(MMA Nostradamus Alert: Jeff Curran predicts the future while preparing Felice Herrig for her Bellator 94 bout against Heather Clark. / Video via 1inchBoom)
(MMA Nostradamus Alert: Jeff Curran predicts the future while preparing Felice Herrig for her Bellator 94 bout against Heather Clark. / Video via 1inchBoom)
(It’s not a UFC fight, but you can’t talk awful title fights without at least referencing Sonnen vs. Filho II. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
Today we’re talking about bad UFC title fights – fights that fizzled out after weeks of hype, bored even the most die-hard fans among us, and left us baffled that the winner was considered the best in his weight class. Since we’redealing strictly with UFC title fights, notable clunkers like Ruiz vs. Southworth II (Strikeforce), Wiuff vs. Tuchscherer (YAMMA), and Sonnen vs. Filho II (WEC) are ineligible for inclusion. Also, we promise that the only appearance of the name “Ben Askren” in this column lies in this incredibly forced sentence. Read on for our picks, and please, pretty please, send your ideas for future Roundtable topics to [email protected].
Detroit is known by many names – Motown, Motor City, and Hockey Town to name a few. None of which lend to the idea that the birthplace of the assembly line was also a mecca of mixed martial arts or a place to catch great fights on Saturday. Unfortunately, UFC didn’t care; they took the show to the Great Lakes State in 1996 for UFC 9: Clash of the Titans 2 nonetheless. Ken Shamrock and Michigan native Dan Severn were set to face off for the first world title outside of Japan, the UFC Superfight championship. However, thanks to Senator John McCain, instead seeing an exciting rematch that was sure to cover the canvas in bad blood, fans in attendance and at home watching on PPV were treated to what became known as “The Detroit Dance.” And to this day, it is regarded as one of the worst fights in the history of the sport.
(It’s not a UFC fight, but you can’t talk awful title fights without at least referencing Sonnen vs. Filho II. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
Today we’re talking about bad UFC title fights – fights that fizzled out after weeks of hype, bored even the most die-hard fans among us, and left us baffled that the winner was considered the best in his weight class. Since we’redealing strictly with UFC title fights, notable clunkers like Ruiz vs. Southworth II (Strikeforce), Wiuff vs. Tuchscherer (YAMMA), and Sonnen vs. Filho II (WEC) are ineligible for inclusion. Also, we promise that the only appearance of the name “Ben Askren” in this column lies in this incredibly forced sentence. Read on for our picks, and please, pretty please, send your ideas for future Roundtable topics to [email protected].
Detroit is known by many names – Motown, Motor City, and Hockey Town to name a few. None of which lend to the idea that the birthplace of the assembly line was also a mecca of mixed martial arts or a place to catch great fights on Saturday. Unfortunately, UFC didn’t care; they took the show to the Great Lakes State in 1996 for UFC 9: Clash of the Titans 2 nonetheless. Ken Shamrock and Michigan native Dan Severn were set to face off for the first world title outside of Japan, the UFC Superfight championship. However, thanks to Senator John McCain, instead seeing an exciting rematch that was sure to cover the canvas in bad blood, fans in attendance and at home watching on PPV were treated to what became known as “The Detroit Dance.” And to this day, it is regarded as one of the worst fights in the history of the sport.
What did McCain have to do with any of this, you ask? The politician was fierce in his letter writing campaign against a sport he knew nothing about. He essentially scared or bullied local government agencies to ban the sport. You know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Several key components in the UFC machine were tied up in the Detroit courts until 4:30pm the day of the event getting permission to hold an event that was already being set up. The hacks behind the desk said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “You can proceed with your barbaric and uncivilized fisticuffs spectacle as long as no one actually throws a closed fist to his opponents head nor will any butting of the heads be allowed. Anyone seen doing such things will be arrested.”
For the better part of twenty minutes, Shamrock and Severn circled each other with little to no contact. During the last ten minutes of the fight (if you can even call it that) the two played pat-a-cake until Severn decided to throw the special rules right out of Cobo Arena. Despite stalling for two thirds of the fight and head butting his opponent, Dan Severn won the fight and the championship belt. The Michiganders in attendance could be heard throughout the area booing and chanting, “Let’s go Red Wings!” There has never been a more pathetic example of a championship quality fight. The men in the cage deserved to be there, sure, but when you start adding special rules and stipulations, you’re watering down your product. So much so, that Detroit is now in two sport’s Hall of Shame.
It’s kind of ironic that Anderson Silva, who owns the most impressive championship reign in UFC history, also happens to have the distinction of participating in three of the worst championship fights in the company’s history as well. But ironic or not, it’s no less true. Picking the worst of the three is like deciding which segment you want to be in the human centipede, but I suppose it must be done. To that end, I nominate Silva’s bout with Demian Maia at UFC 112 as the worst of the worst.
I remember watching UFC 112 on an internet str- err, on pay-per-view. To say it was an underwhelming card is probably a little more generous than what it deserves, and that was before the main event. Matt Hughes fought Renzo Gracie – who didn’t know how to check leg kicks – for no conceivable reason. Frankie Edgar upset BJ Penn in the most unspectacular way imaginable, via a debatable decision with virtually no emphatic moments throughout the entire fight. But all of this would surely be a footnote when Anderson Silva, fresh off his humiliation of Forrest Griffin, would unveil some hitherto unknown debilitating maneuver that would drop all of our jaws to the floor while our feeble brains attempted to process what we just witnessed.
Instead, Silva spent the vast majority of five rounds dancing, taunting, and throwing the occasional oblique kick. To say it was frustrating doesn’t do it justice. It was maddening, made even more so by the lone flying knee Silva threw out of nowhere in the fight. It knocked Maia down, broke his nose and served as a reminder of just what Silva was capable of… and how he refused to bother indulging the audience with his capability that night. Maia, to his credit, never gave up. At one point in the final round, Maia – with one eye swollen shut – fell in front of Silva and kept swinging wildly from his knees. It was desperate and ineffective, but it exemplified heart and determination in contrast with Silva’s utter lack of such. Silva won the fight, Maia retained his pride, but the audience was left with the worst championship fight you could imagine. The UFC has not bothered returning to Abu Dhabi since.
