You probably have more of a life than I do, which means you probably haven’t watched as much mixed martial arts on TV as I have in the last couple days. But if you wanted to, you could have.
On Friday night I had two TVs going in one room, one on HDNet and one on Showtime, as I watched both the Titan Fighting Championships and Strikeforce cards. After a few hours of sleep I got up very early Saturday morning and watched the Dream card on HDNet. On Saturday evening I kept an eye on Bellator on MTV2 while watching the UFC fights on Facebook, on Spike and on pay-per-view.
I watched about three dozen live MMA fights in a span of just over 24 hours from Friday night through Saturday night. As an MMA fan, I was in heaven.
The story everyone is talking about coming out of UFC 135 is Jon Jones‘ impressive title defense over Rampage Jackson, but what this weekend really solidified to me was just how far this sport has come, and how much good MMA there is for the fans to watch. It wasn’t that long ago, before the UFC got on basic cable with The Ultimate Fighter, that getting a chance to watch live MMA was a special occasion for fans. In 2004 — the last year before The Ultimate Fighter — the UFC put on only five fight cards, for the entire year, and all of them were on pay-per-view. Other MMA promotions existed, but few fans ever got to see them live. Now there’s so much MMA on TV that even the hardest of hard-core fans miss some fights. It’s impossible to see it all.
And it’s only getting better. With a UFC heavyweight title fight coming to Fox in November, MMA will really be everywhere. This sport has accomplished so much in so little time that those of us who love it don’t often stop to consider how lucky we are to have so many MMA options available to us. Probably because we’re too busy watching fights.
UFC 135 notes — The UFC 135 main event was a good demonstration of how much this sport has changed: Rampage is one of the great fighters of the last decade, but he’s a fundamentally one-dimensional fighter. Jones is on a completely different level, with far more ways to win a fight. The amazing thing about the way this sport continues to evolve is that some day someone will come along whose fighting style makes Jones look old-fashioned.
— James Te-Huna had never fought outside Australia before Saturday night, as the UFC mostly had him on the roster as a local guy to throw on the undercard in their trips Down Under. But Te-Huna got his first chance to fight in the Octagon on U.S. soil at UFC 135, and he delivered in a big way with a terrific first-round knockout of Ricardo Romero. When Romero went for a low takedown attempt, Te-Huna made him pay for it with a huge low punch that knocked him cold. The whole fight lasted just 47 seconds.
— We haven’t seen a lot of top-notch talent come out of The Ultimate Fighter in the last couple years, but Tony Ferguson, who won Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter, might just be a future star. Ferguson knocked out everyone he faced on The Ultimate Fighter, and he showed off the same lethal striking against Aaron Riley on Saturday night. Ferguson is a force to be reckoned with.
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UFC 135 quotes — “I just want to say thanks to Matt Hughes for taking this fight late in his career. He’s a legend and I’m really proud that I had the opportunity to fight a legend like Matt Hughes.”–Josh Koscheck, after beating Matt Hughes in what may have been the final fight of Hughes’ career. Although Koscheck plays up the role of villain in the UFC, Koscheck’s post-fight comments toward Hughes were pure class.
— “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy this tired in the Octagon before.”–UFC announcer Joe Rogan on Ben Rothwell in the third round of his loss to Mark Hunt. The Denver altitude didn’t help, of course, but Rothwell really looked like he needs to work on his conditioning.
Good call — Greg Jackson, in the corner of Aaron Riley, did exactly the right thing to protect his fighter after the first round, when Tony Ferguson broke Riley’s jaw with an upper cut. Riley went to his corner and said he had a broken jaw, and Jackson immediately told the referee, “It’s over.” That’s what the corner man is supposed to do.
Bad call — Two of the three judges gave Junior Assuncao a 10-8 third round in his victory over Eddie Yagin, as they should have, but I want to know what the judge who only scored it a 10-9 was thinking. Assuncao spent the better part of the round on top of Yagin, pounding away, and provided a textbook example of what should earn a fighter a 10-8 round. Some judges are too hesitant to award 10-8 rounds, and the one who only scored the third 10-9 for Assuncao is one of them.
