It’s a match with high stakes, as it could theoretically produce a new title contender at 185-pounds. Jacare is currently listed as the #3 middleweight contender in the promotion’s rankings, and is a perfect 4-0 in the UFC with stoppage wins against Chris Camozzi, Yushin Okami, and Gegard Mousasi. Romero is ranked #6 and is 5-0 in the UFC, with four of those wins coming via KO/TKO. The “Soldier of God” most recently picked up a very controversial win against Tim Kennedy (#stoolgate), but nevertheless, this is a dangerous dude who can swing the hammers.
It’s a match with high stakes, as it could theoretically produce a new title contender at 185-pounds. Jacare is currently listed as the #3 middleweight contender in the promotion’s rankings, and is a perfect 4-0 in the UFC with stoppage wins against Chris Camozzi, Yushin Okami, and Gegard Mousasi. Romero is ranked #6 and is 5-0 in the UFC, with four of those wins coming via KO/TKO. The “Soldier of God” most recently picked up a very controversial win against Tim Kennedy (#stoolgate), but nevertheless, this is a dangerous dude who can swing the hammers.
True story: After being forced to reign in my gambling habit (and temporarily flee the state) due to a particularly tough beat in the Dolphins-Pats game, I sheepishly made another go of it for UFC 178 last weekend, placing a harmless 100 dollar bet on an Ebersole-Masvidal-Zingano-Kennedy parlay. If all went according to plan, the bet would have netted me around $990, a.k.a enough to stop Hairy Mike and that bug-eyed goon Roscoe from throwing me out of another speeding car. (It’s the lack of respect that hurts the most. That and the road rash.)
At the end of the second round between Kennedy and Romero, I was never more sure that I would avoid another unfortunate roadside beatdown. Though I was bound to a chair with a gasoline-soaked rag stuffed in my mouth, confidence was flowing through every fabric of my being. “Mff iff i d,” I mumbled aloud, which is rag-speak for “This is my day.” When the allotted 60-second break between rounds had passed and Romero was still slunken on his stool, I came as close to jumping for joy as my constraints would allow. How could the fight *not* be over? Romero was out on his feet ass and Kennedy has already begun celebrating! Surely my moment of validation was at hand!
You could imagine my surprise when Big John McCarthy — he of MMA lore and Marvin Gaye lyric-stealing fame — not only *didn’t* call the fight right then and there, but actually allowed Romero to continue. The utter madness! In any case, the third round started, Romero channeled what I can only assume was voodoo strength, and the next thing I know, I’m being pushed out the back of an F-150 onto a crowded interstate highway. Life’s not fair sometimes.
The only person arguably more pissed at the controversial turn of events than myself was Tim Kennedy, who engaged in a heated debate with Romero’s corner backstage before filing an official appeal of the decision. Never one to shy away from telling it like it is, Kennedy appeared on The MMA Hour yesterday to air his grievances with what has since been dubbed “stoolgate” and took primary aim at none other than Big John himself.
I think John is the best ref in the promotion. He and Herb Dean, truly, I have respect for. He f—ed up majorly in my fight. He got owned. He got owned that night by a bunch of guys doing sh—y things. He got played by all three of them, and he just let it happen.
True story: After being forced to reign in my gambling habit (and temporarily flee the state) due to a particularly tough beat in the Dolphins-Pats game, I sheepishly made another go of it for UFC 178 last weekend, placing a harmless 100 dollar bet on an Ebersole-Masvidal-Zingano-Kennedy parlay. If all went according to plan, the bet would have netted me around $990, a.k.a enough to stop Hairy Mike and that bug-eyed goon Roscoe from throwing me out of another speeding car. (It’s the lack of respect that hurts the most. That and the road rash.)
