Shogun vs. Silva, Lombard vs. Stann and more confirmed by the UFC

'Shogun' Rua

Some BIG fights were announced for summer UFC events over the weekend including some of the biggest and most popular names in the sport.

First up, Dana White announced on twitter that Hector Lombard will make his UFC debut against Brian Stann at UFC on FOX 4 in August. This should be a perfect action fight for fans and both fighters hit as hard as anyone in the middleweight division and someone is sure to get knocked out. Stann is by far the toughest fighter Lombard has faced in his career so far and this fight should show whether he has what it takes to hang with the UFC’s elite.

On the same evening, White announced a fight between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Thiago Silva at UFC 149. I can’t really think of anything to say about this pairing other than this should be an awesome fight. Both fighters come to knock their opponent’s heads off and that should definitely be on the cards.

Also at UFC 149, the featherweight title match between José Aldo and Eric Koch has been confirmed to headline the event, which will also feature the welterweight tilt between Thiago Alves and Yoshihiro Akiyama, as well as a heavyweight fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cheick Kongo.

The Ultimate Fighter catch-up

I’ve been fairly quiet regarding the current season of The Ultimate Fighter over the past few weeks because quite frankly apart from the fights, the programme is not really all that that interesting. However, after a few entertaining scraps, and the increased exposure of future UFC hall-of-famer Andy Ogle I thought it would be worth recapping the goings-on from the last few episodes before the round-of-16 concludes this coming Friday.

In Episode 5, Mike Chiesa beat Jeremy Larsen despite having a point deducted after an incredibly stupid illegal knee. Much of the episode was focused on Cruz trying to persuade Sam Sicilia to help prepare Larsen for the fight as he is Sicilia’s team-mate outside of the show. Cruz was not successful, but it did not matter too much thanks to Chiesa’s vastly superior grappling.

At the end of the episode, Chris Tickle (who was being portrayed as a complete jackass) was matched up with Joe Proctor. The audience had got to know Tickle quite well over the course of the series thanks to his 1st round KO in the first round, his ‘injury’ issues, and constant verbal sparring with coach Dominick Cruz regarding his commitment. Cruz had identified Tickle as a talented fighter with the ability to go all the way in the competition if he could stay focused. However, the signs had not been good for that, and the fact that he was drunk on the night of the previous week’s fight only emphasised that point.

Proctor taps Tickle. Gif via ironforgesiron.com

Ultimately, Tickle’s 1st round submission loss to Proctor looked to be largely down to how raw of a fighter he is. He claims to have had limited formal training before the TUF process, and it certainly showed when a skilled fighter like Proctor was able to quickly take his back and lock in the rear-naked-choke. This was the 3rd win in a row for Urijah Faber’s team which took them into the lead for the series.

In episode 7, it appeared some of the fighters were really starting to feel the pressure of being trapped in the TUF house. Andy Ogle in particular had a particularly severe episode that required a break from training. I defy anyone not to sympathise with the fighters and down-play any emotional difficulties they are having. Dana White gave his customary profanity-laden speech to motivate the fighters and remind them that they are there for an opportunity of a lifetime and to improve as fighters etc. However, I can only imagine how empty these sentiments will be for some of the fighters who have already been knocked out of the competition and will never get a chance in the UFC.

Pichel rocks Cofer on his way to victory

At the end of the episode John Cofer and Vinc Pichel squared off for what was probably the most entertaining fight of the season so far. The fight was back-and-forth as Pichel defended Cofer’s takedowns to keep the fight on the feet where he wanted. However, Cofer’s striking was probably better that Pichel had anticipated, and it was enough to clinch him a round, so that the fight was taken into a third, decisive round.

At the restart, the two fighters quickly exchanged with a flurry of punches that Pichel got the better of. He landed cleanly on Cofer’s jaw a couple of times that took the Team Faber man completely out of his game. He was unable to defend the takedown, and from side control Pichel easily set up an arm-triangle-choke and tapped the former Division-1 wrestler for the win.