Stock up — Tim Boetsch is looking great at middleweight. If you look at the fights Boetsch has lost in his career, they were all against big, strong light heavyweights who could overpower him: Boetsch’s four career losses are to Vladimir Matyushenko, Matt Hamill, Jason Brilz and Phil Davis. Now that Boetsch is at middleweight, he’s overpowering people and earning his “Barbarian” nickname. Boetsch easily beat Nick Ring and is now 2-0 as a middleweight. “I’m loving middleweight so far,” Boetsch said afterward.
Stock down — I didn’t like the antics between Assuncao and Yagin at the weigh-ins, when the two of them acted like they wanted to brawl right then and there. And I really didn’t like how tentative both of them looked once they actually got into the Octagon: If you’re going to act like you’re eager for a knock-down, drag-out battle, don’t step into the cage and act like it’s a staring contest. Assuncao won easily, but he did far too much showboating: He raised his hands up, shuffled his feet, danced around and even waved his finger at the crowd while Yagin was attempting a guillotine choke. Assuncao was respectful afterward and said he was just trying to get in his opponent’s head, but the crowd booed Assuncao’s antics, and as far as I’m concerned, the stock of both Assuncao and Yagin is down after that fight.
Fight I want to see next It looks like we’re finally getting close to seeing Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans, the grudge match between the two training partners that’s been talked about for months. Seeing Jones and Evans in the Octagon together after Jones won the UFC 135 main event was a great reminder that for as dominant as Jones has looked, he’s not without legitimate challengers.
You probably have more of a life than I do, which means you probably haven’t watched as much mixed martial arts on TV as I have in the last couple days. But if you wanted to, you could have.
On Friday night I had two TVs going in one room, one on HDNet and one on Showtime, as I watched both the Titan Fighting Championships and Strikeforce cards. After a few hours of sleep I got up very early Saturday morning and watched the Dream card on HDNet. On Saturday evening I kept an eye on Bellator on MTV2 while watching the UFC fights on Facebook, on Spike and on pay-per-view.
I watched about three dozen live MMA fights in a span of just over 24 hours from Friday night through Saturday night. As an MMA fan, I was in heaven.
The story everyone is talking about coming out of UFC 135 is Jon Jones‘ impressive title defense over Rampage Jackson, but what this weekend really solidified to me was just how far this sport has come, and how much good MMA there is for the fans to watch. It wasn’t that long ago, before the UFC got on basic cable with The Ultimate Fighter, that getting a chance to watch live MMA was a special occasion for fans. In 2004 — the last year before The Ultimate Fighter — the UFC put on only five fight cards, for the entire year, and all of them were on pay-per-view. Other MMA promotions existed, but few fans ever got to see them live. Now there’s so much MMA on TV that even the hardest of hard-core fans miss some fights. It’s impossible to see it all.
And it’s only getting better. With a UFC heavyweight title fight coming to Fox in November, MMA will really be everywhere. This sport has accomplished so much in so little time that those of us who love it don’t often stop to consider how lucky we are to have so many MMA options available to us. Probably because we’re too busy watching fights.
UFC 135 notes — The UFC 135 main event was a good demonstration of how much this sport has changed: Rampage is one of the great fighters of the last decade, but he’s a fundamentally one-dimensional fighter. Jones is on a completely different level, with far more ways to win a fight. The amazing thing about the way this sport continues to evolve is that some day someone will come along whose fighting style makes Jones look old-fashioned.
— James Te-Huna had never fought outside Australia before Saturday night, as the UFC mostly had him on the roster as a local guy to throw on the undercard in their trips Down Under. But Te-Huna got his first chance to fight in the Octagon on U.S. soil at UFC 135, and he delivered in a big way with a terrific first-round knockout of Ricardo Romero. When Romero went for a low takedown attempt, Te-Huna made him pay for it with a huge low punch that knocked him cold. The whole fight lasted just 47 seconds.
