Uriah Hall entered the UFC with plenty of promise after scoring several spectacular finishes on The Ultimate Fighter. After finishing as a runner-up to Kelvin Gastelum, Hall has seen plenty of highs and a handful of lows during his run inside the Octagon. In fact, this past Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 116, he […]
Uriah Hall entered the UFC with plenty of promise after scoring several spectacular finishes on The Ultimate Fighter. After finishing as a runner-up to Kelvin Gastelum, Hall has seen plenty of highs and a handful of lows during his run inside the Octagon. In fact, this past Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 116, he […]
UFC returned to Pittsburgh for another Fight Night event Saturday.
In the main event, Luke Rockhold defeated David Branch to cement his status as one of the best middleweights in the world. However, what comes next is not clear.
UFC middleweight champi…
UFC returned to Pittsburgh for another Fight Night event Saturday.
In the main event, Luke Rockhold defeated David Branch to cement his status as one of the best middleweights in the world. However, what comes next is not clear.
UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has a date with Georges St-Pierre in November, and interim champion Robert Whittaker waits in the wings following that bout. So what’s next for Rockhold?
In the co-main event, Mike Perry iced Alex Reyes to continue showcasing his fight-ending power. It’s not the level of opponent he was originally slated to have, which may affect how far up the ranks he moves and, consequently, the level of opponent he gets next.
So what are the fights to book for Rockhold and Perry? What about Branch and Reyes? We’re here to answer just that. We’ll also take a look at the other eight fights that made up the card in the Steel City. Ready to play matchmaker?
Here are the fights to make for the winners and losers out of UFC Fight Night 116.
After a controversial ending to the exciting back-and-forth bout between Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez at last weekend’s (Sat., May 13, 2017) UFC 211 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, longtime MMA referee Herb Dean has fallen under an intense shroud of criticism from some of his MMA peers and many fans. Overall,
After a controversial ending to the exciting back-and-forth bout between Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez at last weekend’s (Sat., May 13, 2017) UFC 211 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, longtime MMA referee Herb Dean has fallen under an intense shroud of criticism from some of his MMA peers and many fans.
Overall, Dean has been a consistent veteran referee of the sport, even once earning the high praise of Dana White as the ‘best in the sport.’ But even the best make mistakes from time to time, and his doubters would definitely have you believe that Dean is slowly losing his edge as the best due to a series of inconsistent decisions in recent years.
That may or may not be true, but there’s no doubt that Dean has made some head-scratching errors in the cage lately nonetheless. Let’s take a look at five of the worst.
Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Dustin Poirier vs. Eddie Alvarez – UFC 211
We’ll get the freshest example of a Dean screw-up out of the way first. After the early part of this anticipated prelim card headliner saw “The Diamond” rock Alvarez with a bevy of big shots, the former champion rallied back impressively to actually land some big strikes of his own when it looked like he was finished.
He got Poirier to the ground, and with the current state of knees to a grounded opponent one of the biggest messes in MMA, unleashed three knees that two of which may have been legal under one set of rules of another, while the third was most definitely illegal.
It also injured Poirier to the point of where he said he could not continue, making it seem as if he won by disqualification. But Dean declared it a no contest, deeming Alvarez unintentional in his strike and saying he was simply caught up in the moment. But that could be said about any illegal strike in any fight, and the rules are in place for a reason. Many have agreed Dean made a huge error in calling this a NC, and Poirier is already appealing the decision.
Renan Barao vs. Urijah Faber – UFC 169
This bantamweight title bout in February 2014 was a showcase fight for Barao, who at the time was considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. In a bit of hyperbole, Joe Rogan even called him the best.
Anyway, the Nova Uniao champion was having his way with Faber, who filled in for an injured Dominick Cruz, in the early-going of the fight, landing big shots and dropping the tough “The California Kid.” Faber may have been absorbing a lot of damage, yet he gave a clear thumbs-up to Dean while Barao was unloading a barrage of pitter-patter strikes on the ground that were nowhere near as damaging as his previous ones standing.
Now a thumbs-up from a fighter certainly isn’t enough to warrant a bout being continued, but it does show that Faber was at least coherent. Barao was exactly landing knockout blows, either. He also pled with Dean to stop the bout, signaling he needed some assistance with the job rather than leaving no doubt. Dean did that for him, and has since taken a ton of flack for what’s perceived as an early stoppage.
Chas Skelly vs. Maximo Blanco – UFC Fight Night 94
This featherweight match-up saw an absolutely brutal submission finish, but it didn’t have tor be that way if Dean had been a bit more attentive at his job. Skilled wrestler Skelly had used an excellent transition on the mat to lock on a tight Anaconda choke that had Blanco in very bad shape in the bout. Skelly told Dean his opponent was out as he lay there with his arms splayed out on the canvas not moving, but Dean still had to make sure he was when there was no way Skelly was trying to pull a fast one on him.
After he finally called it, Blanco was out for some time, and Dean drew a ton of heat for not calling the submission sooner.
Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Bubba Jenkins – Bellator 132
Like Skelly vs. Blanco, this bout is an example of Dean letting a fighter hold onto a choke for far too long. In this match, Karakhanyan locked up a tight standing guillotine choke on touted wrestler Jenkins that ended the bout rather quickly.
Like Skelly, Karakhanyan yelled at Dean that the fight was done, repeatedly yelling that he was out. But Dean didn’t believe him and let it continue on for some reason, letting Karakhanyan crank on the submission until Jenkins was out himself.
Not Dean’s finest moment, and another example of when he was unwilling to call a fight off by technical submission that resulted in a fighter’s health being put in jeopardy.
