Our host, Steve Cofield of Cagewriter.com once again breaks down the betting odds with Damon Martin from MMAWeekly.com and Larry Pepe from ProMMARadio.com. This time the MMA expert analysts talk UFC 132. And though our.
Our host, Steve Cofield of Cagewriter.com once again breaks down the betting odds with Damon Martin from MMAWeekly.com and Larry Pepe from ProMMARadio.com. This time the MMA expert analysts talk UFC 132. And though our experts can usually agree on their picks, it looks like Martin and Pepe have some clear division on who the best bets are in the top 3 main card fights.
UFC 132 will take place on Saturday, July 2 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The main event will feature the first UFC bantamweight title fight ever as Dominick Cruz defends his title against the only feature to ever defeat him, …
UFC 132 will take place on Saturday, July 2 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The main event will feature the first UFC bantamweight title fight ever as Dominick Cruz defends his title against the only feature to ever defeat him, Urijah Faber.
The co-main event will feature the long awaited return of Wanderlei Silva, who is set to face Chris Leben. Also appearing on the main card will be Tito Ortiz who will be fighting for his UFC career when he faces Ryan Bader.
Recently the UFC released an extended video preview of the July 2 fight card. Early in the preview the main event fighters mention their previous meeting. “Knowing that I’m Dominick’s only loss, it’s gotta really get on his nerves,” Faber(25-4) said. Cruz(17-1) commented that the 2007 loss, “It left a mark on my brain, he’s next on my hit list, I’m going to whoop his butt, I’m going to do it.”
Cruz and Faber then speak about the genesis of their dislike for each other.
UFC 132: 10 Memorable Sports Moments Since Tito Ortiz Last Won a FightTito Ortiz will be fighting for his UFC career when he meets Ryan Bader on Saturday, July 2. UFC president Dana White has said that Ortiz’s UFC 132 fight against Bader is his l…
UFC 132: 10 Memorable Sports Moments Since Tito Ortiz Last Won a Fight
Tito Ortiz will be fighting for his UFC career when he meets Ryan Bader on Saturday, July 2. UFC president Dana Whitehas said that Ortiz’s UFC 132 fight against Bader is his last chance with the promotion—in short, if he loses he will almost assuredly be released.
Ortiz has not won a fight for quite some time. How long’s it been, you ask? Well, how about October 10, 2006. On that day, Ortiz defeated Ken Shamrock via first-round TKO.
Since that time, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” has gone 0-4-1, losing to Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin and Matt Hamill. His draw came in a bout against Rashad Evans.
So, it’s been close to five years since Ortiz’s last win.
UFC 132 Fight Card: Will A Win Put Carlos Condit In Line For A Title Shot?Bleacher Report’s Andrew Barr:The UFC’s welterweight division is a mess right now.Current champion Georges St-Pierre has been so dominant over all of the divisions top contende…
UFC 132 Fight Card: Will A Win Put Carlos Condit In Line For A Title Shot?
Bleacher Report’s Andrew Barr:
The UFC’s welterweight division is a mess right now.
Current champion Georges St-Pierre has been so dominant over all of the divisions top contenders that the UFC is having an incredibly hard time finding marketable contenders for him. There are a lot of fighters at welterweight that GSP has not yet faced, the problem is that none of them have looked good enough to make the fans say, “that guy might be able to take St-Pierre out”.
It’s a very hard thing to get fans excited about a title challenger when they’re almost certain he will lose.
Carlos Condit has been working hard lately to prove to the UFC and fans alike that he is ready for Georges.
Condit is riding a three fight win streak, with his most recent win being a first round knock out of Dan Hardy. This is significant because St-Pierre has fought Hardy and defeated him, but was unable to finish the fight.
UFC 132 Fight Card: A Look at Tito Ortiz Last Five Fights: UFC 84 Tito vs. Lyoto MachidaBleacher Report’s Andrew Mahlmann:Tito Ortiz’s career has been in a nose dive…if you look at just his record over the past five years.He has not won a fight in hi…
UFC 132 Fight Card: A Look at Tito Ortiz Last Five Fights: UFC 84 Tito vs. Lyoto Machida
Bleacher Report’s Andrew Mahlmann:
Tito Ortiz‘s career has been in a nose dive…if you look at just his record over the past five years.
He has not won a fight in his past five fights and is riding a three-fight losing skid.
Earlier in his career, Ortiz was carrying the flag for MMA as he was the reigning light-heavyweight champion and defended his title a record five times.
Clearly he has fallen on much harder times.
