UFC 164 results and gifs: Pettis taps Henderson

Another UFC in the books, and we have a new lightweight champion.

Anthony Pettis def. Benson Henderson via verbal submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:31 – wins UFC lightweight championship

I’d thought the most likely outcome for this fight would have involved Bruce Buffer keeping everyone on the edge of their seats as he read the judges close scorecards. Ben Henerson i snot generally the kind of man that get’s finished even if his opponent is Anthony Pettis and we saw evidence of that in their fist fight.

The round started with some control against the cage from the champion that Pettis was able to survive without taking too much punishment. No-one stamped their authority on the fight until the challenger rattled off four consecutive right kicks to the body. THese weren’t even on Henderson’s live side, but he was visibly affected by their thunderous impact. From there, it looked like Pettis made the first error of the fight bey truing a flashy cartwheel kick and ending straight on his back in guard.

However, he used this to his advantage very quickly, controlling Bendo’s position and switching his hips tight and quick to lock in an armbar. A few seconds later and a futile attempt by Henderson to escape and the verbal tap came.

In the post-fight interview the new champ was calling out José Aldo, but I think he’ll probably have to defend his new 155lb prize a couple of times before the Brazilian makes his way up to  challenge for the belt. I can;t see the UFC brass letting him drop to featherweight. I also see Pettis handling anyone the lightweight division has to offer. If I had to pick one man to give him problems it would be Gilbert Melendez, but considering how capably Showtime has handled his last four opponents I would say he will have a rough go at that.

Josh Barnett def. Frank Mir via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:56

Josh Barnett got a win in his return to the UFC after nearly a decade with a TKO of the always TKO-able Frank Mir. He had a perfect gameplan, rushing Mir early and throwing a barrage odf strikes to the head and body. I honestly thought he was on the way to screwing everything up when knees started missing their mark, the face became the secondary target and Mir started firing back, but I need not have had any doubt as Barnett delivered a knee which crumpled the former champ to the mat and brought the stoppage.

I think the stoppage was a tad early, but not terrible. Mir should have been allowed the chance to recover (which he did seconds later), but if Barnett had been able to throw a couple more punches Mir would have had his lights out in short order. Where’s Dan Miragliotta when you need him.

Barnett has set himself up for some high-profile fights at heavyweight now, but I don;t think he’ll ever really be in for a title hunt with guys like Velasquez, Dos Santos and Cormier around. Mir has lost three straight but still has a place in the division. He’s a good fighter who’s lost to three top 10 fighters and he could still crush most heavyweights with ease. His title hunting days are over though.

Chad Mendes def. Clay Guida via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:30

Chad Mendes is a stone-cold killer, and really proved it by grabbing a fourth KO in a row against a notoriously impossible-to-KO fighter.

Clay Guida had nothing for Mendes in the grappling or striking departments, and when the Team Alpha Male prospect finally uncorked the kind of punches that had the potential to end the fight the fight was well and truly ended.

Mendes is ready for an Aldo rematch now. He might not win, but I don;t think he’ll get blown up like he did last time. He’s by far and away proved himself to be the number one contender and improved his skills enough that a rematch is still compelling. If he is given one more fight before he gets that chance you won;t find me complaining though. It will just be another chance for us to see hime flex his skills and blow up another 145 pounder.

Ben Rothwell def. Brandon Vera via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:54

This could finally be Brandon Vera’s ticket out of the UFC. He fought quite well at first, but he couldn’t stop Rothwell putting him up against the cage and when the big mid-westerner finally turned on the power Vera was helpless.

Big Ben might want to be careful what he asks for in his post-fight interviews though. A fight with Travis Browne is likely to nring one thing his way. A severe ass kicking.

Dustin Poirier def. Erik Koch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

This was the fight of the night for sure (despite what the official list of UFC bonuses might say). A back and forth battle with high offensive output in all areas of mixed martial arts. It looked like Poirier was done for when he was caught in a tight triangle early in the first and even when he finally managed to escape he looked like he was close to passing out. However, he gritted his teeth and swung the momentum back in his favour.