At the end of the second round between Kennedy and Romero, I was never more sure that I would avoid another unfortunate roadside beatdown. Though I was bound to a chair with a gasoline-soaked rag stuffed in my mouth, confidence was flowing through every fabric of my being. “Mff iff i d,” I mumbled aloud, which is rag-speak for “This is my day.” When the allotted 60-second break between rounds had passed and Romero was still slunken on his stool, I came as close to jumping for joy as my constraints would allow. How could the fight *not* be over? Romero was out on his feet ass and Kennedy has already begun celebrating! Surely my moment of validation was at hand!
You could imagine my surprise when Big John McCarthy — he of MMA lore and Marvin Gaye lyric-stealing fame — not only *didn’t* call the fight right then and there, but actually allowed Romero to continue. The utter madness! In any case, the third round started, Romero channeled what I can only assume was voodoo strength, and the next thing I know, I’m being pushed out the back of an F-150 onto a crowded interstate highway. Life’s not fair sometimes.
The only person arguably more pissed at the controversial turn of events than myself was Tim Kennedy, who engaged in a heated debate with Romero’s corner backstage before filing an official appeal of the decision. Never one to shy away from telling it like it is, Kennedy appeared on The MMA Hour yesterday to air his grievances with what has since been dubbed “stoolgate” and took primary aim at none other than Big John himself.
I think John is the best ref in the promotion. He and Herb Dean, truly, I have respect for. He f—ed up majorly in my fight. He got owned. He got owned that night by a bunch of guys doing sh—y things. He got played by all three of them, and he just let it happen.
Everything [Romero’s corner] did was calculated, from the extra Vaseline, to throwing in the towels, to dumping bottles of water on the floor, to leaving the stool in there…that’s how pathetic this is. And the fact that they’re smug about it was even more tragic. It’s just that much more unprofessional.
And before the fight, I told John, I said listen, if I hurt him, he’s going to start playing cheap. I promise. His corner’s going to do it, and he’s going to do it.
It’s hard not to feel for Kennedy here — he rallied back from a ten minute ass-whooping to nearly finish the Cuban powerhouse with his only decent combination of the night, only to have his opponent rally from behind thanks to some undoubtedly sketchy tactics. Even Dana White admitted in the UFC 178 post-fight press conference that Romero’s corner pulled the oldest, dirtiest trick in the book by leaving him on his stool, so how are they seemingly getting away with it? Short answer: Because the Unified Rules of MMA are less actual “rules” than they are “guidelines to follow when most convenient.”
“If you get the 28 seconds to recover, imagine if I had the extra 28 seconds in the second round. The guy wouldn’t be walking for a month.” said Kennedy.
For what it’s worth, Romero’s coach, Ricardo Liborio, thinks that this was all one big misunderstanding that we should probably move on from:
I wasn’t inside the Octagon when it all happened. I was giving instructions outside the cage because Paulino (Hernandez), his boxing coach, doesn’t speak a single word in English. He only speaks Spanish. When they said seconds out, I went back to the corner and didn’t see what happened. “But when I was talking to Yoel, he was already back. He wasn’t out. He was talking to me. I told him ‘you have to go straight forward and win the round, you have to win the third round,’ and he said ‘I got it, coach.
I didn’t see anything going on there. I first heard about it when Joe Rogan asked him about it, and my Spanish isn’t that good either [laughs]. I don’t know how long did it take for the fight to restart, but Yoel wasn’t out and he never asked to stop the fight. The whole situation was a mess. Paulino never intended to win some time, and that’s not my style. I would never do something like that.
The tl:dr version:
My shattered tibia, on the other hand, is still calling bullshit on Romero’s win.
At UFC 178, Tim Kennedy was on the cusp of knocking out Yoel Romero in the dying seconds of round two, after he had endured a difficult 10 minutes against the Cuban powerhouse in their main card battle. Kennedy, who also grabbed Romero’s gloves to land several uppercuts, had “Soldier of God” in a world of hurt, as he continued to pounce on his adversary. The horn saved Romero, and as referee “Big” John McCarthy separated both fighters and ordered them to their respective corners, Romero looked as if he had spent three days in an afterhours club hopped up on Molly.