His detractors are also quick to point out that his last two victories were over a washed-up fighter in Ken Shamrock.
While Ortiz does have a lot to prove if he wants to be relevant, he is not as washed up as people make him out to be.
He may not be winning, but if you look closely at his last five fights, he has only been stopped by one man and the 36-year old former-champion still has quite a bit of fight left in him.
Aside from a nice takedown from Machida late in Round 1, not much happened through the first two rounds.
Ortiz pressed forward aggressively while Machida continually circled away.
The third round was more interesting as Machida dropped Ortiz with a brilliant knee to the body.
Not to be out-done, Ortiz showed his resilience and technique by coming within an inch of submitting Machida with a beautiful triangle/armbar.
Machida received the decision, but Ortiz was understandably frustrated by Machida’s clear unwillingness to engage throughout the majority of the fight.
Filed under: UFCThe first bantamweight title fight in UFC history will take place at UFC 132, with Dominick Cruz, the 135-pound champion from World Extreme Cagefighting, set to make his Octagon debut against the only man ever to defeat him, Urijah Fabe…
The first bantamweight title fight in UFC history will take place at UFC 132, with Dominick Cruz, the 135-pound champion from World Extreme Cagefighting, set to make his Octagon debut against the only man ever to defeat him, Urijah Faber. That’s the headliner on what promises to be a solid top-to-bottom card, and we’ve got the predictions right here.
What: UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber
When: Saturday, Spike card begins at 8 PM ET and the pay-per-view starts at 9.
Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber I’ve agonized over how this fight is going to go, and I’ve changed my mind about 10 times. There are just so many possibilities.
One possibility — and it’s a possibility not many people even seem to be considering — is that Faber is just a better fighter than Cruz, matches up well with him, and will beat him handily. That’s certainly how it looked the first time these two guys fought: Faber had absolutely no trouble getting Cruz to the ground, sinking in a tight guillotine choke, and forcing Cruz to tap after just 98 seconds of fighting.
Another possibility is that Cruz has improved so much — and Faber has declined so much — that Cruz is now far better than Faber. After all, the 25-year-old Cruz looks like he’s just entering his prime and has won eight straight fights since losing to Faber. But the 32-year-old Faber looks like he’s slowing down, and is just 4-3 in his last seven fights.
The final possibility is that Cruz and Faber are more or less equally matched, and their fight could go any number of ways. Cruz could use his reach advantage and his point-fighting style of striking to keep Faber at bay and win a decision. Faber could use his superior wrestling to take the fight to the ground and win it there. Cruz could surprise us by showing a submission game that has been absent from his past fights. Faber could do something crazy with his dynamic, unpredictable style. Basically, the final possibility is that we should expect the unexpected.
That last possibility is more or less what I expect, but when it’s all said and done I think we’re going to have an upset, and we’re going to have a new champion. Pick: Faber
Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben Silva is returning to the Octagon on the day before his 35th birthday, after almost a year and a half away. We really have no way of knowing if he has anything left: Yes, he beat Michael Bisping in his last fight, but he had lost five of his last six heading into that fight, and now ring rust is going to be a factor.
On the other hand, Leben is nowhere near as talented a fighter as Silva is. Leben is a wild brawler with a fun style to watch, but fighting like that is playing to Silva’s strengths — and Silva does it better than Leben does. I don’t think Silva will ever be close to the fighter he was five years ago, but I do think he’ll pull this one out. Pick: Silva
Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader Speaking of fighters who are past their primes, Ortiz hasn’t won a fight since he beat Ken Shamrock in 2006. Ortiz really isn’t good enough anymore to be fighting high-quality light heavyweights, but the UFC keeps him around because he has name value, and because Bader is a guy who could use a win over a name opponent. Bader will win, but that win won’t tell us much. Pick: Bader
Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim Condit established himself as a potential welterweight title contender in 2010, with a Fight of the Night win over Rory MacDonald and a Knockout of the Night win over Dan Hardy. Unfortunately for him, I think his streak of victories and his streak of exciting fights is going away against Kim, who has just the right style to take Condit down, control him on the ground and win a fairly dull decision. Pick: Kim
Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman Three years ago, Siver lost a fight to Melvin Guillard, got cut by the UFC, and looked like he just wasn’t good enough to compete at the highest levels. But Siver got back into the UFC in 2009 and has been excellent, winning six of his seven fights. Wiman, who’s on a three-fight winning streak, represents a good challenge for Siver, but I think Siver’s striking will prove to be too much. Pick: Siver
The first bantamweight title fight in