After this excellent punch ‘The Diamond’ rained down blows on ‘New Breed’ until the end of the round before following up with a second round of dominance. The punishment he dealt out in the first was so great in fact, that two judges gave him a 10-8 score despite the trouble he’d been in earlier on.

To his credit, Koch came back and won the third round, but unless he was about to score a finishing blow or hail-Mary submission the fight was Poirier’s.

Whatever the outcome of this fight my sentiments would have been the same as they are now. I can;t wait to see these young exciting fighters matched up with other high-quality featherweights for years to come. Boredom will never be an issue with these men fighting.

Prelim results

The official fight of the night was Hyun Gyu Lim’s destruction of Pascal Krausss. This was a hugely entertaining few minutes of violence, and striking to see how ENORMOUS Lim is at 170lbs. With reckless gameplanning like that he won’t be troubling the division’s elite any time soon, but he will definitely give some top-25 fighters some trouble and provide some outrageous excitement whether he’s delivering the damage or eating it.

The Jacaré award for upkick eating goes to Kyung Ho Kang, who pretty much lost his fight with Chico Camus as a result of taking this beauty.

The early contender for submission of the night was this nice guillotine from Magnus Cedenblad in the night’s opening contest.

Finally, I can’t not mention the slop-fest that was Soa Palelei win over Nikita Krylov in his return to the Octagon. The big Aussie was not impressive in his first UFC fight all those years ago, and broken rib or not, he was not impressive here. The blame can;t lie squarely at his door though. I’d herad Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen describe how bad Krylov was on Friday, and the young Ukrainian scertyainly lived up to his billing. He played right into Paleelei’s limited abilities and deserveddly got beaten. I guess these horrorshow fight sare a bit of fun every once in a while, but I hope most of this sort of thing is reserved for the likes of Bellator and World Series of Fighting in future. It was BRUTAL to watch.

Gleison Tibau def. Jamie Varner via split decision (29-28, 27-29, 29-28)
Tim Elliott def. Louis Gaudinot via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Hyun Gyu Lim def. Pascal Krauss via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:58
Chico Camus def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Soa Palelei def. Nikita Krylov via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:34
Al Iaquinta def. Ryan Couture via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Magnus Cedenblad def. Jared Hamman via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:57

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Dana White UFC 164 post fight media scrum

Dana gets on the mic with the assembled media to chat all things UFC 164.

For those familiar with Dana White, you will also be familiar with his brutal honesty. Occasionally this might be grossly misinformed, just plain wrong or controversial to the point he gets into a bit of bother with the media.. However, his there are times when his insistence on calling a spade a spade is admirable, particularly in the case of his criticism of the Soa Palelei/Nikita Krylov fight. That fight really deserved to be slammed, and the UFC president duly obliged.

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UFC 164 post fight press conference

Dana White and UFC 164 fighters sit down with the media after the conclusion of last night’s event.

New lightweight title holder Anthony Pettis fields questions for the first time as champion, including his future defending the belt and a potential fight with featherweight king José Aldo.

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UFC 164 Henderson vs. Pettis 2 weigh-in results and video

Every fighter was on weight for UFC 164 earlier today in Milwaukee, so there’s not too much to say really.

A few thoughts:

• Gleison Tibau us far too big to be a lightweight!
• Erik Koch and Dustin Poirier are still in the infancy of their MMA careers, but you won’t find many better or more intense fighters out there. Prepare for fireworks.
• When I hear Brandon Vera was moving back up to heavyweight I was skeptical. When I heard he weighed in at 241 pound I though his return to the division was bound to be a disaster. However, having seen his frame, he’s thicker, not just heavier. If he can keep a bit of speed from 205lbs he could give Ben Rothwell some trouble and revitalise his career.
• You would thing Chad Mendes had just dropped from the weight class above. He dwarfs Clay Guida. I predict an uncomfortable ride for The Carpenter tomorrow night.
• Henderson and Pettis look ready to go right now. This ssi very exciting.