He had no clue where he was, sat on his stool, and looked quite petrified as he mumbled words to his coaches.
As both fighters were summoned for the third and final round, Romero just sat there while his coaches moved like tortoises exiting the cage. Despite his corner men stalling, Romero was still on his stool, with too much Vaseline on him. His corner proceeded to wipe it off, while the American walked around frustrated. As Joe Rogan went ballistic, the fight wasn’t called off, a point wasn’t even deducted, and more so, “Big” John McCarthy didn’t do a damn thing about it.
Seconds into the third round, Romero dropped Kennedy, pummeled him to hell and back, and stood over his bloody foe in victory after being awarded with the stoppage victory.
Pretty strange, huh?
Now, this reeks of controversy from both sides. Kennedy’s blatant glove-grabbing maybe wasn’t worthy of disqualification, yet Romero on his stool was pretty atrocious. Even if the fighter has too much Vaseline on him, which according to Dana White at the post-fight presser, was the promotion’s fault because it was one of their employees, he shouldn’t be chilling on the stool. But here’s the thing … were the corner men told to exit before taking the stool? Probably. However, isn’t it their job to actually take the stool?
Take a look at the confrontation between both fighters backstage, courtesy of a Vine post (props to MMA Fighting for the link) after the jump.
(Photo via Getty)
At UFC 178, Tim Kennedy was on the cusp of knocking out Yoel Romero in the dying seconds of round two, after he had endured a difficult 10 minutes against the Cuban powerhouse in their main card battle. Kennedy, who also grabbed Romero’s gloves to land several uppercuts, had “Soldier of God” in a world of hurt, as he continued to pounce on his adversary. The horn saved Romero, and as referee “Big” John McCarthy separated both fighters and ordered them to their respective corners, Romero looked as if he had spent three days in an afterhours club hopped up on Molly.
He had no clue where he was, sat on his stool, and looked quite petrified as he mumbled words to his coaches.
As both fighters were summoned for the third and final round, Romero just sat there while his coaches moved like tortoises exiting the cage. Despite his corner men stalling, Romero was still on his stool, with too much Vaseline on him. His corner proceeded to wipe it off, while the American walked around frustrated. As Joe Rogan went ballistic, the fight wasn’t called off, a point wasn’t even deducted, and more so, “Big” John McCarthy didn’t do a damn thing about it.
Seconds into the third round, Romero dropped Kennedy, pummeled him to hell and back, and stood over his bloody foe in victory after being awarded with the stoppage victory.
Pretty strange, huh?
Now, this reeks of controversy from both sides. Kennedy’s blatant glove-grabbing maybe wasn’t worthy of disqualification, yet Romero on his stool was pretty atrocious. Even if the fighter has too much Vaseline on him, which according to Dana White at the post-fight presser, was the promotion’s fault because it was one of their employees, he shouldn’t be chilling on the stool. But here’s the thing … were the corner men told to exit before taking the stool? Probably. However, isn’t it their job to actually take the stool?
Let’s take a look at the confrontation between both fighters backstage, courtesy of a Vine post (props to MMA Fighting for the link):
We’re probably set for more footage shortly, via video blogs or UFC Embedded. Also, Kennedy found the exact ruling from the Nevada Athletic Commission regarding recovery in between rounds, and shared it via Twitter:
The American plans to file a complain with the commission in the upcoming days, according to MMA Junkie. It remains to be seen if the commission will act on this matter, or if it’s just an unfortunate circumstance that won’t be fixed altogether.
So immediate rematch of last night’s “Fight of The Night?” Nah, I think we’re good. Potential change to a no-contest? Maybe … just maybe (doubt it, though).