It’s easy to feel a little sympathy for Tito Ortiz these days. He’s been going through some personal shit – the variety of which we are banned from getting too specific on. But hey, thems the breaks when you shack up with a porn queen. Well-adjusted females with run-of-the-mill daddy issues don’t generally get into fuck films. They just latch onto some poor bastard and systematically suck every ounce of pride and manhood out of him until he’s an obedient slob with a semi-manageable speed habit and a secret fetish for snuff porn. That’s life. The ones that go for the porn queens, well, all I’m saying is disregard the lessons of Little Bill at your own peril.
That sympathy, however, can cause us to forget that there was a time when Tito was a wildly popular UFC champion; not just some dude with a quick mouth and a gigantic head who only tasted victory once during the last six years of his career. It’s hard to deny Tito his accolades. Circa 2002 he was the most successful UFC champion there was. He won the belt and defended it five times. That’s more title defenses than Randy, and even one more than his arch-nemesis, Chuck had. Granted, both of those guys would eventually clown Tito en route to victories (x 2 for Chuck), and of course there was that whole saga of Tito allegedly ducking Chuck, but we’re talking numbers here, bitch. Context is irrelevant when trying to make an absurd point.
Hindsight being 20/20 ‘n shit makes Tito’s title defenses seem mildly comical by modern standards, considering the competition: Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko, and Ken Shamrock. But you gotta remember this was pre-TUF, pre-FOX, and pre-UFC monopoly when the glory days of Pride were in full effect. UFC title challengers were often contemptible back then. Incidentally, Dave Menne won the UFC’s inaugural middleweight belt that same night, and well shit I’ll go as far as agree with Danga, Dave Menne – for real???
It’s easy to mock a couple of Tito’s title defenses on grounds of legitimacy. But interestingly enough, perhaps the most legit challenger – Vlady – provided for the worst fight. This was UFC 33, an event which Dana White still to this day describes as, “The worst show we’ve ever had.” It was so bad we could just as easily be talking about the co-main event of the evening – Jens Pulver vs Dennis “Balls” Hallman, but that wasn’t the main event, and the pay per view broadcast didn’t black out in the middle of it – two very important factors that help to solidify Tito Ortiz vs.Vladimir Matyushenko as the worst ever.
According to one analysis, the Tito/Vlady fight produced only 40 “significant strikes.” To further expound on that lamentable figure, in a 25 minute fight that means that a decent strike was landed only once every 37.5 seconds. Might not seem like a long stretch while you’re on YouPorn stroking yourself to some early Jenna, but during an actual fight that’s an eternity of visual pain. Contrast that extreme with a Cain Velasquez, who lands over six significant strikes per minute – or one every ten seconds, and the standard deviation model gets blown all to shit.
Basically, the fight was about as horrific as you’d expect of two wrestlers with rudimentary striking skills. Don’t forget, this was before Tito’s “improved boxing” that Joe Rogan liked to talk about almost as much as his “underrated jiu jitsu.” The bottom line is there have been many terrible title fights in the UFC, but not one of them headlined the worst show ever, and not one of them blacked out on pay per view before the fans could fully experience the horror of just how anally violated they got. So there.
Josh Hutchinson
In deciding the worst UFC title fight I chose to look at a number of criteria. Do I choose one that was boring (GSP/Fitch)? How about one that’s meaningless or undeserved (Jones/Sonnen)? What about one that shames the sport of MMA as whole (Arlovski/Buentello)? Luckily I didn’t have to look far to find a shit sandwich that’s comprised entirely of those three ingredients.
Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca at UFC 73 was a complete failure in every sense of the word. A highly forgettable fight, which was put on only to build anticipation for the return of BJ Penn, resulted in a glorified 25 minute sparring session. Someone managed to wake the judges up long enough to decide that Sherk had won, and everyone could start getting damp in their trousers at the thought of Penn fighting for the lightweight title again. Mission accomplished, right? Not quite.
The aftermath of UFC 73 is really what landed this fight as my top pick. It’s a special kind of person that tests positive for anything following a title fight. Honestly, at the highest levels of competition you’d have to be as blind as Anne Frank not to see a drug test coming. It makes it all the more amusing that both Sherk and Franca tested positive for steroids following the fight. I would give up anything in my life to have been able to be a fly on the wall when Dana White heard this news. Something tells me his reaction was a little more than a simple facepalm. As usual, neither fighter was at fault for their positive tests, as Franca was forced by the UFC to roid up, and the CSAC botched Sherk’s results. Hey, these things happen in MMA.
So there you have it folks, a boring ass fight that ended up with both participants being suspended and the champ being stripped of his title. All parties involved, fans especially, would have been better off had these gladiators met under the XARM banner, but alas, it now goes down as the worst title fight in UFC history.
Apparently, now, the CagePotato Roundtable only happens when The Boss is on vacation (which means the inmates run the asylum for a day or two with Mr. Goldtsein’s unbelievable wealth, a seventeen-day luxurious private cruise to the Bahamas – don’t forget my obligatory touristy t-shirt BG) and that means it brings out the “fringe” contributors who enjoy throwing spitballs while generally making a ruckus in the back of the room in order to mess with the substitute instructors.
The topic of the “Worst UFC Title Fight” is a bit of a conundrum for me because, personally, Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra 1 was one of the worst moments of my life because of my inner bro-mance with GSP and my buddies’ propensity for reminding me that my affinity is unnatural. But, I digress. Since I hosted all of the UFC parties (and got ALL the PPV bills) there is still one in particular that pains me.
