Ask and ye shall receive.It’s been less than a week since Jake Shields went on record saying that he is feeling the itch to fight again and is interested in seeing who the Ultimate Fighting Championship has for him.According the MMAfighting.com, the UF…
Ask and ye shall receive.
It’s been less than a week since Jake Shields went on record saying that he is feeling the itch to fight again and is interested in seeing who the Ultimate Fighting Championship has for him.
According the MMAfighting.com, the UFC has quickly answered Shields’s call, proposing a match up against rising star Jake Ellenberger.
The fight has not yet been made official, but it has been speculated that it may take place in San Jose at an event the UFC is planning to have there on Nov. 19.
It’s the first the time MMA‘s most prominent organization has held an event in San Jose, so it will likely be wanting to put on a good show, and Shields vs. Ellenberger is a fight fans could definitely get excited about.
Ellenberger has actually been asking for this fight for a while now. He believes that he has the tools to defeat Shields and that a win over Shields would put himself directly in line for the title.
It’s a risky move, calling out Shields, but the pay off could be huge.
Shields was considered for a long time to be one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He owns victories over many of the sport’s greats, such as Dan Henderson, Jason Miller, Yushin Okami and Carlos Condit.
Ellenberger has himself a pretty respectable resume with wins over the likes of John Howard and Mike Pyle, but Shields would by far be the greatest test he has faced so far in his career.
Both men have strong wrestling backgrounds, so a very technical ground war is a possibility in this one. However, Shields is known for having very good Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so Ellenberger might want to use his wrestling in reverse to keep this fight standing.
(Photo by Tracy Lee for Yahoo! Sports)
UFC President Dana White announced the “Fight Night” winners for Sunday night’s UFC Live: Kongo vs. Berry (aka UFC on Versus 4) event via Twitter (@danawhite) immediately after the conclusion of the live broadcast.
UFC officials also announced the gate numbers for the Consol Engery Center with a total of […]
UFC President Dana White announced the “Fight Night” winners for Sunday night’s UFC Live: Kongo vs. Berry (aka UFC on Versus 4) event via Twitter (@danawhite) immediately after the conclusion of the live broadcast.
UFC officials also announced the gate numbers for the Consol Engery Center with a total of 7,792 fans in attendance for a live gate of $562,310.
Earning $50,000 in bonus money was main event fighter, and new comeback King, Cheick Kongo for “Knockout of the Night”, while Joe Lauzon earned his seventh bonus for “Submission of the Night”, and the “Fight of the Night” bonus went to Charles Oliveria vs. Nik Lentz.
UFC Live: Kongo vs. Berry took place at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 26. The main card aired live on Versus in the U.S., while Canadian fans tuned into Rogers Sportsnet. The entire seven fight preliminary card was broadcast live over the web via the promotions Facebook.com/UFC page.
Moving into the main event after that last minute removal of Nate Marquardt, heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry showcased their punching power in the first few minutes of the first round. Barry appeared to have Kongo in trouble after scoring some strikes that put the French fighter down, but referee Dan Miragliotta allowed the fight to continue. Kongo would get back to his feet, while still on rubber legs he’d plant his foot against the cage and stun Berry as he moved in for the kill. Kongo followed that up a right to Berry’s chin, knocking him out before his limp body would hit the mat finishing the fight at 2:39 of the first.
Winning his fourth “Submission of the Night” bonus, Joe Lauzon wasted little time finishing Curt Warburton with a Kimura in the first round. Lauzon appeared to have some issue finding his range against the longer reach of Warburton, finally scoring with a right hand that put the Brit to the mat. Lauzon immediately jumped in for the kill landing several strikes and quickly took Warburton’s arm instead, securing a Kimura. Warburton tried to fight off the submission but Lauzon would readjust the pressure, twisting the arm even more into an ugly position forcing the tap at 1:58.