Low and behold, the answer to all of our political problems. (Photo by Esther Lin of MMA Fighting)
UFC 178 is in the books, and it was arguably the best UFC event of the year. Leading up to the extravaganza at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the fight card looked promising, even though the cancellation of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight championship had us all pretty bummed out.
With Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso stepping up to the plate, nobody was truly interested in their flyweight title fight, simply because the rest of the card had more compelling stories, alongside fights deemed a little too difficult to call in order to bet the house, Coleman style.
That being said, let’s take a look at the most compelling scraps, and what to make of it all after we spent the last eight hours shadowboxing, binging on dollar store mini donuts, and obsessively searching the web for that CRUZ sweater.
Welcome to “Cutting Through The Bullshit,” UFC 178 style.
(Photo via Getty)
UFC 178 is in the books, and it was arguably the best UFC event of the year. Leading up to the extravaganza at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the fight card looked promising, even though the cancellation of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight championship had us pretty bummed out.
With Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso stepping up to the plate, nobody was truly interested in their flyweight title fight, simply because the rest of the card had more compelling stories, alongside fights deemed a little too difficult to call in order to bet the house, Coleman style.
That being said, let’s take a look at the biggest scraps, and what to make of it all after we spent the last eight hours shadowboxing, binging on dollar store mini donuts, and obsessively searching the web for that CRUZ sweater.
Welcome to “Cutting Through The Bullshit,” UFC 178 style:
Look, it’s pretty obvious Johnson is a spectacular combatant, the most dominant champion in the organization, and a fighter so technically sound he generates silence throughout the arena because the fans are simply in awe of him.
Well, no.
It’s apparent “Mighty Mouse” isn’t really a pay-per-view star, and he’s suited best for FOX broadcasts moving forward. He’s definitely capable of generating interest in a co-main event, much like he and Cariaso were supposed to do at UFC 177, yet headlining the whole PPV shebang may not be his forte.
But that really isn’t his fault. He’s more so a victim of consequence here. The flyweight title fight wasn’t supposed to headline this card, however, a title fight should have enough power to generate interest on its own. You can say he’s still in a transitional phase, yet UFC 174 is still pretty fresh in our minds.
Anyhow, his win over Cariaso was like watching Sid Justice maul a jobber on Saturday mornings, and it’s funny to think that even though the champ was in a relatively easy fight, nobody is mentioning that it’s his third stoppage victory in his pas four title defenses. He was also asked one question at the post-fight presser (well, two, but from the same person … so, one).
2014 has been fairly good to us in the main event department. If Johnson vs. Cariaso lacked that particular oomph, then Cerrone vs. Alvarez was straight up going to be some deep-fried organized violence.
It turned out to be a great fight, one all too familiar for “Cowboy.” After a difficult and lopsided first round, Cerrone turned it on in the second and started to hack away at the Bellator champion’s legs, eventually breaking that tree down and earning the unanimous decision victory.
Cerrone’s been through the thick and thin, and by defeating Alvarez, he’s either going to be in another title eliminator bout, or finally challenge for UFC gold. As for the “Underground King,” it wasn’t the worst of debuts, yet that’s just what UFC wanted … another Bellator guy stifled by a golden boy employee who takes on all jobs.
Conor McGregor Is The Next Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Michael Jordan, And Walt Disney
If you watched the post-fight press conference, you noticed the Irishman sitting there glowing in his ivory elephant trunk suit, with every member of the media asking him the same three questions he’s been asked for the past year. Hell, he even got a post-fight media scrum.
Don’t get it twisted; “Notorious” truly is the biggest prospect in the UFC right now, and to be honest, he pretty much surpassed that status last night with a first-round TKO over the always-game Dustin Poirier. Did that shot hit “Diamond” in the back of the head? Did McGregor land more shots to the back of the head when following up?
It’s kind of subjective at this point. Whether he did or didn’t, it shouldn’t overshadow his performance. He was awarded the victory after all, and we’ve seen a lot more clusterfucks than that in the past.