Full preview to follow, though I’m not sure how coherant it will be. I think the breakdown of the main event might just be a list of superlatives, because this is the rematch of one of the top 5 best fights ever, and for my money the most exciting match possible to make in MMA right now.

Main Card

Benson Henderson (155) vs. Anthony Pettis (154.5)
Josh Barnett (255) vs. Frank Mir (248)
Clay Guida (146) vs. Chad Mendes (145)
Ben Rothwell (262) vs. Brandon Vera (241)
Erik Koch (145) vs. Dustin Poirier (145.5)

Prelims

Gleison Tibau (155) vs. Jamie Varner (156)
Tim Elliott (125.5) vs. Louis Gaudinot (125)
Pascal Krauss (170) vs. Hyun Gyu Lim (171)
Chico Camus (135) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (136)
Nikita Krylov (236) vs. Soa Palelei (265)
Ryan Couture (156) vs. Al Iaquinta (156)
Magnus Cedenblad (185) vs. Jared Hamman (185.5)

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UFC on FOX 4 Results – Shogun stops Vera, Machida earns title shot

Shogun and Brandon Vera engage during their 4 round war…

… while Lyoto Machida stands over Ryan Bader after knocking him unconscious

As its’ been a couple of days since this event I’ll just give a few brief thoughts on a fantastic evening of combat from Los Angeles. There was not a single fight on the card that disappointed.

Mauricio Rua def. Brandon Vera via TKO at 4:09 of Round 4.

After being counted out by almost everyone, Brandon Vera put on one of the performances of his career to take Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua into the deep waters of the 4th round, but it still wasn’t enough to best the former UFC champion. shogun looked dangerous early on, and one couldn’t help but think that the Shogun of a few years ago would have had ‘The Truth’ out of there within 2 rounds after he connected with several good punches.

Vera battled back in the 2nd and into the 3rd, keeping Shogun on his back, as well as landing to some crisp combinations beginning with some clean straight punches followed up by some nasty leg kicks. Both fighters were exhausted well before the 4th round, leading many observers to criticise their condition. While it is true that these guys may have been fresher in years gone by, the fact that they were pushing a pretty relentless pace contributed enormously to their fatigue.

At the end of the 4th round, the combination of this fatigue and Shogun landing a few lethal shots in a row resulted in Vera falling face down on the mat. Despite the complimentary barrage of ground and pound, no further shots were needed, vera was out.

Lyoto Machida def. Ryan Bader via KO at 1:32 of Round 2.

The co-main event was a much simpler affair, as Lyoto Machida fought pretty much the perfect fight, avoiding the attacks of his opponent, hitting him with kicks and delivering counter punches. Throughout the 1st round, Bader was swinging at air as Machida circled away, and in the 2nd he finally got sloppy enough throwing a right hand that ‘The Dragon’ was able to stop him in his tracks with a counter-right that separated the former TUF winner from his senses.

To the business of title shots. I would certainly agree that Machida is deserving of the shot at Jon Jones as his performance was flawless and I think that he still ha the best chance of beating the seemingly invincible UFC champ. However, I still would expect Jones to beat Machida again (he is probably better suited to a drop to middleweight, but more on that another time), and if Dan Henderson can somehow find a way to take the title, the decision to pull the trigger on giving Machida the title shot, and not leaving room to line up a Hendo/Shogun remautch could cost the UFC millions of dollars

Joe Lauzon def. Jamie Varner via submission (triangle choke) at 2:44 of Round 3 – wins $50,000 sub-of-the-night bonus, both fighters win $50,000 fight-of-the-night bonus.

