Major props to our buddies over at MiddleEasy for passing along today’s entry in the Uriah Hall “Did He Died?” Head Kick Hall of Fame, which comes courtesy of last Friday’s STFC: Bad Blood event. In a lightweight contest pitting Vaughn Govia (dubbed Vaughn Goby in the above video) against Miguel “Mikey” Saenz, Govia decides after a few seconds of fight time that a switch from traditional to southpaw stance is in order. Saenz takes note of this and likewise decides that the best way to counter the switch is with a lazy jab. He is mistaken.
Govia responds by firing off a head kick that sends Saenz crashing to the canvas in what we shall now refer to as King slow-Mo, and just like that, another fantastic knockout in what has been a year already chock-full of them is born. Now someone go find a spatula to peel Saenz off the canvas.
Major props to our buddies over at MiddleEasy for passing along today’s entry in the Uriah Hall “Did He Died?” Head Kick Hall of Fame, which comes courtesy of last Friday’s STFC: Bad Blood event. In a lightweight contest pitting Vaughn Govia (dubbed Vaughn Goby in the above video) against Miguel “Mikey” Saenz, Govia decides after a few seconds of fight time that a switch from traditional to southpaw stance is in order. Saenz takes note of this and likewise decides that the best way to counter the switch is with a lazy jab. He is mistaken.
Govia responds by firing off a head kick that sends Saenz crashing to the canvas in what we shall now refer to as King slow-Mo, and just like that, another fantastic knockout in what has been a year already chock-full of them is born. Now someone go find a spatula to peel Saenz off the canvas.
(“I’LL ASK YOU ONE MORE TIME, JAY, WHO TATTOOED THIS AFFLICTION SHIRT TO YOUR BACK?!”)
If the first month is any indication, 2013 is going to be a good year for MMA. There hasn’t been a significant injury in weeks (sorry Patricky), title fights are almost starting to make sense, and on top of it all, the UFC’s primetime ratings are slowly beginning their climb out of the abyss. Throw in the fact that Bruce Buffer’s upcoming autobiography is all but a shoe-in for a Pulitzer and we are left with little to complain about. It feels…good.
So before we jinx ourselves, let’s get to the great news regarding the preliminary portion of UFC 156, which was able to pull in record numbers during its run on FX last Saturday despite the fact that it featured several debuting fighters and not a lot of name power. As MMAFighting’s Dave Meltzer reports:
Saturday’s UFC 156 prelims drew 1,897,000 viewers, topping the previous UFC on FX record of 1,860,000 viewers set two weeks earlier for the Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping card from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The number was a huge increase from the prelims on FX on Jan. 26 before the FOX network special from Chicago’s United Center which did 1,208,000 viewers.
The largest previous audience on FX for prelims before a big show came on July 7 when theUFC 148 prelims did 1.8 million viewers. But that was to be expected, since there was more interest in UFC on that day with the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen middleweight title rematch than any day over the past two years.
After almost ten minutes of research, we have determined that there are only two real explanations for the UFC’s sudden viewership jump:
(“I’LL ASK YOU ONE MORE TIME, JAY, WHO TATTOOED THIS AFFLICTION SHIRT TO YOUR BACK?!”)
If the first month is any indication, 2013 is going to be a good year for MMA. There hasn’t been a significant injury in weeks (sorry Patricky), title fights are almost starting to make sense, and on top of it all, the UFC’s primetime ratings are slowly beginning their climb out of the abyss. Throw in the fact that Bruce Buffer’s upcoming autobiography is all but a shoe-in for a Pulitzer and we are left with little to complain about. It feels…good.
So before we jinx ourselves, let’s get to the great news regarding the preliminary portion of UFC 156, which was able to pull in record numbers during its run on FX last Saturday despite the fact that it featured several debuting fighters and not a lot of name power. As MMAFighting’s Dave Meltzer reports:
Saturday’s UFC 156 prelims drew 1,897,000 viewers, topping the previous UFC on FX record of 1,860,000 viewers set two weeks earlier for the Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping card from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The number was a huge increase from the prelims on FX on Jan. 26 before the FOX network special from Chicago’s United Center which did 1,208,000 viewers.
The largest previous audience on FX for prelims before a big show came on July 7 when theUFC 148 prelims did 1.8 million viewers. But that was to be expected, since there was more interest in UFC on that day with the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen middleweight title rematch than any day over the past two years.
After almost ten minutes of research, we have determined that there are only two real explanations for the UFC’s sudden viewership jump:
1) Americans were riding the violence-fueled high that only the anticipation of the Super Bowl can bring.
2) Jacob Volkmann‘s cult of survivalist troglodytes has gained a far greater following than we previously thought possible. This is probably the correct answer.
Unfortunately, not all is well in the land of UFC ratings…
Granted, these numbers aren’t even in the same ballpark as the shameful lows last season brought, but it kind of makes you wonder how an episode that received so much more publicity failed to stir up the same amount of interest. Any ideas as to this drop in ratings, Taters?
The UFC was so damn proud of the Edson Barboza-esque knockout that Uriah Hall laid on Adam Cella during last night’s episode of TUF, that they actually made it available on YouTube along with some extended aftermath footage. And come to think of it, I can’t think of a knockout from the show’s history that was more impressive — or more brutal — than this one, especially considering how long Cella was unconscious. Cella did in fact go to the hospital for a CAT scan when he woke up, but it looks like the black dude in the ambulance that they kept showing in promos was footage from a different fight. (Could be the next one, actually.)
Hall’s win makes him an iron-clad front-runner for the $25,000 Knockout of the Season prize, and puts Team Sonnen up 2-0 in the preliminary round. A couple other notable moments from episode 3…
The UFC was so damn proud of the Edson Barboza-esque knockout that Uriah Hall laid on Adam Cella during last night’s episode of TUF, that they actually made it available on YouTube along with some extended aftermath footage. And come to think of it, I can’t think of a knockout from the show’s history that was more impressive — or more brutal — than this one, especially considering how long Cella was unconscious. Cella did in fact go to the hospital for a CAT scan when he woke up, but it looks like the black dude in the ambulance that they kept showing in promos was footage from a different fight. (Could be the next one, actually.)
Hall’s win makes him an iron-clad front-runner for the $25,000 Knockout of the Season prize, and puts Team Sonnen up 2-0 in the preliminary round. A couple other notable moments from episode 3…
– While hanging out at the house, Hall makes reference to the fact that Tor Troeng is a “professional cooker.” Josh Samman points out that the actual term for that is “chef.” Hall feels belittled in the exchange, and vows to go after Samman next. It’s such a thin line between life and death.
– Even before the Hall vs. Cella fight happens, Team Sonnen decides that they’re sending in their #6 pick Kevin Casey to fight next. Bubba McDaniel continues to lobby for a fight against Casey, and is once again overlooked, as Team Sonnen selects Casey vs. Collin Hart for next week’s matchup. At this point, it seems like Team Sonnen is intentionally keeping McDaniel on ice just to mess with his head — and it’s definitely working.
Team Sonnen
Luke Barnatt – quarterfinalist, defeated Gilbert Smith
Uriah Hall – quarterfinalist, defeated Adam Cella
Zak Cummings
Tor Troeng
Jimmy Quinlan
Kevin Casey
Kelvin Gastelum
Team Jones
Clint Hester
Josh Samman
Robert “Bubba” McDaniel Gilbert Smith
Collin Hart Adam Cella
Dylan Andrews