UFC’s legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Goldberg compared him to Michael Jordan, not to mention Uncle Dana saying he was bigger than Brock Lesnar, the biggest draw the sport had ever seen. McGregor is going to Brazil to sit cageside with his homies at UFC 179, so don’t be surprised if he’s slotted in the Octagon as the next contender to the featherweight strap. We’re not going to assess if he deserves a title shot or not … we’re just going to predict what we think will happen, seeing that UFC as a whole thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Yoel Romero Sitting On His Stool, Giving Less Fucks Than Ricky Rozay
Romero’s battle alongside Tim Kennedy was pretty good while it lasted, and subject to a boatload of controversy. Romero was basically out on his stool, and after “a UFC employee put too much Vaseline on him,” he sat there for about half a minute while his corner “attempted” to leave the cage.
There’s no question that if any of us were the American, we’d be pissed. “Soldier of God” was dazed, and it looked like he was prepared to vomit at any moment. Still, he comes out in the third round and completely torches Kennedy in the biggest win of his career.
Sorry UFC, but victim blaming won’t work here. That one was on “Big” John McCarthy, and it’s puzzling to think one of the best officials in the game let that one slip by. Like, dude, at least tell the guy to stand up and ask him questions.
Cat Zingano Win Inspiring, But Please, Leave Her Alone
“Alpha” has been through a lot in the past year. Joe Rogan hinted at in her post-fight interview after her comeback win over Amanda Nunes in the third round, but failed to say what happened, which led to an honest assessment of Zingano saying she just wanted to go home, spend time with her son, and happy she got that shit over with.
Zingano’s third-round stoppage over the Brazilian was ultra inspiring, with the majority of the sport’s observers feeling genuinely happy for the next women’s bantamweight number one contender. However, let’s give it a rest, and leave her alone. I’ve always felt indifferent when it comes to exploring one’s personal circumstances in a difficult time, and unlike the next fighter on the list, Zingano went through hardship that nobody deserves to go through. So for next time, let’s not hint at her troubles multiple times (Rogan & Goldie) without mentioning what happened, and let her enjoy possibly the biggest win of her life?
Dominick Cruz Is The Best Pound-For-Pound Athlete In The Universe, Currently Sitting In CRUZ Control
Imagine what you live for is taken away from you for three years. We’re not talking about being abstinent, you horny pervert. In Cruz’s case, we had no idea how he was going to look. He never lost the bantamweight championship, yet his last bout was three years ago, and there was a plethora of questions regarding his physical and mental state.
Call it a travesty that his fight against Takeya Mizugaki was on the FS1 prelims, although it was the best-case scenario. Dozens of thousands of viewers witnessed DOMIN8TION for free, with Cruz mauling Mizugaki after landing a takedown which may or may not have given most of us at this website an instant erection.
Credit the brass for booking Cruz against T.J. Dillashaw next, because frankly, that’s the only sensible option. “Dominator” could have fought Urijah Faber, too, especially after his post-fight jab, but let’s not pretend last night’s winner lost his title and didn’t beat Faber in convincing fashion three years ago.
All In All …
It was a perfect night of fights. Truth be told, it was the type of card we live for, and the reason we still wake up at freaking 5AM to watch putrid battles featuring foreign fighters with 2-0 records. Honestly, it felt like 2007 all over again.
In the end, we got a main event that had less drawing power than a George Lopez sitcom, a superstar’s official coming out party, #stoolgate, and two competitors that were granted guaranteed title shots (with two others in the championship limelight, also). That’s the UFC we know. That’s the pain we face. That’s why after all this time, we still put up with Stemm.
Enjoy it while you can. It’s not like we’re treated to these gifts every weekend anymore, however, something tells me the rest of the year heading into the next could be something special.