— We haven’t seen a lot of top-notch talent come out of The Ultimate Fighter in the last couple years, but Tony Ferguson, who won Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter, might just be a future star. Ferguson knocked out everyone he faced on The Ultimate Fighter, and he showed off the same lethal striking against Aaron Riley on Saturday night. Ferguson is a force to be reckoned with.
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UFC 135 quotes — “I just want to say thanks to Matt Hughes for taking this fight late in his career. He’s a legend and I’m really proud that I had the opportunity to fight a legend like Matt Hughes.”–Josh Koscheck, after beating Matt Hughes in what may have been the final fight of Hughes’ career. Although Koscheck plays up the role of villain in the UFC, Koscheck’s post-fight comments toward Hughes were pure class.
— “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy this tired in the Octagon before.”–UFC announcer Joe Rogan on Ben Rothwell in the third round of his loss to Mark Hunt. The Denver altitude didn’t help, of course, but Rothwell really looked like he needs to work on his conditioning.
Good call — Greg Jackson, in the corner of Aaron Riley, did exactly the right thing to protect his fighter after the first round, when Tony Ferguson broke Riley’s jaw with an upper cut. Riley went to his corner and said he had a broken jaw, and Jackson immediately told the referee, “It’s over.” That’s what the corner man is supposed to do.
Bad call — Two of the three judges gave Junior Assuncao a 10-8 third round in his victory over Eddie Yagin, as they should have, but I want to know what the judge who only scored it a 10-9 was thinking. Assuncao spent the better part of the round on top of Yagin, pounding away, and provided a textbook example of what should earn a fighter a 10-8 round. Some judges are too hesitant to award 10-8 rounds, and the one who only scored the third 10-9 for Assuncao is one of them.
Stock up — Tim Boetsch is looking great at middleweight. If you look at the fights Boetsch has lost in his career, they were all against big, strong light heavyweights who could overpower him: Boetsch’s four career losses are to Vladimir Matyushenko, Matt Hamill, Jason Brilz and Phil Davis. Now that Boetsch is at middleweight, he’s overpowering people and earning his “Barbarian” nickname. Boetsch easily beat Nick Ring and is now 2-0 as a middleweight. “I’m loving middleweight so far,” Boetsch said afterward.
Stock down — I didn’t like the antics between Assuncao and Yagin at the weigh-ins, when the two of them acted like they wanted to brawl right then and there. And I really didn’t like how tentative both of them looked once they actually got into the Octagon: If you’re going to act like you’re eager for a knock-down, drag-out battle, don’t step into the cage and act like it’s a staring contest. Assuncao won easily, but he did far too much showboating: He raised his hands up, shuffled his feet, danced around and even waved his finger at the crowd while Yagin was attempting a guillotine choke. Assuncao was respectful afterward and said he was just trying to get in his opponent’s head, but the crowd booed Assuncao’s antics, and as far as I’m concerned, the stock of both Assuncao and Yagin is down after that fight.
Fight I want to see next It looks like we’re finally getting close to seeing Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans, the grudge match between the two training partners that’s been talked about for months. Seeing Jones and Evans in the Octagon together after Jones won the UFC 135 main event was a great reminder that for as dominant as Jones has looked, he’s not without legitimate challengers.
Filed under: UFC, NewsThe UFC’s version of “Spygate” may still be lingering, but it doesn’t matter much now. One of the most anticipated title fights in recent UFC memory goes down Saturday, spy or no spy.
The UFC‘s version of “Spygate” may still be lingering, but it doesn’t matter much now. One of the most anticipated title fights in recent UFC memory goes down Saturday, spy or no spy.
Main event light heavyweights Jon Jones and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson were both on the mark Friday for their title fight, which headlines UFC 135 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The official weigh-in event took place at the Wells Fargo Theater at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
Jones defends the light heavyweight title for the first time since winning it against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 in March. He took that fight on short notice, filling in for then-teammate Rashad Evans when Evans was hurt. Evans now waits in the wings to fight the winner of Jones-Jackson.