The deserved winners of the fotn bonus, Varner and Lauzon engaged in a back and forth war for the better part of 3 rounds. Jamie Varner looked to be hitting top form once again as he battered ‘JLau’ with a barrage of thunderous body punches and hooks to the head, though Lauzon seemed relatively unfazed by the attack, and he was able to survive until Varner apparently broke his hand at some point in the 2nd round.

After unfortunate turn, Varner’s punches were probably lacking a bit of the fizz that they previously had, and Lauzon was able to capitalise by firing back, putting the former WEC champ on his arse, and taking his back. The submission (in the gif below) was particularly impressive from Lauzon because it didn’t come from a sustained spell of dominance like he had in round 2. He initiated a scrable after being taken down, and was able to work his right leg over the shoulder during the process of a second take down to secure triangle position. A superb submission attack while he was essentially in mid-air.

Mike Swick def. DaMarques Johnson via KO at 1:20 of Round 2 -wins $50,000 KO-of-the-night-bonus.

What a return for Mike Swick, 30 months out and he wins the KO bonus after coming back from adversity against a tough opponent. DaMarques Johnson threatened in the 1st round, and kept Swick on his back for much of the 2nd half of the round. It seeemed as though he was really feeling the effects of having such a long time out of the cage. But then..

..Swick hit a nice knee-tap as a counter to a kick, and threw a punch mid-takedown that connected as Johnson’s head bounced back off the mat, making him go limp instantly.

And now for a few quick thoughts on the prelims

Nam Phan def. Cole Miller via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

A great little war that lived up to my loft expectations. Phan really deserved the win because of hus superior striking, with his left hooks to the head and body particularly effective weapons

Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado was declared a no decision (doctor’s stoppage due to unintentional eyepoke).

An ugly finish to a fight which was a shame really. Fortunately they are scheduled to rematch at UFC on FX 5 in October

Rani Yahya def. Josh Grispi via submission (North-south choke) at 3:15 of Round 1.

Once on tap to contend for the UFc featherweight title, Grispi looks set to be bounced out of the promotion after entering into the ground game of one of the most talented grapplers at 145lbs. A risky move, and one that Rani Yahya took full advantage of.

Phil De Fries def. Oli Thompson via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:16 of Round 2.

A much needed win for BJJ specialist DeFries who was able to hurt Thompson on the feet before submitting him. Thompson will probably be bounced from the promotion after this, while the big man from Sunderland improves his UFC record to 2-1.

Manny Gamburyan def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

‘Th Anvil secures himself another chance in the UFC, while Omigawa will probably get his walking papers. Not a bad fight, but probably the least explosive of the night.

John Moraga def. Ulysses Gomez via KO at 3:46 of Round 1.

Moraga showed that rare quality in the lighter weight divisions, heavy hands and legitimate KO power. Gomez didn’t get the chance to flex his grappling muscles as he was dispatched in brutal fashion inside the 1st frame. The fledgeling UFC 125 lb class has another prospect to watch out for.

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UFC on FOX 4 Preview

Brandon Vera, Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader will all be looking for a rematch with Jon Jones by winning on Saturday night

Not that it makes any difference over here because it’ll be on ESPN as usual, but the the UFC returns to network TV inthe U.S. with UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera this Saturday night. with a 4 fight main card, with 2 of those fights carrying potential title contendership implications. So, without further ado (and ignoring the absurdity of some of the potential opponents for Jon Jones), let’s have a look at these 4 contests that will be providing us with violent entertainment.

Light heavyweight (5 rounds) – Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Brandon Vera

Ah the much maligned main event. After allegedly ducking Glover Texieria, Shogun settled on a fight with Brandon Vera, who he viewed as a much more recognisable name with UFC fans. I’m sure he also regarded him as less of a test, as Vera should be defeated fairly easily by the former UFC champion and PRIDE grand-prix champion (he probably would have dealt with Glover pretty handily too, but never mind).

Vera has never really put it together at light heavyweight, and most people thought he only deserved a draw in his victorious return against Elliot Marshall. I still think he is capable of winning fights in the division, but certainly not a fight like this that could supposedly lead to a title fight against one of MMA’s all-time greats.