It was a highly anticipated bout that pitted LHW Champion Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 46 and if you look at the fight card now, you’d call me a poseur for complaining about this. No shit – the three prelim fights that didn’t air that night had Matt Serra vs. Pat Curran, Josh Thomson vs. Hermes Franca and Georges St. Pierre vs. Karo Parisyan. The PPV featured (in)famous names like Lee Murray, Jorge Rivera, Carlos Newton, Wes Sims, Frank Mir, Matt Hughes and B.J. Penn. The World Series of Fighting would double-barrel jerk-off Mr_Misanthropy AND crappiefloper while Fried Taco watched, if the promoters could get a collection of talent like that [Ed. Note: Wow.].
Needless to say, this main event fight should’ve been awesome but 45 seconds later . . . . . . It was OVER. That’s right! I lasted longer on Prom Night – she’ll tell you too, not by much . . . . but still – than the LHW Championship bout at UFC 46 and I screamed (on both occasions), “WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Then I realized that Couture’s eyeball was literally about to fall completely out of his head – Hostile style. Vitor’s glove grazed his outer eyelid and it caused a HORRIFIC paper cut-esque slice. Yeah, a paper cut that could actually make your eye-ball drop out of your head. It was gross and it was an absolutely warranted stoppage by the hot red-headed doctor (that I still dream of). Yet, 45 seconds later and the championship fight was over without a single punch landing cleanly.
Look, I get that every sport has to start somewhere. I GET THIS. But even by the incredibly low standards of the UFC circa 1997, Frank Shamrock’s light heavyweight title defenses against Igor Zinoviev and John Lober were laughably misguided at best and staged public executions at worst. While the promotion’s heavyweight division featured such names as Mark Coleman, Maurice Smith, and Randy Couture battling it out for the title, down at 205, they were booking Shamrock in freak show matches that even the Japanese wouldn’t touch with a ten foot gunto. The Japanese, you guys.
Where shall we begin?
Ah yes, that’s Franky boy slamming Igor through the mat in under 30 seconds at UFC 16. What a contest.
How a man coming off a pair of draws can be fast-tracked to a title shot in his promotional debut is anyone’s guess. Maybe the UFC honestly thought that this Igor character was the next Randy Couture, or perhaps he just possessed some otherworldly trash-talking skills. In any case, we were left with a pathetic mismatch, one completely shattered collarbone, and a ringside medical crew questioning whether or not a spatula was an appropriate tool to lift a fighter onto a stretcher with by the time all was said and done. Oh yeah, and Igor never fought again. He always knows when it’s about to rain, though, so perhaps it was for the best.
And if you think that’s bad, just try finding a video of Shamrock’s third title defense — a rematch against John Lober at UFC Ultimate Brazil. You won’t be able to, because the UFC most likely destroyed all evidence of the fight for legal reasons. We’ve all heard the story before: Lober managed to score a controversial technical split decision victory over Shamrock at a SuperBrawl event in Hawaii in ’97, so one year later, the UFC decided, “Hey, why not have these two settle the score now that ShamWow is the champ?”
“Sure, Lober has gone 0-5-1 in the time since they first squared off,” they said whilst diving nose first into a mountain of cocaine the likes of which you have never seen, “But it will sell because GRUDGE MATCH.” It’s a strategy that the UFC utilizes to this day, but never did it appear more transparent than during the 7-and-a-half-minute beat down that Shamaroo dished out on Lober before forcing him to tap to strikes.
Lober would go on to score two wins in his next seven contests, and Shamrock would defend the light heavyweight title against his only true test in Tito Ortiz before leaving the UFC citing “a lack of competition.” No shit.
Wow, you guys certainly left me with some options, huh? Let’s see…I guess I should point out that Ben Goldstein, if he was available to contribute, would have picked Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites, which is the only reason why I won’t be covering that turd on a plate. I could go old-school, “how the hell is one of those guys fighting for a title in the first place?” and tackle Pat Miletich vs. Andre Pederneiras or Maurice Smith vs. Randy Couture, but considering how weak the talent pool in general was back then, it really wouldn’t be fair to include them. So instead I’ll do something even broader, lazier, yet somehow twice as deserving as the rest of the fights we’ve omitted combined, and nominate all of Tim Sylvia’s title defenses as my selection.
Boring title fights from guys like Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre – while infuriating for fans to watch – are at least forgivable on the basis that they’re boring because the champion is simply that much more talented than the guy across the cage from him. I may not get too excited about watching GSP jab for five rounds, but I’ll be damned if I don’t acknowledge him as the greatest welterweight in the history of our sport. With Tim Sylvia, this was most definitely not the case.
Sylvia was a champion when the heavyweight division was weak enough for the “Cabbage” Correiras of the world to pick up victories inside the Octagon. During his reign over the heavyweight division, the “strikers” either lacked anything resembling technique (Exhibit A: Gan McGee) or lacked a tough enough chin to actually exchange punches with the big man (Exhibit B: Sylvia/Arlovski III), and the grapplers lacked the striking chops necessary to penetrate The Maine-iac’s awkward jabs (Exhibit C: Jeff Monson). In a sport defined by the diverse skills and athleticism of its athletes, Sylvia managed to defend the UFC heavyweight title that Cain Velasquez proudly wears by simply taking up space and staying on his feet; a “Great White Stiff” with unlimited upward mobility, ”the poster child for over-achievement.”
Fortunately for the fans who tried to stay awake during his title defenses, he was eventually matched up against Randy Couture, and that fight was incredibly memorable thanks to A.) how badass The Natural is and B.) a moment early in the first round, when Couture took Sylvia’s back and (not quite) Fatty Boom-Boom (yet) stalled in an effort to get a completely unnecessary stand-up, which inspired one of Joe Rogan’s greatest rants (“You’re on your back, tough! Figure out a way to get up! If that’s boring, baseball’s about a million times more boring!” Classic.). Ever since that fight, Sylvia began his transformation into the amorphous blob of his former self who loses to guys you’ve never heard of on the “Where are they now?” circuit that we know today. He’s still holding out hope for the possibility of a UFC comeback, but after watching him defend the once-meaningless UFC heavyweight championship…it’s probably for the best that he never even gets close to fighting for it again.