Photo Credit: Sean Porkorny for USA TODAY Sports
Uriah Hall vs. Derek Brunson – UFC Fight Night 94
This result, which also took place at UFC Fight Night 94, may be a bit more questionable, as Hall was clearly rocked by a big left hook from a charging Brunson.
However, he appeared to be intelligently defending himself by grabbing for a single leg, and immediately got back up to protest when the fight was called off.
Dean defended himself by saying Hall was wobbled and in trouble, but there’s certainly a case to be made for allowing the fight to continue for at least a few more seconds, something Dean obviously had no problem doing when the previous two mistakes on this list involved chokes being held onto far after a fighter had tapped.
It’s a fine line, true, but if Dean is going to allow fighters to be put in fight-ending submissions for a long while after they’ve tapped out, then you’d think he would want to give fighters who were rocked but still conscious a chance to fight back too. That’s what makes being a ref in MMA so tough, and while Dean has certainly proved his worth over many years, his calls have become inconsistent as of late.
Anderson Silva’s fighting future is currently quite unclear. The 41-year-old former longtime middleweight kingpin, who’s coming off of a decision victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 208 this past February in Brooklyn, was scheduled to take on rising contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 on June 3, 2017 in Brazil, but Gastelum was forced to
Anderson Silva’s fighting future is currently quite unclear.
The 41-year-old former longtime middleweight kingpin, who’s coming off of a decision victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 208 this past February in Brooklyn, was scheduled to take on rising contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 on June 3, 2017 in Brazil, but Gastelum was forced to withdraw from the bout after being flagged by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) for an anti-doping violation.
Silva recently announced that he had ended his training camp and that he would not fighting at UFC 212, while hinting at a possible retirement in the process.
Today (May 9, 2017), however, Silva was called out by No. 12-ranked Uriah Hall on Twitter:
@SpiderAnderson let’s make a fight happen for the fans. we have unfinished business….
Silva and Hall were scheduled to do battle at UFC 198 in Brazil last year, but “The Spider” was forced out of the bout after suffering a gall bladder injury.
Hall has hit some rough times as of late, losing three straight bouts to the likes of Robert Whittaker, Brunson and Gegard Mousasi, but he remains an exciting fighter and a known name. He may represent the perfect challenge for Silva at this stage of the Brazilian’s career.
Derek Brunson was on top of the world and riding a five fight winning streak heading into UFC Fight Night 101 last November, but he hit a wall against Robert Whittaker. Now, Brunson will look to get back on the winning track at UFC 208, but it won’t be easy he is fighting former UFC
Derek Brunson was on top of the world and riding a five fight winning streak heading into UFC Fight Night 101 last November, but he hit a wall against Robert Whittaker. Now, Brunson will look to get back on the winning track at UFC 208, but it won’t be easy he is fighting former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the co-main event
Even though Silva is known for his excellent striking and knockout ability, Brunson believes that he has already faced someone that has the same level of stand-up skills that are similar to Silva, which is Uriah Hall, whom Brunson faced at UFC Fight Night 94, which saw Brunson defeat Hall by first-round TKO.
“Uriah Hall is on the level of Anderson Silva’s striking, Brunson told Sherdog. “I’m not saying better or less than but another striker. And I was able to knock him out moving forward.”
While Silva hasn’t had the best run inside the Octagon over the last couple of years, Brunson knows he can’t take Silva, who has been talking about making another run at the title, too lightly.
“I’m looking at, I’m fighting a guy who is not as fast as he used to be, but this guy has all of the skills in the world. And considered the best fighter of all time,” Brunson said. “So, whereas everybody else is looking at it like losses, I mean, how did he lose? Those fights were all close, and then it was unfortunate events in those fights. So, I think I’m getting a very game and ready fighter.”
UFC 208 takes place on February 11, 2017, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Fighters competing in the UFC’s Octagon probably seem like the last people on earth who would have been bullied while growing up, but in some cases it was experiencing that adversity during their childhood that led to them discovering martial arts in the first place. In fact, as you’ll discover in this article, it’s a
Fighters competing in the UFC’s Octagon probably seem like the last people on earth who would have been bullied while growing up, but in some cases it was experiencing that adversity during their childhood that led to them discovering martial arts in the first place.
In fact, as you’ll discover in this article, it’s a real eye-opener to discover just how many of MMA’s biggest stars have painful memories of being picked on, beaten up and made fun of before they knew how to defend themselves.
The 10 UFC stars we’ll discuss here are living proof that martial arts can have a positive effect on bullied kids’ lives, not only teaching them how to fight, but also giving them self-confidence, self esteem, and a sense of belonging, and in some cases even paving the way for a successful career under the bright lights of the Octagon.
Georges St-Pierre
UFC legend Georges St-Pierre was so affected by being picked on as a child that he started his own anti-bullying foundation after he became a star.
As a skinny, self-confessed nerd with acne problems, St-Pierre became a target for older bullies in the small town of St. Isadore, Quebec, Canada that he grew up in.
In his book, ‘The Way Of The Fight,’ GSP recalls one particularly humiliating incident when he was just nine years old that saw three 12-year-old troublemakers jump him, steal his lunch money and strip him of his clothes, while other classmates just looked on and laughed.
Many years later, St-Pierre was hailed as a hero as he returned to that same school as a UFC welterweight champion and all-time great in the sport of mixed martial arts to speak to students about how to overcome the challenges of bullying.
For St-Pierre, being a victim of harassment helped fuel his interest in martial arts and eventually led to him becoming strong enough to defend himself.
“By 14, 15, nobody could touch me,” he recalled in an interview with Yahoo! Sports, but his real message to other victims is that even if they don’t follow the same path he did, that the bad times won’t last forever.
“Things change,” he promised. “When you’re young you think everything will stay the same. It won’t. Everything will change. You just have to keep going.”