Despite only lasting less than seven minutes, the lightweight bout between Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz was an exciting matchup from the beginning of the fight. Both fighters would score with a few punches, with Oliveira pushing the pace by attempting several submissions. In the second round both men would attempt to stand from their knees, with Oliveira rising first and scoring a vicious knee to Lentz face. The only problem was Lentz still had one knee on the mat, which was obvious to everyone but the referee who let the fight continue. The stunned Lentz was unable to recover allowing Oliveira to secure a rear-naked choke submission to end the fight at 1:48 of the second.
After the bout, color commentator Joe Rogan announced that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission would be looking into the illegal knee, which could mean the result of the fight could be turned into a “No Contest”.
UFC on Versus 4 is officially in the books. Cheick Kongo performed a miraculous comeback knockout against Pat Barry and Rick Story’s hype train was derailed by the unlikely Charlie Brenneman.The event was an exciting night of fights that will hopefully…
UFC on Versus 4 is officially in the books. Cheick Kongo performed a miraculous comeback knockout against Pat Barry and Rick Story’s hype train was derailed by the unlikely Charlie Brenneman.
The event was an exciting night of fights that will hopefully be remembered for the skill and bravery of its competitors rather than the sordid business of Nate Marquardt being removed from the UFC.
What were the real questions answered and lessons learned from a seemingly inconsequential event? Read and find out!
When you have a guy like Jose Aldo as the UFC featherweight champion, it is easy to forget just how good other fighters in the division are. Besides Aldo, fighters like Mark Hominick, Lenard Garcia and Diego Nunes were stars in the division for years i…
When you have a guy like Jose Aldo as the UFC featherweight champion, it is easy to forget just how good other fighters in the division are.
Besides Aldo, fighters like Mark Hominick, Lenard Garcia and Diego Nunes were stars in the division for years in the WEC.
Urijah Faber was the biggest name in the division before moving to bantamweight.
Faber’s move is not a loss for the division though.
Many fighters that once fought at 155, such as Kenny Florian, have decided to make featherweight their new home.
Tonight at UFC on Versus 4, we saw the featherweight debuts of Ricardo Lamas, Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson.
Lamas, who may be the lesser known of the three fighters, won in the most exciting fashion after hitting Matt Grice with a powerful high kick, then finishing him with strikes.
Stevenson was next up against Javier Vazquez.
The former lightweight contender did not have the same luck Lamas and Florian had in their featherweight debuts, as he lost by decision. This makes it four losses in a row for the TUF season two winner.
After losing three straight at lightweight, UFC vet Griffin was able to pick up a much-needed win in his featherweight debut.
As guys like Chad Mendes continue to dominate, and young fighters like Jonathan Brookins and Nam Phan looking to make an impact, the featherweight division could be one of the deepest ones in the UFC for years to come.
The results are now in and another great night of UFC action was capped off by an a surprising result in the semi-main event of Charlie Brenneman vs. Rick Story and an unbelievable main event from heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry. Kongo was able…
The results are now in and another great night of UFC action was capped off by an a surprising result in the semi-main event of Charlie Brenneman vs. Rick Story and an unbelievable main event from heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry.
Kongo was able to weather what appeared to be a sure knockout coming from Barry midway through the first round only to answer with an absolutely astonishing uppercut of his own to put Barry unconsciously on his back.
But sometimes the simple “wins” and “losses” in the record books don’t tell the whole story. As we’ll look at in this slideshow, some of the biggest “winners and losers” from tonight’s UFC on Versus 4 card did not end up with that designation on their official records.
Nate Marquardt being pulled from his fight with Rick Story for failing to obtain medical clearance was the worst case scenario for Story. Charlie Brenneman stepped in for Marquardt and took full advantage of the opportunity that was given to him. For S…
Nate Marquardt being pulled from his fight with Rick Story for failing to obtain medical clearance was the worst case scenario for Story. Charlie Brenneman stepped in for Marquardt and took full advantage of the opportunity that was given to him. For Story, a win over Marquardt would have meant the world to him and […]
Ask and ye shall receive.