Did we repress all memories of your least-favorite UFC title fight? Then have the honor of ruining our weekends by bringing it up in the comments section.
Despite being one of many fighters released from the UFC in February, forty-two year old Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko won’t be hanging up his gloves just yet. Earlier today, Bellator announced that they have signed the former IFL champion to compete at a future event. While it was announced that Matyushenko will be making his promotional debut in a non-tournament bout, neither a date for the fight nor a prospective opponent have been named yet.
In a news release posted on Bellator’s website, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney appeared very optimistic about the signing. “Vladimir is a fighter I’ve watched for years. He’s an exciting fighter with an incredible wrestling background and a great pedigree in our sport. When the opportunity presented itself and we had the chance to have him join the Bellator family it was a very easy decision to make,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Scott Hirano/LowKick.com
Despite being one of many fighters released from the UFC in February, forty-two year old Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko won’t be hanging up his gloves just yet. Earlier today, Bellator announced that they have signed the former IFL champion to compete at a future event. While it was announced that Matyushenko will be making his promotional debut in a non-tournament bout, neither a date for the fight nor a prospective opponent have been named yet.
In a news release posted on Bellator’s website, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney appeared very optimistic about the signing. “Vladimir is a fighter I’ve watched for years. He’s an exciting fighter with an incredible wrestling background and a great pedigree in our sport. When the opportunity presented itself and we had the chance to have him join the Bellator family it was a very easy decision to make,” he said.
“With our Champion Attila Vegh sitting at the top of the mountain right now, and with guys like Emanuel Newton, Mikhail Zayats and King Mo coming on strong, the light heavyweight division for Bellator continues to evolve and Vladimir should fit in perfectly to that mix.”
Of course, Matyushenko also joins the ranks of fellow UFC washouts Seth Petruzelli and Renato “Babalu” Sobral, but let’s not talk about that right now.
Matyushenko may bring an impressive resume into his Bellator tenure, but how much of an impact can he actually make on the promotion? Bellator’s light-heavyweight division is extremely competitive, and the tournament format won’t exactly be an advantage for an aging fighter. Will “The Janitor” put together one last title run in Bellator, or will he be an also-ran in the promotion’s surprisingly deep light-heavyweight division?
(“Alright folks, we’re about to get these weigh-ins started in a few minutes, but first, please direct your attention to the main stage to see a schizophrenic homeless person doing the robot.” / Photo via CombatLifestyle. To see more pics from this set, click here.)
Leading us through the UFC on FOX 6 prelims is liveblog first-timer Alex Giardini, who will be stacking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT. (Be gentle with him, okay?) Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest results, and feel free to dump your own thoughts into the comments section.
(“Alright folks, we’re about to get these weigh-ins started in a few minutes, but first, please direct your attention to the main stage to see a schizophrenic homeless person doing the robot.” / Photo via CombatLifestyle. To see more pics from this set, click here.)
Leading us through the UFC on FOX 6 prelims is liveblog first-timer Alex Giardini, who will be stacking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT. (Be gentle with him, okay?) Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest results, and feel free to dump your own thoughts into the comments section.
Hello, ‘Taters….I’m popping my live blog cherry right now, so I’m all like, nervous and confident at the same time…anyways, as I tuned into the Facebook portion I was glad to hear that familiar voice once again. Yep, Goldie is back! (umm, should I be this excited though….or you don’t know what you got ’til its gone?!) In all seriousness, I’m glad he’s back; maybe he got some words of wisdom from the singer of Crazy Town or something. The lone fight on Facebook was Simeon Thoresen against David Mitchell and I wish I could tell you what happened in the last three minutes but the stream cut. Hopefully they will rebroadcast the fight at the beginning of the show or at least the conclusion.
Now I’m hearing Anik’s voice so I’m all confused but Goldie and Rogan are yelling at me on my screen and HERE WE GO (yeah, yeah, I know…). BG Tha God just informed me Mitchell defeated Thorensen by unanimous decision. Alright, on to the middleweights…
Rafael Natal vs. Sean Spencer
Round 1: Arianny gets the usual up and down and Spencer comes out blazing….goes for some punches but cannot connect. Natal with a low kick. Natal working the low kick and pokes Spencer in the eye. He takes a few seconds. Both try to work their jabs and Spencer catches a low kick. Natal moving around well in a southpaw stance. Natal switches his stance. Spencer going for it, mixing it up with punches and kikcs but isn’t landing many strikes. Spencer trying to work a jab-jab-hook but to no avail yet. Natal working his way back and forth with southpaw, switching it up. Natal tries a spinning-back fist and follows up with a landed kick. Superman punch by spencer but misses. Left hook drops Natal but he’s back up and does the Shogun “clear the air” thing. Natal throwing some big ones but doesn’t land. Both trying to find their groove. Spencer hits Natal with a good jab. Natal lands a nice combo, including a right hand. Natal shoots, stuffed by Spencer and Spencer has got him against the fence. He breaks off abd they are in the middle again. Spencer lands a nice right hand. Spencer has got a little cut, nothing too serious for now. Natal lands a spinning-back fist, followed by a right that drops Spencer. Natal mounts him and works but Spencer is fidgeting and survives. 10-9 Spencer.
