter of fact, it looks to us like the UFC is trying to punish each and every member of The Blackzilians for Anthony Johnson’s colossal mistake. Have the Zuffa attorneys not informed DW and Joe Silva that judging a certain group of people based on one isolated incident is considered profiling, and could lead to a huge backlash from said group? If we could think of any examples from American history, say from around the 1960’s, that could possibly help prove this point, we would. Unfortunately, no such example exists. Perhaps we’re just lucky.
Join us after the jump for a ton of fight booking news…
(Dammit! This was so much easier to escape in the video game!)
On the heels of two straight submission via rear-naked choke losses courtesy of Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller, former “top contender” Melvin Guillard’s stock is probably at an all time low. The UFC, likely recognizing Melvin’s need to step up his ground game or GTFO, are not cutting him any slack, as they have paired him against 3rd degree (uh-oh) BJJ black belt (not good) under Royler Gracie (dear God) Fabricio Camoes. The worst part: Camoes is coming off a submission by rear-naked choke victory at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller.
Matter of fact, it looks to us like the UFC is trying to punish each and every member of The Blackzilians for Anthony Johnson’s colossal mistake. Have the Zuffa attorneys not informed DW and Joe Silva that judging a certain group of people based on one isolated incident is considered profiling, and could lead to a huge backlash from said group? If we could think of any examples from American history, say from around the 1960′s, that could possibly help prove this point, we would. Unfortunately, no such example exists. Perhaps we’re just lucky.
Speaking of fighters who will find themselves in the unemployment line with another loss, it looks like a “loser leaves town” match has been booked between Leonard Garcia and Matt Grice, this one at UFC on FX 3. Currently 1-4 in under the Zuffa banner, Matt “The Real One” Grice has suffered submission defeats to Shannon Gugerty and Terry Etim and TKO losses to Matt Veach and Ricardo Lamas. Garcia, on the other hand, is coming off back to back karmic defeats in rematch bouts against Chan Sung Jung and Nam Phan. If Garcia were to somehow lose this one, we imagine he’d stand a better chance of sticking around than Grice, but let’s just say that a loss by either = the soup kitchen and watch the leather fly.
Coming off a successful UFC debut in which he beat down Kamal Shalorus en route to a third round rear-naked choke victory, undefeated prospect Khabib Nurmagomedov will take a huge step up in competition when he faces Gleison Tibau at UFC 148. We don’t know exactly where we’d place Tibau on our “Good, Bad, and Ugly” scale of dropping weight; ever since cutting down from welterweight following UFC 65, he has managed to make 155 lbs on most of his attempts, yet shows up looking like MuscleBob BuffPants come fight night. I guess we’d categorize him as “Freakish.” In either case, Tibau’s put together a hell of a run at lightweight, going 4-1 in his last 5 and most recently snagging a close decision victory over Rafael Dos Anjos.
In UFC on FX 4 news, TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson and WEC veteran Cub Swanson are set to lock horns in a featherweight contest. After going 5-2 as a lightweight, Pearson recently made the trip down to 145 at UFC 141 and proceeded to chase Junior Assuncao around the octagon like he was Kalib Starnes en route to a unanimous decision victory. In the aftermath of Pearson’s “Quarrian” effort, Assuncao was released by Zuffa, and still isn’t sure why. Shame.
Meanwhile, the bearer of perhaps the worst tattoos in all of MMA rebounded from a UFC debut loss to Ricardo Lamas at the inaugural UFC on Fox event with a brutal, mouthpiece ejecting TKO of George Roop at UFC on FOX 2. Swanson has gone win-loss in his last seven contests, and holds notable victories over Mackens Semerzier and that’s it. Put your money on the Brit, ladies and gentlemen.
UFC on FX 4 goes down from the the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey (*shudder*) on June 22nd.
Another New Jersey native has been added to the UFC’s upcoming FX 4 card set for this summer in Atlantic City.
Jimy Hettes (10-0), the undefeated 24-year-old featherweight phenom who impressed us all in his first two UFC bouts, trouncing TUF veterans Alex Caceres and Nam Phan, will join fellow New Jerseyans Dan Miller, Nick Catone and Rich Attonito on the June 22 card.
Another New Jersey native has been added to the UFC’s upcoming FX 4 card set for this summer in Atlantic City.
Jimy Hettes (10-0), the undefeated 24-year-old featherweight phenom who impressed us all in his first two UFC bouts, trouncing TUF veterans Alex Caceres and Nam Phan, will join fellow New Jerseyans Dan Miller, Nick Catone and Rich Attonito on the June 22 card.
According to MMAWeekly, “The Kid” will take on TUF 14 washout Steven Siler (20-9, who is also undefeated in the Octagon.
Siler, who defeated Josh Clopton at the TUF 14 Finale in December, raised eyebrows earlier this month when he beat UFC vet Cole Miller by unanimous decision at UFC on FX 2.
UFC on FX 4 boasts a main event lightweight bout between Gray Maynard and Clay Guida, as well as a main card middleweight scrap between Catone and Chris Camozzi and four welterweight fights featuring Brian Ebersole versus TJ Waldburger, Rick Story versus Attonito, Miller vs. Ricardo Funch, and Matthew Riddle versus Luis Ramos.