Shogun is a more powerful striker than Vera, he is stronger in the clinch, and his submissions are more dangerous. The only area where Vera probably has an advantage is with wrestling thanks to his greco-Roman background, but that should be negated by all of the above. ‘the Truth’ can take a licking, so he could stick around for a little while, but it is hard not to imagine Shogun getting some sort of stoppage victory in a 5 round fight.

Light Heavyweight – Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader

Badre looked very competent against a faded Rampage during his last outing in Japan, but he will have his work cut out for him against a dynamic and elusive striker like Machida. I can only imagine ‘The Dragon’s’ evasive in-and-out selcction of straight punches and kicks to be kryptonite for Bader’s rudimentary striking. The TUF 8 champion has the power to hurt anyone, but he will be too slow to catch his opponent, and he is not particularly quick to get out of the way of incoming shots, particularly shot of the kind of velocity that will be thrown by Machida.

Bader’s best chance to win would be to secure a takedown and control his smaller foe, but even then I would have thought that the karate expert will be able to return to his feet, and eventually land some sort of missile on on the American’s chin and clam a T/KO win.

Lightweight – Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner 

This is a tough one to pick. Joe Lauzon tends to annihilate lesser fighters with an aggressive submission attack set up by some competent striking, though he struggles with fighters that are approaching his level. I would have put Jamie Varner in the former category until a couple of months ago when he revived his career with the upset of the year, crushing Edson Barboza, knocking him out in the first round after having a rough time in fights after losing his WEC belt.

This should be competitive, and is a bit of a pick ’em, though I would expect whoever takes the upper hand early will cruise to victory. Both guys like to start quickly and are difficult to finish, but they’re both kind of flaky too. I’ll back Varner to ward off some early heat from Lauzon and start to control the fight, and cruise to a UD win.

Welterweight – Mike Swick vs. DaMarques Johnson

So Mike Swick returns to action for the first time since February 2010 when he lost to Paulo Thiago at UFC 109. just to put that into perspective, back then Jon Jones was coming off a controversial loss to Matt Hammil, BJ Penn had just dispatched Diego Sanchez and was considered unbeatable and the best lightweight ever and Kimbo Slice was undefeated in the UFC.

Really, who knows what is going to happen after such a long period of time off with such serious illness AND injury. If Swick was fighting a few months after his last fight, I would have no hesitation picking him for this fight. He was quick, strong, and came forward with a dangerous attack of boxing and submissions. DaMarques Johnson is the kind of fighter that loses to the kinds of fighters of Swick’s level. However, who know’s how Mike Swick is going to look. He could come out with a fire lit under his backside and blitz the TUF UK vs. USA runner-up inside the first round, he could play it safe and grind out a terrible decision, or he could be completely overwhelmed and be soundly beaten. It’s hard not to root for Swick given his troubles, and I would like to see him capture his form of old, though if pressed I’d imagine he’ll get a boring win.

Prelims

Definately a set of fights to pay attention to, particularly those taking place at 145lbs or below where pairings of fighters will be engaging in some all-out barnburners. Phil Davis might also provide some entertainment as he takes on the undefeated Brazilian Wagner Prado, but the British heavyweights will most probably fight like British heavyweights and provide the least skilled mixed martial arts of the evening. I suppose there’s always the potential for an explosive/appauling finish though, so there’s always a silver lining (of sorts) to even the least appetising of contests.

Featherweight – Cole Miller vs. Nam Phan

Light heavyweight – Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado

Featherweight – Josh Grispi vs. Rani Yahya

Heavyweight – Phil De Fries vs. Oli Thompson

Featherweight – Manny Gamburyan vs. Michihiro Omigawa

Flyweight – Ulysses Gomez vs. John Moraga

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UFC 146 wrap-up

The dust has well and truly settled after UFC 146 on Saturday, and there’s plenty to take away from the event now that all of the excitement has died down and fans have stopped getting carried away with their gut reactions.