Round 2: Spencer is pushing the pace, forcing Natal back. Both still working the jab. Spencer lands a nice right. Spencer lands a nice jab but Natal is working well with low leg-kicks. Spencer is landing a few strikes but Natal is working those kicks, with a nice side-kick that leads to a takedown. Spencer has his back up against the cage and Natal tries to mount. They are on their feet as Spencer avoids a choke but Natal is working him against the fence. A bit of stalling here.. Double-under-hooks by Natal and he gets another takedown. Natal in the guard now, and Spencer is giving him the bear-hug. Spencer doing well to avoid damage. Natal punching the ribs a bit. Nice hammerfist by Natal and he is looking to get his opponent’s back. Natal has his back and his punching away at the body. He’s got him flattened out and is working the choke. Spencer is literally saved by the bell. 10-9 Natal
Round 3: Spencer takes a few deep breaths and looks slightly slower. Natal is working backwards with everything Spencer throws at him. Natal gets another takedown and is in side control from the top. Natal’s side-mount is at ninety degrees and Natal is looking for a crucifix. He gets Spencer’s right arm and starts landing a few elbows. Natal now locks up the left arm with his legs. Natal goes for the Americana, doesn’t get it…almost though. Spencer is cut open on the forehead. Natal goes for the arm triangle and after a few seconds, Spencer taps. Natal gets his first submission win in the UFC.
Rafael Natal def. Sean Spencer by Submission (Arm Triangle), Round 3, 2:13.
Natal looks into the camera and says he’s got the best coach in the world, a beautiful body and a great girlfriend. Man, me too bro…me too.
Chicago’s own Mike Russow up next…
Mike Russow vs. Shawn Jordan
Round 1: Glove touch and things are underway. Russow grapples early but Jordan breaks away. Russow leads in with some strikes and puts Jordan up against the cage. Jordan shifts over and escapes. Russow tags Jordan with a huge right. Russow tags him with a knee and bloodies Russow. Jordan is cut under his right away. Russow working a single and eventually pits Jordan up against the cage again. Jordan tries to escape but Russow keeps pushing him back against the fence. They finally break away and Jordan looks tired. Russow tags him with a right hand. He follows with a few uppercuts and gets a takedown. Russow has double-underhooks from the back but Jordan is keeping his feet grounded. Russow keeps landing the right hand. He goes for a single leg and Jordan rolls out of it. Crowd yells for a knee but Jordan’s hand is down. Now Jordan tags Russow with a good one but Russow is still working the fence game. Jordan throws a couple of strikes in the final seconds but it is all Russow so far. 10-9 Russow
Round 2: Jordan is a little busted up. They touch gloves again and Jordan goes in with an uppercut and right hand. Russow lands a right hand of his own. Jordan goes for a strike and eyepoke, once again. Russow recovers fast. Russow going in with a combo but Jordan gets the better of him with his own combination. Russow is looking very tired. Jordan lands a nice right and goes for the takedown. Jordan mounts Russow and is working with punches and elbows. Jordan switches to back-mount. Jordan keeps Russow down and keeps his weight on Russow’s back. Russow goes for a foot-lock, uses it to sweep and gets up. Russow goes for a front-choke, doesn’t get it. Russow lands a nice knee after Jordan takes his hand off the ground. Jordan gets another takedown and lands a nice short elbow. Jordan works the short elbows as a part of his ground and pound. Russow trying to scramble but Jordan gets full mount and starts to hammerfist. Russow gives him his back and Jordan is landing some big shots. Russow covers up and Herb Dean stops the fight.
Shawn Jordan def. Mike Russow by TKO, Round 2, 3:48.
That was quite the reverse from Round 1…let’s see if Matyushenko can pull off the upset here.
Ryan Bader vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Round 1: I’m going to pull one from the BG liveblog rulebook and abbreviate Matyushenko to Maty. I wonder if his friends call him that. Anyhow Bader looks in phenomenal shape, maybe the best we’ve seen him look. Big John starts things off and both fighters a little hesitant to engage. Maty goes for a jab, misses. Bader lands a big left hook and drops Maty. Bader follows and gets Maty in an arm-choke from the bottom. Maty looks like he’s in mid-summersault. Bader switches to half-guard and chokes out Maty. It’s all over. Poor Maty. Fastest submission in light heavyweight history.
Ryan Bader def. Vladimir Matyushenko by Submission (Guillotine), Round 1, 0:50.
Did Bader just say he was working with Andrei Markov? Sorry, I’m a Habs fan…Stumpf vs. Krauss up next. Before our next fight, there will be an interview with Jones and Sonnen promoting TUF…this should be quite good.
Rogan asks Sonnen what he would call himself…Jones says Chael is “not too bad”. Sonnen looks hella sharp. Sonnen avoids the question about him deserving the fight and promotes the tournament and the next episode. Sonnen 2016, or whenever you guys elect the leader of the world. Chael does the whole “John Holmes” bit and Rogan reminds him that John Holmes is a dead junkie and does not know who Puff Daddy is. Sonnen promoting this tournament like a boss. Nice scripted staredown…. Ok, enough of this then…
Mike Stumpf vs. Pascal Krauss
Round 1: Askren in Krauss’ corner…feel like he should get the shout-out for his eyebrow-raising finish this week. They touch gloves and Krauss starts working the jab but doesn’t land any. They are standing toe-to-toe and Krauss nails a nice low-kick. Stumpf gets in a nice and loud leg-kick and Krauss return the favor. Stumpf tries to land some short strikes and wobbles Krauss with a short leg-kick. Stumpf really going in with kicks and Krauss lands one out of three thrown. Stumpf gets the takedown and is in Krauss’ full-guard. Stumpf trying to gain advantage but couldn’t. They are back to their feet. Nice superman punch/lead uppercut by Krauss. Both are throwing leg kicks and Krauss goes for a takedown but cannot secure. He’s got Krauss clinched up against the cage. They breakaway and Krauss lands another kick. Krauss’ uppercut misses but his leg-kicks are doing well thus far. Big front-kick by Krauss, reminiscent of Anderson. Stumpf misses an uppercut. Krauss hits Stumpf with a big uppercut and drops him but Stumpf regains composure. Stumpf goes for a takedown but nice defense by Krauss. Krauss goes for a standing guillotine but cannot lock it in. The horn sounds. 10-9 Krauss
Round 2: Krauss lands another good kick. Both land nice jabs. Krauss again with the high-kick but not as effective. Krauss lands a nice combination, including an uppercut. Krauss leads in with a leg-kick but misses the uppercut. Stumpf is throwing but missing a lot. Krauss tags him with another right. Nice low-kick by Stumpf. Krauss keep landing the jab. Nice uppercut again by Krauss. Krauss secures the takedown and Stumpf switches, gets his back on the feet and now takes down Krauss. Krauss is sitting up and Stumpf is trying to flatten him out. Stumpf steps over but cannot tie up the legs. Stumpf going for the choke but Krauss is back to his feet. Krauss shifts Stumpf against the fest and starts dirty boxing. Krauss has opened a little cut under Stumpf’s left eye. Another uppercut by Krauss. Stumpf lands an uppercut of his own. Krauss tries the takedown but eventually gets the front head-lock. Krauss has Stumpf clinched and is landing some nice shots. Krauss is landing some uppercuts against the fence. Nice short elbow by Krauss. The round ends with the two breaking away and Stumpf sneaking in a leg-kick. 10-9 Krauss.
