Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson, scoring and rematches

It’s been a couple of days, warriors are out of intensive care and the dust has settled. It’s time to reflect on 2013’s fight of the year.

Saturday’s fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson was an instant classic.

The best thing about it was that it was great in so many different ways. First of all, it was a no-frills, blood-and-guts war that stretched each man to their absolute physical limit. Both fighters were so beaten up they could not make it to the post-fight press conference and instead had to take a trip to the hospital.

Jones’s display of heart should win him some new fans (he certainly won me over). He battled through constantly accurate punches and fought through a potentially fight-ending cut with almost no regard for the long-term health of his eyes. Similarly, Gustafsson survived just being in the cage with Jon Jones early on and then looked like the closest thing we’ve seen to a zombie in the octagon. From the moment the champ landed that elbow in the fourth round, Gustafsson looked ready to keel over at any moment. However, he kept upright and even fired back some strikes of his own despite eating constant head-kicks and dodging more spinning-elbow attempts.

Something else that mad the fight so great was the way Jones was made to look human. With the exception of a tight armbar in the first round against Vitor, and a little difficulty with Lyoto Machida, Jones has eased through each of his opponents over the last couple of years. The Swede took the fight to him, made him look ordinary and looked comfortable doing it. He even took Jones down – rrepeatedly – and stuffed all the attempts that came his way until the very last round.

FInally, one of the best things about this fight for me was that the right man won. I don’t know what other people were watching to make them enraged with the decision. Sure, Gustafsson was winning the fourth round, but he got beat down in the last minute. With a scoring system that prioritises effective striking and grappling, you award the round to the fighter who landed the most effective strikes. Jones’s elbows, punches and knees almost put Gustafsson into another dimension, so earned him a deserved 10-9 on all the scorecards.

As for the rest of the rounds, I tought it was 9-10, 10-9, 9-10, 10-9, 10-9 in favour of the champ. It was very close, but a closer look at the night should leave you with no doubt about the result. Maybe it was Gustafsson’s success in the face of adversity like Shogun against Machida that made some people score the Swede’s efforts more generously (I still think Shogun won that fight, but it’s a popular opinion), maybe Jones haters were trying to make more of a case for him to be beaten. At the end of the day, most people seemed to get the decision right including the three most important people sitting at the side of the octagon.

A lot of people have been demanding an immediate rematch after this fight, but I don’t think we should jump to that straight away for a couple of reasons.

First of all, Glover Texeira is waiting in the wings and he’s no spring chicken. He’s riding an enormous win streak and there will not be too many times when there will be such a viable opponent for Jones. I don’t think Glover is as good as Gustafsson or will give Jones any trouble, but there are not too many other light heavyweights you can put in there.

Secondly, Alexander Gustafsson is going nowhere. THis fight marked him as the clear second banana in the division, and I predict he will have no problem winning his way back into contenders. Forget Jones at heavyweight for now, the buzz for a rematch will build (remember Silva vs. Sonnen 2?) and we’ll all be very excited in a year’s time when these two warriors face off again.

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UFC 165 post-fight press conference

Full recap of last night’s UFC to follow as I’ve been out of town. Until then, I can only recommend you find a way to watch the main vent between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.

The fight was absolutely unreal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a high level fight where both fighters gave absolutely everything they had to the point they could barely stand at the end. The blows just kept coming, and as Dana White said, the fact that both fighters could not attend the post-fight presser because of essential visits to hospital shows just what a war it was.

For now, here is that press conference in the immediate aftermath of that fantastic fight.

Despite the absence of Jones and Gustafsson, there’s still chat with the other big winner from UFC 165: spinning back kick superhero Renan Barao.

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UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson preview

UFC light heavyweight championship – Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson 

This is a Jon Jones fight, so there’s no real reason to break it down in too much detail.

The light heavyweight champion has better wrestling, grappling and striking than everyone else in the division. The only thing that could take him out would be an absolute miracle, one-hit KO strike. Gustafsson does not have the ability to pull out that kind of shot against the best in the world.

The Swede is tough, so may make it into the later rounds, but I think in the end the combination of Jones’s superior grappling and ground and pound will open up an opportunity for a submission.

UFC interim bantamweight championship – Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland

This title fight is a little more evenly matched, but only just. Renan Barao has proven himself to be without equal amongst the current crop of active bantamweight fighters, and I get a stronger feeling he would be able to get the better of a healthy Dominick Cruz as well.

He’s another champion who has the complete package. He is devastating on the feet, whether he’s hunting for the knockout or scything down his opponents with a barrage of chopping leg kicks. If he faces a wrestler they’ll have difficulty taking him down, but if they do his submission grappling for mixed martial arts is unparalleled in the division, particularly his ability to take the back.