First, yes Junior Dos Santos‘ title defence against Frank Mir was pretty impressive, but the result was more or less what everyone had expected, and exactly what he had predicted. What was infinitely more impressive (and quite frankly frightening) was Cain Velasquez‘s slaughter of Antonio Silva. This fight was a bloodbath, the likes of which we have not seen in a high profile UFC fight for quite some time. Though almost eveyone expected Cain to win, I don’t think anyone had predicted a fight where Silva would have zero offence, and end up looking like he’d been put through a wood chipper within 5 minutes.

Cain Velasquez makes a mess of ‘Bigfoot’ Silva’s face

Dana White has quite sensibly made JDS vs. Cain II for later this year, and I think I’d actually favour Cain for this fight. I though he would win the first fight, and a quick KO has not altered my opinion for the rematch. Yes, Dos Santos defended Frank Mir’s takedowns, but if Velásquez comes flying out of the gate diving for legs like he did on Saturday, it could be a long night for the current UFC champ.

Brock Lesnar will not be coming back to the UFC. He would not be able to compete with the very best guys in the UFC any more. Also, Daniel COrmier will not be coming to the UFC yeat to challenge for the title, he’s still locked in to a Strikeforce contract. So there.

Dave Herman should have no complaints about the fight stoppage after Roy Nelson hit him so hard he spun him around and put him on his backside. He seemed to literally not know where he was.

Stipe Miocic may never be the UFC heavyweight champion, but he is proving to be a serviceable fighter whop should do well fighting guys just outside the top-1o of the division. His boxing is good enough to pick apart grapplers and brawlers, and his wrestling is just about good enough to deal with strikers who give him a hard time. Shane Del Rosario is really not too far away from where Miocic is. He had had more than a year out of the game, and he looked very good earlier on hurting his opponent with several vicious left-body-kicks. Another guy who will never be champion, but a nice addition to the division.

Shane Del Rosario also got himself a nice gaping headwound from GnP

Lavar Johnson really needs to improve his ground game. Stefan Struve  is starting to build a decent fight IQ, having the sense to take down a terrible grappler and submit him quickly before he risked getting knocked out.

 

Full Main Card results

• Junior Dos Santos def. Frank Mir via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:04 – to retain UFC heavyweight title.
• Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Silva via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:36
• Roy Nelson def. Dave Herman via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:51
• Stipe Miocic def. Shane Del Rosario via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 3:14
• Stefan Struve def. Lavar Johnson via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:05

Meanwhile, on the undercard…

Diego Brandao should be an entertaining fixtture on future PPv undercards and FX/FUEL main cards, but probably never anywhere near genuine contendership. Darren Elkins had a pretty easy time controlling him after he survived a go-for-broke 1st round.

I was good to see Jamie Varner back in the UFC and winning fights, especially such a massive upset victory over Edson Barboza. I always though Varner’s ejection from Zuffa was a little harsh, and Barboza’s hype was a little unwarranted, so this was a great little moment on the FX prelims.

Some fans may want Jason Miller to stay in the UFC, but the UFC brass clearly don’t want him there. His performance against Michael Bisping was embarrassing, and the UD loss to CB Dollaway was not good enough to change Dana White and co’s mind that Miller should be allowed another chance in the sport’s premier organisation, even if he does have a large and loyal following and he was injured this weekend.

I was a good weekend for the Brits. Dan Hardy finally got back to winning ways, and will probably have secured himself a spot on the main card in Nottingham in September. Also, Paul Sass got himself ANOTHER submission (3rd in the UFC, 12th overall in a 13-0 record) against the dangerous Jacob Volkmann, who was riding a 5 fight win streak, no mean feat in the shark tank that is the UFC’s 155lb division. Lightweights watch out. Everyone knows Sass is going to try and submit them, but they just can’t escape his quicksand-esque grappling chops.