UFC on FX 4 Friday, June 22, 2012 Revel Casino Atlantic City, NJ
Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida
Brian Ebersole vs. TJ Waldburger
Rick Story vs. Rich Attonito
Dan Miller vs. Ricardo Funch
Nick Catone vs. Chris Camozzi
Matthew Riddle vs. Luis Ramos
Jim Hettes vs. Steven Siler
Featuring a main event clash between top lightweight contenders Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, the UFC on FX 4 card is really starting to take shape, adding four more fights in the welterweight division last night. It seems a little odd that this plethora of fights have been added when the UFC on FX 3 card, which goes down two weeks earlier, has confirmed only two fights thus far. Then again, if we were in charge of matchmaking, Pat Barry would fight every weekend and Rousey/Caraway would already be booked.
But back to the welterweights. Yes, it appears that our buddy Dan Miller will be back in action at UFC on FX 4, and in fact will be making his welterweight debut when he takes on Ricardo Funch. Miller has not fought since his clusterfuck of a fight against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 134 that saw Palhares leap onto the cage in premature celebration, only to be talked off the proverbial tower by Herb Dean. Upon re-entering the octagon, Palhares was almost immediately KO’d by Miller, but managed to gather the few remaining marbles in his brain to pull out a unanimous decision victory. The loss was Miller’s second in a row and fifth of his last seven. But given Miller’s tendency to put on exciting fights, we don’t imagine a loss here will cost him his job. The same cannot be said for Funch, however, who has dropped all three of his UFC appearances to Johny Hendricks, Claude Patrick, and Mike Pyle.
Also set for the fourth FX card will be a welterweight tilt between submission specialist T.J. Waldburger and manscaping aficionado Brian Ebersole. Waldburger has scored a pair of brilliant back-to-back victories in his last two UFC appearances, leaping into a triangle against Mike Stumpf in September before notching a lightning quick armbar of Jake Hecht at UFC on FX 2: Kampmann vs. Alves earlier this month. He will be facing a tough test in Ebersole, who is riding a 10 fight win streak including three straight in the UFC over Chris Lytle, Dennis Hallman‘s balls, and Claude Patrick.
Featuring a main event clash between top lightweight contenders Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, the UFC on FX 4 card is really starting to take shape, adding four more fights in the welterweight division last night. It seems a little odd that this plethora of fights have been added when the UFC on FX 3 card, which goes down two weeks earlier, has confirmed only two fights thus far. Then again, if we were in charge of matchmaking, Pat Barry would fight every weekend and Rousey/Caraway would already be booked.
But back to the welterweights. Yes, it appears that our buddy Dan Miller will be back in action at UFC on FX 4, and in fact will be making his welterweight debut when he takes on Ricardo Funch. Miller has not fought since his clusterfuck of a fight against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 134 that saw Palhares leap onto the cage in premature celebration, only to be talked off the proverbial tower by Herb Dean. Upon re-entering the octagon, Palhares was almost immediately KO’d by Miller, but managed to gather the few remaining marbles in his brain to pull out a unanimous decision victory. The loss was Miller’s second in a row and fifth of his last seven. But given Miller’s tendency to put on exciting fights, we don’t imagine a loss here will cost him his job. The same cannot be said for Funch, however, who has dropped all three of his UFC appearances to Johny Hendricks, Claude Patrick, and Mike Pyle.
Also set for the fourth FX card will be a welterweight tilt between submission specialist T.J. Waldburger and manscaping aficionado Brian Ebersole. Waldburger has scored a pair of brilliant back-to-back victories in his last two UFC appearances, leaping into a triangle against Mike Stumpf in September before notching a lightning quick armbar of Jake Hecht at UFC on FX 2: Kampmann vs. Alves earlier this month. He will be facing a tough test in Ebersole, who is riding a 10 fight win streak including three straight in the UFC over Chris Lytle, Dennis Hallman‘s balls, and Claude Patrick.
Two welterweight wrestlers will be looking to rebound from losses when Rick Story takes on Rich Attonito. Story, who rebounded from a UFC debut loss to John Hathaway at UFC 99 by going on a six fight win streak, has dropped two straight to Charlie Brenneman and Martin Kampmann at UFC Live 4 and UFC 139, respectively. Attonito, on the other hand, has gone 1-2 in his last three, sandwiching a win over Daniel Roberts in between losses to Jake Hecht and Dave Branch.
And finally, after emerging victorious from a three round slobber-knocker against Henry Martinez, a win that snapped a two fight losing streak, it looks like Matt “Deep Waters” Riddle will be looking to make it two in a row against Nova Uniao product and Shooto veteran Luis Ramos. You might not remember Ramos’ only UFC appearance–a first round TKO loss to Brazilian prospect Erick Silva at UFC 134–as it was over before it started, ending in just 40 seconds. Riddle has fought all nine of his professional fights under the Zuffa banner, but nearly all of his six wins have come against fighters no longer with the promotion, so it looks like he’s a lock for this one. Sorry, Luis.
UFC on FX 4 goes down from the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 22nd.