Round 3: Krauss starts to jab, works effectively. Krauss is working that right uppercut as Stumpf pushes forward. Krauss lands a good right while Stumpf backs into the fence. Stumpf’s mouthpiece drops but it delays the fight only a second. Krauss lands that superman uppercut again. Krauss pushes Stumpf against the fence with fast combinations including some great right hands. Big swing and miss by Stumpf. Krauss grapples Stumpf against the fence and lands a good knee. Krauss is backing off and landing his shots accurately. Nice knee by Krauss again. Nice right hand by Stumpf. Nice body shot landed by Krauss with the left leg. Krauss starts to turn it up with a big right hand. Krauss is landing those leg-kicks over and over again. Krauss locks up for a takedown but good sprawl by Krauss. Both fighters trade uppercuts but Krauss gets a few more right hands in. Stumpf now trying for a takedown and has Krauss against the cage. Krauss pivots and takes Stumpf down. Krauss in Stumpf’s guard and is trying to sweep. Krauss landing some body shots and some strikes to the head. Krauss is laying on top and Dean asking Krauss to work. Krauss mounts to his feet to land some more shots before the horn sounds.
Pascal Krauss def. Mike Stumpf by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Everyone’s favorite Lebowski is up next, looking like Burt Reynolds if he played in Poison.
Goldie flirts with Rogan a bit and tells him he’s the best comedian ever. Rogan says Goldie is funny too, sometimes unintentionally (!). They share a laugh and potentially an affair. I’m happy for these guys.
Clay Guida vs. Hatsu Hioki
Round 1: Guida is seen running around as Buffer introduces. Madrigal summons them and Guida refuses to touch gloves. Guida opens with the usual frantic pace and lands a right hand. Guida leading in with some leg-kicks. Guida gets in a nice body shot. Hioki not yet falling into Guida’s pace but he is switching stances. Hioki counters with a nice uppercut. Guida shuffling left to right, reminiscent of the Maynard fight but he’s working a lot more. Hioki keeps catching Guida with the counter. Hioki goes for a low kick and misses. Guida goes for the takedown and it gets stuffed. Hioki tags him with a right hand. Both men clinch together briefly and they separate. Hioki lands a nice jab. Guida lands a nice leg-kick. Inside leg-kick by Hioki. Guida is bouncing around but hasn’t landed anything significant. Guida takes him down and Hioki locks up a wrist. Guida breaks free and full-guard for Hioki. Guida hooks a leg and good roll by Hioki. Hioki is sitting up postured against the fence but Guida isn’t letting go. Hioki gets his back and Guida is doing well by stepping over and scrambling. Both men on their feet and Hioki has Guida’s head locked up. Both men break free and start to exchange wild punches, none land. Round 1 ends as both men shuffle back and forth. Very close, but I’ll say 10-9 Hioki.
Round 2: Guida’s getting tighter on the inside and lands a nice leg-kick. Guida picks up Hioki and nice fireman’s carry as he slams him down. Guida is trying to control Hioki’s hips but Hioki has got a leg. Kimura attempt by Hioki. Cannot get it but he is still controlling Guida’s arm. Hioki goes for the triangle. Hioki goes for the armbar but Guida lightly slams him on the ground. Guida in Hioki’s guard and is working well with his strikes. Guida is keeping active on the ground, trying to step over. Good butterfly guard by Hioki. Guida keeps on grounding and pounding. Guida cannot pass guard yet. He keeps working with fists and elbows. Fans are cheering Guida on. Hioki is holding position but cannot really more. Guida briefly goes for the arm-triangle but lets go. Hioki trying to control Guida’s hips. Referee breaks them apart and stands them up (not a great call). Guida throwing some wild combos but nothing landing. Big head-kick by Hioki. Hioki follows up with some more kicks. 10-9 Guida.
Round 3: Both fighters exchanges jabs, nothing really landing. Nice uppercut by Hioki as they both trade. Hioki leading in with some low and high kicks. Guida gets another takedown and again Hioki controls the wrist. Hioki tries to slap on the triangle. Hioki has his legs wrapped up around Guida who has his feet grounded. Guida pushed Hioki back down and is trying to get his right leg free. Guida on top, pushing Hioki towards the fence. Hioki is trying to break free as Guida keeps working. Guida trying to work as Hioki tries to get back to his feet. Guida gives a “yes, sir” as referee warns him to keep working. Guida is trying to secure Hioki’s hips around his waist and the ref stands them up. Hioki lands a head-kick again. Hioki keeping Guida at bay with kicks. Hioki with another kick. Hioki stuffs Guida’s last takedown attempt as the fight ends. This could be a weird one, as both fighters had good moments throughout the fight. 10-9 Guida.