Finally, better late than never Glover Teixeira announced his arrrival to the UFc with a quick submission of Kyle Kingsbury, and Mike Brown signed off on a successful MMA career with a win unanimous decision win over Daniel Pineda. Brown is the former WEC 145lb champion, and will be fondly remembered for his 2 fights with Urijah Faber. He retires on a 2 fight win streak in the UFC and with a total career record of 26-8. I wish him the best in his future endeavours as a coach as part of the ATT coaching crew.

Full Prelims results

• Darren Elkins def. Diego Brandao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jamie Varner def. Edson Barboza via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:23
• C.B. Dollaway def. Jason “Mayhem” Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 29-28)
• Dan Hardy def. Duane “Bang” Ludwig via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 3:51
• Paul Sass def. Jacob Volkmann via submission (triangle choke/armbar) – Round 1, 1:54
• Glover Teixeira def. Kyle Kingsbury via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:53
• Mike Brown def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Machida/Bader, Browne/Rothwell fights announced. UFC 146 heavyweight shuffle continues

Machida KOs Randy Couture in Toronto

Joe Silva sure has been a busy boy lately. The biggest announcement over the last couple of days is that Lyoto Machida will square off against Ryan Bader at the UFC‘s 4th Fox show in August. It is a shame to see Lyoto take this amount of time off between fights, but at at least his return will be against high level opposition wiith significance for the future of the division. Bader is on a bit of a roll after wins over Jason Brilz and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, though I think he will find it very difficult to continue that run against Machida who may be 1-3 in his last 3 fights, but who is still one of the very best fighters in the world.

In a small twist to this piece of matchmaking, Bloodyelbow.com reported that Machida was considering a fight at middleweight in the absence of any opportunities at 205.

I was ready to fight but the opportunity was not there. The division is lacking, it’s a bit mixed, and I didn’t know, right (who would be my next opponent)? I even had the intention of fighting at 185lbs so I wouldn’t lose the opportunity of keeping busy. I spoke to Ed Soares and (Jorge Guimarães), but they told me to be patient.

…

Look, I’m a guy that usually weighs at most 96kg (211lbs), so I don’t think there would be a problem fighting (at middleweight). My objective is to fight at (205lbs), but to make a fight at middleweight would not be a problem.

Of course, Machida has no real intention of making a run at middleweight for the time being as his mate Anderson Silva still runs things down there. However, as I have stated before, I think that Anderson will be retiring in the near future so that would leave a division open for a new champion. In a world where Jon Jones runs the light-heavyweight division it may be the karateka’s best chance of regaining UFC gold.

In a fairly quick turnaround for both men, UFC 145 victors Ben Rothwell and Travis Browne have also been matched up for the August show on Fox. Rothwell looked focused and in peak condition for the first time in a long while against Brendan Schaub at UFC 145, and seems like an ideal candidate for the still-undefeated Browne. The UFC is still trying to build up the undefeated Browne, and Rothwell is a step up from Chad Griggs, who Browne faced after a of lacklustre performance against Rob Broughton. However, this is certainly not a gimme fight for Browne, as Rothwell has the potential to ruin all but the best heavyweight’s evenings thanks to his ability to take massive amounts  of punishment and fire back with massive amounts of power.

In UFC 146 news, after stepping in to replace Antonio Silva against Roy Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga has now been replaced by Dave ‘Pee Wee’ Herman after the former UFC title contender picked up an injury. The Nelson/Herman match up is bound to be an all out slug-fest that will be as sloppy as it will be entertaining.

On the UFC 146 Jamie Varner will return to the UFC for the first time since 2007 after putting together a 3-1 run outside of Zuffa promotions. He replaces Evan Dunham for a tough fight against Edson Barboza, who is fighting for the fist time since his memorable KO of Terry Etim in Brazil in January. This is a tough task for Varner and I would expect him to be defeated, though he definitely has a chance to upset the Brazilian if he can use his wrestling effectively.

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