Jones, who typically looks away from his opponents during staredowns at the weigh-ins, this time looked right at Jackson and the two talked back and forth to each other in animated fashion before being split apart by UFC president Dana White.
“I had to tell him I’m going to end his hype tomorrow, that’s what I told him,” Jackson told emcee Joe Rogan. “It’s about time he grew up and started acting like a real MMA fighter. We stare each other down – that’s what we do in the UFC.”
Jones had very little to say: “I feel real good. I’ve done enough talking, and it’s time for me to show what I’ve got now. So let’s do it.”
The training camp period for the title fight was interrupted by controversy after Jackson’s camp accused the Jones camp of planting a spy to monitor the challenger’s training – which Jones’ side vehemently denied.
In the co-main event, former title challenger Josh Koscheck returns for the first time since losing to welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in December. He takes a short notice fight against UFC Hall of Famer and former world champion Matt Hughes. Koscheck was 170.5 pounds; Hughes was 170.
The main card opens with an intriguing lightweight fight between up-and-down fighters Nate Diaz and Takanori Gomi. Diaz has lost two straight fights, but is always a candidate for an exciting bout. And Gomi has lost two of three since joining the UFC after a lengthy career in Japan. Both losses have been by submission.
And in a pair of heavyweight fights, Travis Browne looks to remain unbeaten when he meets Rob Broughton. And former IFL star Ben Rothwell returns after a long injury layoff to meet Mark Hunt.
The preliminary card features five fights. The first three will stream live on the UFC’s Facebook fan page, including a bantamweight bout between former title challenger Takeya Mizugaki and Cole Escovedo.
Those three fights will be followed by a pair of bouts on Spike TV starting at 8 p.m. Eastern. Tony Ferguson, winner of Season 13 of “The Ultimate Fighter” this past June, fights for the first time since winning that title. He’ll drop down to lightweight to take on veteran Aaron Riley. And at middleweight, Tim Boetsch meets TUF veteran Nick Ring.
UFC 135 takes place Saturday with the main card airing on pay-per-view at 9 p.m. Eastern.
The complete weigh-in results are below:
Main Card
Jon Jones (204.5) vs. Quinton Jackson (204)
Matt Hughes (170) vs. Josh Koscheck (170.5)
Ben Rothwell (263) vs. Mark Hunt (261)
Travis Browne (255) vs. Rob Broughton (261)
Nate Diaz (156) vs. Takanori Gomi (155) Preliminary Card
Tony Ferguson (155) vs. Aaron Riley (155)
Nick Ring (185) vs. Tim Boetsch (186)
Junior Assunção (145) vs. Eddie Yagin (145)
Takeya Mizugaki (135) vs. Cole Escovedo (135)
James Te Huna (205) vs. Ricardo Romero (205)
Ferguson, who beat Ramsey Nijem at the TUF 13 Finale in Las Vegas on June 4 with a first-round knockout, will face Aaron Riley in a lightweight bout at UFC 135 on Sept. 24 in Denver. The UFC announced the fight booking on Twitter on Monday night.
Ferguson (11-2, 1-0 UFC) has won four straight fights, including his UFC debut victory over Nijem, which also netted him a $40,000 Knockout of the Night bonus to go along with his guaranteed UFC contract. That fight was at welterweight. Against Riley (30-12-1, 3-4 UFC), Ferguson will return to the lightweight division.
On Season 13 of TUF, Ferguson fought for coach Brock Lesnar’s team. The three wins Ferguson had in the TUF house to reach the live finale were all knockouts or TKOs. Those those three fights are not official, if counted he has seven straight TKO or KO victories. After taping for the season finished, Ferguson trained at Lesnar’s Death Clutch camp in Minnesota to prepare for his fight with Nijem.