A battle between top middleweights Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero has just been added to UFC 178: Jones vs. Gustafsson II in the co-main event slot, which must mean that it is only a matter of time before an injury moves it into the *main* event slot. Regardless, the active duty Army Ranger and the Cuban powerhouse have been booked for a fight that could earn the winner a shot at middleweight champion Chris Weidman. “Middleweight champion Chris Weidman.” Still feels kind of weird to write that.
Kennedy is on the heels of a dominant, if less-than-thrilling victory over Michael Bisping at the TUF Nations Finale, which saw him completely neutralize the Brit with his takedown-oriented offense and ground-n-pound. Methinks Kennedy will have a tougher time doing the same against Romero, a hulking middleweight and Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling who, like Kennedy, will be riding a four fight win streak into their matchup at UFC 178.
Following vicious KO wins over Clifford Starks, Ronny Markes, and Derek Brunson in his first three UFC appearances, Romero most recently bested TUF 11 alum Brad Tavares via unanimous decision at UFC on FOX 11 back in April.
A battle between top middleweights Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero has just been added to UFC 178: Jones vs. Gustafsson II in the co-main event slot, which must mean that it is only a matter of time before an injury moves it into the *main* event slot. Regardless, the active duty Army Ranger and the Cuban powerhouse have been booked for a fight that could earn the winner a shot at middleweight champion Chris Weidman. “Middleweight champion Chris Weidman.” Still feels kind of weird to write that.
Kennedy is on the heels of a dominant, if less-than-thrilling victory over Michael Bisping at the TUF Nations Finale, which saw him completely neutralize the Brit with his takedown-oriented offense and ground-n-pound. Methinks Kennedy will have a tougher time doing the same against Romero, a hulking middleweight and Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling who, like Kennedy, will be riding a four fight win streak into their matchup at UFC 178.
Following vicious KO wins over Clifford Starks, Ronny Markes, and Derek Brunson in his first three UFC appearances, Romero most recently bested TUF 11 alum Brad Tavares via unanimous decision at UFC on FOX 11 back in April.
In case you missed it on Saturday night, here are some video highlights from the UFC on FOX 11 main card, featuring Fabricio Werdum’s unexpected standup-thrashing of Travis Browne, and Donald Cerrone’s comeback submission victory over Edson Barboza. A couple of important notes…
– Cerrone picked up a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for his win over Barboza; Cowboy has now bonus’d in three consecutive fights. All the other UFC on FOX 11 bonuses went to prelim fighters. Thiago Alves and Seth Baczynski won Fight of the Night for their three-rounder which Alves won by unanimous decision, and Performance of the Night #2 went to UFC newcomer Alex White — who was previously involved in the ugliest late-stoppage in MMA history — for his first-round TKO of Estevan Payan.
After the jump: Highlights from Miesha Tate vs. Liz Carmouche and Yoel Romero vs. Brad Tavares. Plus, Dana White (mostly) praises Werdum’s performance in the main event while burying Browne for gassing out early, and Shaquille O’Neal eats a napkin for some reason.
In case you missed it on Saturday night, here are some video highlights from the UFC on FOX 11 main card, featuring Fabricio Werdum’s unexpected standup-thrashing of Travis Browne, and Donald Cerrone’s comeback submission victory over Edson Barboza. A couple of important notes…
– Cerrone picked up a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for his win over Barboza; Cowboy has now bonus’d in three consecutive fights. All the other UFC on FOX 11 bonuses went to prelim fighters. Thiago Alves and Seth Baczynski won Fight of the Night for their three-rounder which Alves won by unanimous decision, and Performance of the Night #2 went to UFC newcomer Alex White — who was previously involved in the ugliest late-stoppage in MMA history — for his first-round TKO of Estevan Payan.
After the jump: Highlights from Miesha Tate vs. Liz Carmouche and Yoel Romero vs. Brad Tavares. Plus, Dana White (mostly) praises Werdum’s performance in the main event while burying Browne for gassing out early, and Shaquille O’Neal eats a napkin for some reason.