Eddie Wineland is tough, and should provide a stiff test for the interim champion, but he’s just not quite in the same league. His forté is striking, but it isn’s as dynamic as Barao’s. Wineland’s boxing is probably superior, but Barao should be able to stay on the outside and out of reach to negate that. If WIneland gives chase, he’ll open himself up to getting caught or taken down to the mat, where he will be out of his depth.

I fancy Barao by submission after a frustrating few rounds for WIneland.

Matt Mitrione vs. Brendan Schaub

A battle of TUF veterans, who have failed to light up the heavyweight division despite quite a bit of hype on their entry to the promotion. Schaub has had his progress derailed by a catastrophically bad chin, and Mitrione has struggled to elevate himself above the level of can crusher.

Schaub will probably not fancy taking his chances on the feet, and use his grappling to stifle any threat of offence from ‘Meathead’. Despite his recent grappling tournament horror show, Schaub actually has has good grappling skills. He can hit takedowns to bring the fight to a place where he’ll be out of danger. Mitrione’s guard game is not anywhere  near where to needs to be to threaten with submissions or rescue himself from a disadvantaged position.

Francis Carmont vs. Constantinos Philippou

Provided there’s not another case of Carmont’s mesmerizing power over the judges, his inexplicable winning streak should come to an end tonight. The Frenchman has now racked up five consecutive wins, despite failing to win a single round in either of his last two fights.

Pilippou should be able to steer clear of any horrificly inactive grappling activity that has marred the last couple of the Frenchman’s fights and push forward with offensive output leaving little doubt in the minds of the officials this time,

Pat Healy vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Pat Healy has a tough test ahead of him to shrug off the disappointment of his failed drug test nightmare after the Jim Miller fight earlier this year. Khabib Nurmagomedov is riding a wave of hype after an impressive start to his UFC run, ragdolling his opponents all over the octagon with thrilling suplexes.

He’s going to have a lot of difficulty doing that to Healy, who has a rugged grappling game, but he could find some success with aggressive striking in close quarters. Bam Bam doesn’t do nearly as well when he’s getting socked about in close quarters. His best chance is to try and control the Russian and ride his way to a unanimous decision victory by using ground and pound and threatening with submissions.

Nurmagomedov can keep the fight standing if he wants and stay away from danger. A win could really launch him into the upper echelons of the division.

Prelims

Myles Jury vs. Mike Ricci
Ivan Menjivar vs. Wilson Reis
Chris Clements vs. Stephen Thompson
Mitch Gagnon vs. Dustin Kimura
Renee Forte vs. John Makdessi
Michel Prazeres vs. Jesse Ronson
Alex Caceres vs. Roland Delorme
Nandor Guelmino vs. Daniel Omielanczuk

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UFC 165 weigh in video and results – all fighters on weight

 

It’s official, all of the scheduled fights for tomorrow’s UFC event in Toronto are ready to go.

Every fighter made weight, though veteran bantamweight Ivan Menjivar needed a couple of attempts to make it down to 136lbs, which is still within the legal limit for 135lb non-title fights.

There is one thing that I noticed about this weigh in that puzzles me. I still can’t understand why Jon Jones can;t look his opponents in the eye before a fight. He’s been accused of arrogance by many people in the past and he certainly seems to believe/know he’s better than everyone so he’s clearly not scared. We’ll probably never know, but if anyone has any valid suggestions I would be all ears.

Anyway, the full list of results are below

Main Card

Jon Jones (204.5) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (204.5)
Renan Barao (135) vs. Eddie Wineland (135)
Matt Mitrione (260.5) vs. Brendan Schaub (237)
Francis Carmont (186) vs. Constantinos Philippou (186)
Pat Healy (155.75) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (156)

Prelims

Myles Jury (156) vs. Mike Ricci (155.5)
Ivan Menjivar (136) vs. Wilson Reis (135)
Chris Clements (169.5) vs. Stephen Thompson (170.5)
Mitch Gagnon (136) vs. Dustin Kimura (136)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 6 p.m. ET)
Renee Forte (155.5) vs. John Makdessi (155)
Michel Prazeres (155) vs. Jesse Ronson (155.5)
Alex Caceres (136) vs. Roland Delorme (136)
Nandor Guelmino (230) vs. Daniel Omielanczuk (245.5)

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Dana White UFC 165 pre-fight media scrum

Dana White talks all things UFC 165 and current goings on in MMA in yesterday’s pre-fight media scrum.

He also stopped for a quick chat with Ariel Helwani just after that.

Also up for discussion was The Mayweather/Alvarez fight and Floyd’s desire to move into MMA promotion, Chael Sonnen’s unfortunate Rhianna remarks, Alistair Overeem vs. Frank Mir, the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter and planned series’ of TUF in China.