Riley has been out of action for more than a year, since a unanimous decision win over Joe Brammer at UFC 114 in May 2010. Riley, an Indiana native, was expected to return at UFC 119 in Indianapolis last September, but pulled out of his fight with Pat Audinwood with an injury. When he returns in September, it will be after a 16-month layoff.
Riley, whose primary training home is with Greg Jackson’s camp in Albuquerque, N.M., is in his third stint with the UFC. He was one-and-done with losses to Robbie Lawler at UFC 37 and Spencer Fisher at Fight Night 3. Since returning at UFC 91, Riley has gone 3-2, but hasn’t put together consecutive wins. His three wins have all been by unanimous decision.
UFC 135 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver. It will be the promotion’s first trip to Colorado since the first UFC on Versus event in March 2010, which took place in the north Denver suburb of Broomfield. The UFC hasn’t been to Denver proper since UFC: The Ultimate Ultimate in December 1995. UFC 1 and UFC 2 also took place in Denver.
UFC 135 is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones, making his first defense, and former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Also on the card, Hall of Famer and former welterweight champion Matt Hughes will face former lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez.
Filed under: UFC, NewsFour years ago, Takanori Gomi fought Nick Diaz in one of the best fights in the history of Pride. Now Gomi is slated to get a crack at Diaz’s little brother.
The UFC has announced that Gomi will face Nate Diaz at UFC 135, adding …
Four years ago, Takanori Gomi fought Nick Diaz in one of the best fights in the history of Pride. Now Gomi is slated to get a crack at Diaz’s little brother.
The UFC has announced that Gomi will face Nate Diaz at UFC 135, adding what should be a very entertaining lightweight fight to the September 24 card in Denver.
Gomi’s fight with Nick Diaz was a classic. Gomi, the Pride lightweight champion, entered as the favorite, but Diaz wore him out with his wild striking and his activity off his back, eventually submitting Gomi with a gogoplata in the second round. The bout was later changed to a no contest because Diaz tested positive for marijuana, but fans still remember it as a great fight, and as the performance that put Diaz on the map.
UFC President Dana White made a point of commenting on the previous Gomi-Diaz fight in announcing the next Gomi-Diaz fight, and you can bet highlights from that 2007 Pride bout will be shown regularly in the run-up to UFC 135. We can only hope Nate Diaz, who’s moving back down to lightweight after looking sluggish at welterweight, can look half as good against Gomi as his brother did.
Filed under: UFC, NewsHeavyweight knockout artist Travis Browne has an opponent and date for his next fight, two weeks after his KO of the Night-winning performance at UFC 130. Browne has agreed to face former British Cage Rage champion Robert Broughto…
Heavyweight knockout artist Travis Browne has an opponent and date for his next fight, two weeks after his KO of the Night-winning performance at UFC 130. Browne has agreed to face former British Cage Rage champion Robert Broughton at UFC 135, according to UFC president Dana White on UFC.com.
Browne-Broughton joins another recently confirmed heavyweight matchup on the card, Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt.
At UFC 130, Browne (11-0-1) immediately gained relevance in the UFC heavyweight division with a Superman Punch finish against Stefan Struve. Entering the fight off a draw against Cheick Kongo, Browne with the win over Struve moved his record in the UFC to 2-0-1.. Broughton (15-5-1) won his UFC debut last October and hasn’t competed since.
Rothwell (31-7) fought only once last year, defeating Gilbert Yvel via unanimous decision at UFC 115. After the fight, Rothwell underwent knee surgery and has been sidelined without a fight until recently. Hunt (6-7) fought earlier in February, scoring a KO of the Night at UFC 127 over Chris Tuchscherer. The win ended Hunt’s six-fight losing streak that spanned nearly five years.
You probably have more of a life than I do, which means you probably haven’t watched as much mixed martial arts on TV as I have in the last couple days. But if you wanted to, you could have.
The 
Tony Ferguson
Four years ago, 
Heavyweight knockout artist