In this week’s episode; number 2 pick Sam Sicilia was upset in controversial fashion by last-picked Chris Saunders after another thrilling fight. Sicilia was stalking Saunders early on, backing him up waiting for the right time to strike. The whole complexion of the fight changed when Saunders landed a head-kick that buckled Sicilia. He was quickly back to his feet, but he was left fighting on instinct for the rest of the fight as he came forward with his hands down and tried to counter Saunders’ shots and land massive power-punches.

With the devastating high-kick and some additional successful strikes Saunders deserved to take the first round, but he  could not stand up to Sicilia’s mounting pressure in the second. Sicilia did not help himself by constantly jumping for guillotines which ended in failure, but he always got back to his feet and battered his opponent, dropping him to the mat with one perfectly placed hook. The fight looked set to go to a third round, but the judges inexplicably awarded Saunders the split-decision victory.

Not that I would wish misfortune on any of the other contestants, but I really hope Sicilia gets the chance as an alternate later in the series, or at least a fight at the finale because he did not deserve to go out of the competition after that perseverance through adversity.

Next week ANDY OGLE fights Mike Rio for the final spot in the quarter-finals. Much has been made of Ogle’s struggles coping with the isolated existence in the TUF house, but Urijah Faber has been keen to point out that Ogle has been performing well in training and developing well as a fighter. In the other corner, Rio was struggling with a knee injury earlier in the season but there has been no word on whether he has recovered in recent weeks.

 

UFC Featherweight division: Aldo to fight Koch? Hioki to fight Lamas

José Aldo, Erik Koch, Hatsu Hioki and Ricardo Lamas. pictures Via Bloodyelbow.com

After a few months of uncertainty, it appears that the UFC featherweight division has a clear schedule set. MMA Weekly report that it looks like champion José Aldo’s next opponent will be 23 year old Erik Koch, who is currently riding a four fight win streak including two knockout-of-the-night performances. One would assume that the fight will take place in Brazil at UFC 147 after the removal of Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II. Dana White even mentioned that Aldo was set to feature on this card during the UFC’s press conference in Rio earlier in the week. However, the report also mentions that UFC 149 would also be a possibility.

Aldo had been expected to face Hatsu Hioki in his next title defence after the Japanese fighter’s outstanding win against Bart Palaszewski  at UFC 144 in Tokyo, but FoxSports.com reports otherwise. Hioki requested one more fight before a title shot, and he will now face Ricardo Lamas at UFC on FX 4 in June, which is headlined by Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida. This seems like a bit of a risky move by Hioki, though I would expect him to prevail over Lamas; who is 2-0 since his move from the WEC to the UFC after an impressinve win over Cub Swanson in his last outing.

One would have to assume that Hioki will fight Aldo should the two win their fights in the coming months. However, should there be an upset in either fight, there is a very good chance that the winner of the Chan Sung Jung/Dustin Poirier fight at UFC on FUEL TV 3 in May could become involved in the title picture instead.

UFC 148 is stacked with great fights

Though yesterday’s announcement that the highly anticipated rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen would take place at UFC 148 in Las Vegas rather than UFC 147 in Rio must have disappointed many Brazilians, I’m sure most people won’t care as it now headlines one of the most stacked UFC cards of the year on Independence Day weekend.

Just look at the line-up so far and all the potentially amazing fights.

Main Card 

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen – The rematch to end all rematches featuring the greatest fighter of all time and one of the most entertaining men in MMA, for the middleweight championship no less
Dominick Cruz vs.Urijah Faber – The rubber match! 5 rounds for the UFC bantamweight title! Ultimate Fighter coaches fighting for the second time in a year following what was one of the best fights of last year.
Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin – Though not a great fight in my opinion, a fight between two marquee names, and the last fight of Tito’s career
Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le – Former middleweight champion Franklin finally makes his way back to the division where he belongs. ‘Movie-star’ Cung Le has been offered as the sacrifice for the occasion.
Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetch – Middleweight contender match between two of the top-10 in the division

Prelims

Damien Maia vs. Dong Hyun Kim – Former title challenger at middleweight, Maia makes his 170 pound bow against one of the division’s elite, easily a main card fight in any other event
Renan Barão vs. Ivan Menjivar – Another main-card worthy fight. Barão and Menjivar are potentially one more fight away from a title shot.
Melvin Guillard vs. Fabricio Camòes
Constantinos Philippou vs. Riki Fukuda
Gleison Tibau vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov – three exciting fights featuring explosive and heavy-hitting participants from the lightweight and middleweight divisions.