Guida wins in his featherweight debut. Hey, It’s Jason Guida!
TJ Grant vs. Matt Wiman
Round 1: Grant with a swing and a miss. Wiman throws a flurry of punches, all miss. Wiman with a nice kick. Wiman working with low kicks. Wiman technical with striking. Good right hand by Grant. Wiman’s short elbow misses. Wiman keeps throwing some uppercuts but none land. Grant with some nice punches to the body and both men throwing wild punches. Grant is landing some nice punches on the inside. Both men very technical, very tight. Wiman misses with the headkick. Grant clinches Wiman and a knee in. Grant rocks Wiman with a strike and follows up with a knee but doesn’t land it. Wiman gets the takedown, saving himself from potential trouble. Grant loosens up and gets on top of Wiman. Grant starts to land some clean shots from the top. Grant backs off and lets Wiman up. Wiman’s face is bloodied. Nice knee to the body by Grant. Wiman is pushed up against the fence and Grant lands a gnarly elbow as Wiman is up against the fence. Wiman drops and Grant follows up before Big John steps in.
TJ Grant def. Matt Wiman by Knockout (Strikes), Round 1, 4:51.
Alright, ‘Taters (never forgive me for that one, ever)…the main card is next which means that is it for me. It was a real pleasure and I loved the Italian jabs as I was eating my chicken parm’. Honestly, I expected worse from you guys. Thanks for letting me share these fights with you. See you soon, Potato Nation…
When you’re 42 years old and in the fight business, you usually are at the point of where you’re retired and either training fighters or out of the sport. Exceptions are out there like Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and Dan Severn. They are few and far b…
When you’re 42 years old and in the fight business, you usually are at the point of where you’re retired and either training fighters or out of the sport. Exceptions are out there like Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and Dan Severn. They are few and far between. It is like that because of the nature of the sport and the punishment that the fighters receive.
We can add another name to this list of fighters still continuing their careers. Vladimir Matyushenko, the former IFL light heavyweight champion, started fighting in 1997 and will continue his journey as he faces Ryan Bader at UFC on Fox 6.
As you get older, times change in the sport. The way you diet and cut weight is a big factor, as it is harder to lose weight when you get older. For Matyushenko, it is all about balance.
“I try to balance eating right and training hard,” Matyushenko told Bleacher Report. “I used to train two or three times a day. Sometimes you just don’t have the energy, so your forced to eat small portions of food.”
You hear stories from fighters who say they train up to four times a day. As you get older, though, that slows down due to the natural wear and tear of fighting. The native of Belarus feels when you are starting in the sport, you have to train more, but when you keep advancing in your career it does change.
“You have to train not necessarily harder, but smarter,” Matyushenko stated. “For up and comers, you have to train a lot. You have to spar a lot just to find your style and find who you are. With my age, I can just improve the style I have and sharpen them up. When I have to train as hard, you still have to be in shape. Recovery time is important. You have to train smarter, not harder.”
After being in the sport for 15 years, you would think there is nothing else to learn. For “The Janitor,” you have to keep learning to keep up with the new age of fighters.
“You have too (keep learning),” Matyushenko stated. “If you don’t then you are pretty much done. A few years ago, I didn’t have that material to work from. Now there’s so much material to learn from because there’s so many good fighters.”
At the age of 42, being an active fighter isn’t likely for a lot of fighters. For Matyushenko, retirement was supposed to happen a long time ago, but he feels MMA is cool and better now than it was 15 years ago.
“I thought about retirement ten years ago (laughing),” Matyushenko stated. “With the circumstances today, MMA is cool to do, especially where the UFC is right now. You don’t have to worry now about fighting for a paycheck and making sure the check doesn’t bounce from the bank. Now we have health insurance and stuff like that. I think all these things extend our life spans of being a fighter.”
His opponent, Ryan Bader, lost his last fight to Lyoto Machida by knockout at UFC on Fox 4 in August. Matyushenko feels they are similar fighters, but feels Bader is now in the prospect category due to losing big fights against Jon Jones and Machida.
“It depends on what he (Bader) thinks of himself,” Matyushenko stated. “He’s a prospect. He’s done being a contender. He had some good matches and in those matches, he lost. He did good in the beginning (of his career). I think a lack of experience, not just his overall, but his experience with Jon Jones and Lyoto Machida. Those are top guys.
“We are pretty similar fighters. I’m a wrestler, he’s a wrestler. He’s been working on his striking and has gotten a few knockouts in his career and so have I. It is a good matchup.”
Dana White has said in the past that if you get by Matyushenko, you are a serious contender in the light heavyweight division.
Jon Jones beat Matyushenko in August 2010, and Jones is currently the UFC light heavyweight champion. Alexander Gustafsson beat Matyushenko at UFC 141 in December 2011, and Gustafsson has main-evented a card, with a co-main event slot at UFC on Fox 5. That defines what a gatekeeper is in MMA. Matyushenko is looking to shed that title and make a run at the belt.
“What you want and what you got are two different things (laughing),” Matyushenko stated. “I want to be the champion. Some people think I’m god, but some people call me a gatekeeper and some call me the janitor. The only way I can change that is to improve my performance and become a champion. If I would have beaten Jon Jones, maybe I would be viewed differently.
“I have to shape myself up and show what I got. It is tougher to fight there (205 pound division) especially right now. A few guys from Strikeforce are coming over like (Gegard) Mousasi. It is going to to be interesting.”
Unless otherwise stated, all quotes were obtained firsthand.
(“Thanks Jay. Joining me now backstage is none other than…uh…wait a minute. You’re Anderson Silva’s son, right?”)