There’s and hour worth of content if you can stomach it all.

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Countdown to UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafson

Round two of UFC 165 video hype, with the obligatory countdown show, including features on the two title fights which were also featured on the extended preview video: Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson for the 205lb strap and Renan Barão vs. Edddie Wineland for the interim title at 135lbs.

Also featured is the heavyweight clash between TUF 10 alums Matt Mitrione and Brendan Schaub. Both fighters have struggled for consistency in the last couple of years (and courted a fair amount of controversy in Mitrione’s case) so they each badly need a win. It’s not out of the question that a defeat for either fighter could result in them having their walking papers handed to them. On the other hand an impressive win could catapult them back into the heavyweight contender mix. With the power and chin issues each man has, I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet.

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UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustasson extended preview video

This week’s big event brings two high-quality title fights in the bantamweight division and the light  heavyweight division.

In the co-main event Renan Barão defends his interim belt once again against Eddie Wineland. The main event sees the default p4p king, Jon Jones, faces Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson in an effort to break the record for the most UFC title defences at 205lbs. This could also be his last real test as champion before he starts looking at moving up to heavyweight.

The UFC have obliged us by producing it’s usual 10 minute hype video for Saturday’s big guns.

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UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. Bader preview

We’re approaching the last hurrah of this blistering week of UFC events. Unfortunately after the highs of the second UFC on FOX card and the outstanding UFC 164, this finale is a low.

It’s not a great card, and that’s probably a symptom of an overload of events and regular trips to Brazil. UK fans became familiar with his type of card a couple of years ago when events in these Isles became packed with British fighters that wer signed primarily as card fillers.

As much as I could sit here and type out a preview of fights like Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng  that have somehow made their way on to the main card I won;t. I’m sure almost every MMA fan other than the super hardcore isn’t exactly perspiring with excitement about the prospect of middleweights from the lower reaches of the (at a rough estimation) top 25 of the division. We can all just hope there could be a few gems from the low-profile undercard fights, and admit that it’s only the top three fights that offer any real divisional relevance.

First up is the top 10 flyweight pairing of Joseph Benavidez and Jussier Formiga.

Formiga rose to the top of the division before the UFC promoted fights in it, beating BJ Kojima in Japan and defending his place in Brazil. He was bested by Ian McCall in California a couple of years ago, but won fight after fight on his way back to America with vastly superior grappling against every opponent. His grappling could not save him against the power of Jon Dodson in his UFC debut though and I think he will encounter similar problems against Benavidez.

This is an excellent style match up for the Team Apha Male standout. His wrestling will be able to keep him out of Formiga’s comfort zone and his natural power combined with all that Duane Ludwig training will present an insurmountable barrier to victory for the Brazilian.

Benavidez was terrifying enough at bantamweight, but against fighters his own size he is even more daunting.

He is the second best 125 pound fighter in the world and can win via knockout or with one of his patented front headlock chokes.

The middleweight co-main event is intriguing. Jacaré Souza is favoured against Yushin Okami, but anyone would be foolish to write off the Japanese former title contender. Jacaré has a more dynamic and dangerous set of tools, but it’s not hard to imagine Okami being able to defend strikes and submissions for three rounds.

It’s possible that Okami will be able to impose a stifling gameplan (which would take a lot of the spectacle out of the fight) and grind his opponent down for a unanimous decision win. If anyone stops this fight it’s the Brazilian, but I could never bet against Okami continuing to simple be one of the most reliably good middleweight ever and do what he needs to do to win in the clinch.

The main event is a tough draw for Ryan Bader. Having built himself back up from losses to Jones, Ortiz and Machida he faces another roadblock to elevating himself into the division’s elite.

Glover Teoxeira’s offensive and defensive grappling combined with KO power is likely to be a potent antidote to the former TUF winner’s powerhouse double-legs and haymaker punches.

Bader does not have a history of standing up to heavy punishment and he is likely to have his chin tested early and often in this fight unless his wrestling as at its sharpest. I predict a KO win for Teixeira, and calls for a title shot in the aftermath.

Main Card

Light Heavyweight – Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan Bader
Middleweight – Yushin Okami vs. Ronaldo Souza
Flyweight – Joseph Benavidez vs. Jussier Formiga
Lightweight – Francisco Trinaldo vs. Piotr Hallmann
Middleweight – Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng
Flyweight – Marcos Vinicius vs. Ali Bagautinov

Prelims

Featherweight – Felipe Arantes vs. Edimilson Souza
Middleweight – Joao Zeferino vs. Elias Silvério
Bantamweight – Lucas Martins vs. Ramiro Hernandez Jr.
Welterweight – Keith Wisniewski vs. Ivan Jorge
Welterweight – Yuri Villefort vs. Sean Spencer

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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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