There we have it. 10 fights so far, with all of the preliminary fights good enough to fill out main cards of UFC numbered events. I’m counting down the days until July 7th.

UFC 146 heavyweight merry-go-round: Nelson vs. Gonzaga announced (updated)

The latest fight announcement thanks to a series of UFC 146 opponent shuffles is that Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson will be fighting former UFC title challenger Gabriel ‘Napao’ Gonzaga. Nelson was originally set to fight Antonio Silva, who stepped in for Frank Mir to fight Cain Velasquez after Mir stepped in to to fight Junior Dos Santos after Alistair Overeem triggered this whole mess by failing a test for elevated levels of testosterone. For the record, Gonzaga was originally scheduled to fight Shane Del Rosario, who is now without an opponent for the time being.

Although the complexion of the fights has changed, I don’t think too much will change with regard to the winners and losers on the UFC 146 main card. I still expect Dos Santos, Velasquez and Nelson to win their fights, perhaps even more comfortably now that their opponents have changed. Conversely, I still expect Mir and Silva to lose handily. The only change that I could potentially see is Gonzaga losing thank to a tougher match up. Del Rosario is not as good as he is hyped up to be and could easily suffer if he faces a heavyweight on form.

[UPDATE] I now appears that Del Rosari will fight Stipe Miocic who has had an impressive 2-0 start to his UFC run. I would count on him increasing his streak to 3-0.

Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva II promo by NickTheFace

Another great promo video by NickTheFace, featuring the Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva rematch that is expected to take place at UFC 147 in Rio/Las Vegas.

I’ve got goosebumps.

Bellator 66 results and highlights – Alvarez gets his revenge

Eddie Alvarez celebrates victory over Shinya Aoki

Although it was overshadowed by UFC 145, Bellator 66 was undoubtedly the most exciting MMA event of the weekend. Every single event of Bellator Season 6 has been a good one, and this event may have been the best yet as the Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki II fight brought a little more prestige to compliment the exiting and competitive tournament fights.

The discourse before the main event was concise and simple. Alvarez was going to win by KO, or Aoki was going to win by submission again. Alvarez approached the fight in the most perfect way possible to ensure that it was the first scenario that occurred. When Aoki dropped to his back after the fist set of punches that landed, Alvarez made it clear that he wanted no part of the ground game. Staying well out of Aoki’s reach for clinching and takedowns, Alvarez was able to tag Aoki for a second time, but on this occasion the former Bellator lightweight champion surprised Aoki and jumped in throwing some aggressive ground-and-pound that forced the referee to stop the fight.

The middleweight tournament semi-finals threw up some surprises and a little controversy. In the first fight UFC veteran defeated Maiquel Falcao defeated Vyacheslav Vasilevsky with unanimous recognition from the judges that I thought was predictable, but incorrect. After Vasilevsky controlled the first round and Falcao got the edge in the third, it was clear that the deciding round was going to be the second. Vasilevsky landed several significant strikes and took Falcao to the mat several times which was enough for me. Sadly, the fact that Falcao spent a significant amount of time on top of Vasilevsky seemed to convince the officials otherwise.

In the second middleweight tournament semi-final hometown favourite Brian Rogers was upset by tournament alternate Andreas Spang with a brutal second round KO. Rogers had performed excellently in the first round, and had hit the Swede with several clean, hard shots that rocked his head back. As we know in MMA, it only takes one punch to completely change the course of a fight, and it was a left hook from Spang early in the second round that sent Rogers to the mat leaving him wide open for a diving hammerfist. Rogers appeared to be fairly clear-headed after the stoppage, but it was an excellent call from the referee who really had no choice but to call a halt to proceedings after such a glarring lack of defence. You can see the KO in all its glory in the video below.