If you’ve been watching the NFL playoffs on FOX over the last couple weekends, you’ve surely noticed the frequent UFC promos throughout the broadcasts hyping a “World Title Fight” on January 26th between “Johnson and Dodson.” At no point is the word “flyweight” ever mentioned — because that would be a turnoff to casual fans, I guess? — and in most of the live promos I’ve seen, Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson‘s first names aren’t even included. Basically, they’re hoping that the mere promise of a “title fight” will be enough to lure some football fans into tuning in this Saturday night, even if those viewers have no idea who the headliners are, or what belt they’ll be fighting for specifically.
It’s a problem, because TV ratings and buyrates are so closely tied to who’s headlining each event. Instead of perhaps making Rampage vs. Teixeira or Cerrone vs. Pettis the headliner, the UFC is choosing to keep things vague (“world title fight!” “Johnson!”) and hope for the best. We’ll see if that proves to be the right decision, or if the ratings will plunge compared to the strong showing of UFC on FOX 5. I know the UFC wants to pump up its budding flyweight division, but I can’t help wondering if they’re doing themselves a disservice when there’s so little heat around that weight class. Could they re-consider their “championship fight always gets the main event” policy down the road?
Since I’ve been thinking about this lately, I’ve decided to present my own rundown of which fights I’m actually looking forward to this weekend. If you see things differently, please hurl some abuse at me in the comments section. Let’s begin…
(“Thanks Jay. Joining me now backstage is none other than…uh…wait a minute. You’re Anderson Silva’s son, right?”)
If you’ve been watching the NFL playoffs on FOX over the last couple weekends, you’ve surely noticed the frequent UFC promos throughout the broadcasts hyping a “World Title Fight” on January 26th between “Johnson and Dodson.” At no point is the word “flyweight” ever mentioned — because that would be a turnoff to casual fans, I guess? — and in most of the live promos I’ve seen, Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson‘s first names aren’t even included. Basically, they’re hoping that the mere promise of a “title fight” will be enough to lure some football fans into tuning in this Saturday night, even if those viewers have no idea who the headliners are, or what belt they’ll be fighting for specifically.
It’s a problem, because TV ratings and buyrates are so closely tied to who’s headlining each event. Instead of perhaps making Rampage vs. Teixeira or Cerrone vs. Pettis the headliner, the UFC is choosing to keep things vague (“world title fight!” “Johnson!”) and hope for the best. We’ll see if that proves to be the right decision, or if the ratings will plunge compared to the strong showing of UFC on FOX 5. I know the UFC wants to pump up its budding flyweight division, but I can’t help wondering if they’re doing themselves a disservice when there’s so little heat around that weight class. Could they re-consider their “championship fight always gets the main event” policy down the road?
Since I’ve been thinking about this lately, I’ve decided to present my own rundown of which fights I’m actually looking forward to this weekend. If you see things differently, please hurl some abuse at me in the comments section. Let’s begin…
#1: Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis (LW, main card): It’s the rare combination of “guaranteed banger” and “legitimately important.” Two elite-level lightweights who are known for consistently thrilling fights face off to determine who’s possibly next in line on the contender ladder after Gilbert Melendez. As far as I’m concerned, this is Saturday’s real main event.
#2: Quinton Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira (LHW, main card): I’m not as drunk on the Glover kool-aid as some of you — at least not yet — but man, oh man, do I want Rampage to get creamed. I’m tired of the constant bullshit, and I just want this story to end — particularly with a savage KO that defies any post-fight excuse-making.
#3: Erik Koch vs. Ricardo Lamas (FW, main card): I’m a big fan of Erik Koch, and it’s great to see him back after a 16-month layoff, trying to regain his place in the featherweight title picture. It’s also been interesting to see how Lamas has progressed from WEC mid-packer to undefeated UFC contender over the last couple years. My expectations are high for this one.
#4: Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson (FlyW, main event): As we learned in our first Databomb, finishing rates are strongly correlated to weight class — which should help explain why Demetrious Johnson hasn’t finished an opponent since 2010. And even though Dodson’s last flyweight match ended in a TKO against Jussier Formiga, everything that led up to that TKO was kind of awful. My relative lack of enthusiasm for this fight comes from the feeling that I already know how it will end: With Johnson earning a unanimous decision after five rounds that are so frantically-paced that the action becomes an undistinguishable mess of motion. And that’s what the UFC’s flyweight division has lacked for me, so far — the element of surprise.
#5: Ryan Bader vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (LHW, FX prelims): Two wrestlers who are coming off losses, and will likely be throwing bombs at each other’s heads. The result might not have a big impact on the light-heavyweight division, but it’ll have a serious impact on the fighters’ careers.
#6: Clay Guida vs. Hatsu Hioki (FW, FX prelims): I don’t expect a repeat of Guida’s much-reviled performance against Gray Maynard, but then again, Hioki hasn’t exactly been lightning in a bottle during his time in the UFC. The idea of Guida at 145 pounds is compelling, and he’s usually fun to watch, but I’m not expecting a Fight of the Night here by any means.
#8: Matt Wiman vs. TJ Grant (LW, FX prelims): Grant is on a three-fight win-streak at lightweight, and Wiman pulled off a very unexpected and impressive submission of Paul Sass in his last fight. Sure, I’ll watch this.
#9 (tie): Mike Stumpf vs. Pascal Krauss, Rafael Natal vs. Sean Spencer (WW+MW, FX prelims): I don’t think I’d be able to pick any of these guys out of a lineup. I know that Krauss is German, and that Sean Spencer is a first-timer — and that’s about the extent of my commitment to these fights.
#11: Simeon Thoresen vs. David Mitchell (WW, Facebook prelim): I honestly can’t remember the last time I watched a Facebook prelim. It’s been a while. That’s not going to change this weekend.
When you’re 42 years old and in the fight business, you usually are at the point of where you’re retired and either training fighters or out of the sport. Exceptions are out there like Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and Dan Severn. They are few and far between. It is like that because of the nature of the sport and the punishment that the fighters receive.