We were almost given an early preview of the middleweight final after Spang and Falcao squared up to each other after the fight and a brawl broke out in the middle of the cage. Thankfully the situation did not escalate too far, partly thanks to Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith, and a repeat of the Strikeforce: Nashville silliness was avoided. Bellator certainly have an easy job promoting the final now with a tailor made promo of the fighters’ animosity for each other, combined of course with the fact that two hard-hitting middleweights will be throwing down for a tournament championship.

More fun was to be had with the opening two fights of the main card as the lightweight tournament finalists were decided. First, Brent Weedman earned a deserved decision victory over Thiago Michel. Weedman managed to neutralise the dangerous striking of Michel with takedowns in the first couple of rounds, utilising some excellent knees to the body from side control. Then Rick Hawn cemented his status as the tournament favourite with a KO of Lloyd Woodard in the opening seconds of the second round. Woodard got caught coming forward with a massive right hand from Hawn, and was finished with ground-and-pound. Hawn and Weedman will face off in the coming weeks for a shot at Michael Chandler’s title later in the year. I would favour Hawn to get the victory, and what a championship fight that would be!

Full results listed below.

Frank Mir replaces Alistair Overeem at UFC 146

 

The big non-UFC 145 news from this weekend was the confirmation that Frank Mir would replace Alistair Overeem as Junior Dos Santos‘ opponent for the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 146 in June.

Mir was originally scheduled to face Cain Velasquez at the event, who will now face Antonio Silva, who was originally scheduled to face Roy Nelson. No new opponent has been determined for Nelson.

This news comes contrary to Dana White’s assertions earlier this month that the Mir/Velasquez fight would remain intact, though his hand appears to have been forced due to Overeem’s troubles with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

I thought JDS should have been the slight favourite in a fight with Overeem, and now he should be an overwhelming favourite against Mir. Frank Mir is an excellent fighter, but really struggles when he gets hit hard in the face, and JDS will certainly do that to him. I also think Velasquez becomes an even stronger favourite against Silva in a fight that could play out in a very similar fashion to Silva’s fight with Velasquez’s team-mate Daniel Cormier in Strikeforce last year.

In the full post, a video of Junior Dos Santos’ reaction to the news of his change of opponent.

UFC 145 Jones vs. Evans results – Jon Jones easily defends his title

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans went down in Atlanta last night, and was another entertaining and successful show for the UFC, finally settling the Jones/Evans feud that felt like it had been running for ever. Elsewhere on the card a great mix of knockouts, submissions and fights that made it to the final bell took place as new prospects established themselves and former contenders slipped further down their divisional ladders.

Jon Jones def. Rashad Evans via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45) – retains UFC Light-heavyweight title

After a fairly even first round, Jon Jones took control of this fight and dominated Rashad Evans en route to a wide unanimous decision victory. Evans had some early success, and even if he didn’t win the first round he was very competitive coming forward, keeping Jones under pressure and landing with punches and kicks. He started to fall behind on the scorecards and get outstruck in the second round after he failed to heed the advice of his cornerman Tyrone Spong and started backing up. This allowed Jones to keep Evans on the end of kicks and punches as well as throwing in standing elbows that really seemed to hurt Evans when the opportunity arose.

Jon Jones elbows Rashad Evans. gif courtesy of ironforgesiron.com

In the later rounds Evans was noticeably tired and inactive. He could not figure out how to get inside and hit Jones, and looked content to simply survive rather than go for broke and swing for the fences. Jones was very comfortable and continued to land strikes almost at will until the final bell.

Jones will match up with Dan Henderson for his next fight where he could score a victory over his 6th top-10 light-heavyweight in a row and surely cement himself as the greatest of all time in the division. Evans is convinced that he will stay at 205 pounds where he will remain amongst the top five fighters in the world at the absolute worst. However, I would hope he would consider a move to middleweight. I expect Anderson Silva to retire soon, and Evans would have an excellent shot of becoming the champion there.

Full set of results and more analysis in the full post