After loss to Jon Jones, Chael Sonnen should call it a career
Posted by Drew Ellis (04/28/2013 @ 2:52 pm)
Chael Sonnen has done a good job running his mouth, but now, his mouth may not be able to support his fighting career.
After losing to Anderson Silva in an underwhelming performance back at UFC 148, Sonnen was stopped in 4:33 against UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, on Saturday night at UFC 159.
Sonnen didn’t really deserve a title fight in the first place. He hadn’t fought at 205 pounds in the UFC in over six years, yet somehow got an immediate title fight with Jones.
Sonnen can sell a fight, but even his promos are outdated and tiresome. If you really want to know where Chael Sonnen gets his material, watch tapes of pro wrestling from the 90s.
I will give credit to Sonnen for being one of the best at 185 pounds, but he had no business competing against Jones on Saturday night, and with an unimpressive loss in the first round, he finds himself without any direction for his career.
A rematch with Silva isn’t in the cards and he certainly isn’t going to talk his way into a rematch with Jones after failing to put forth much offense on Saturday night.
Sonnen should do what he does best and that is sell fights, but not for himself, for the UFC. He should stick to being a broadcaster and realize that he had a successful career, despite not winning a title.
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Results, UFC
Tags: 185 pounds, 205 pounds, Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, Jon Jones, Jones vs. Sonnen, MMA, Silva vs. Sonnen, top 10 light heavyweights, top 10 middleweights, UFC, UFC 148, UFC 159, ufc light heavyweight championship, UFC Middleweight Championship, Ultimate Fighting Championship
An interview with UFC President Dana White
Posted by Drew Ellis (04/17/2013 @ 1:20 pm)
As I mentioned yesterday, I had the chance to do an interview with UFC President Dana White on Tuesday afternoon to discuss this week’s UFC on FOX 7 event.
You can read the entire interview, which was done for Bullz-Eye.com, here.
Below are a few excerpts from the interview:
One of the things I was really excited about with this deal with FOX was being able to bring big fights back to free television. That has always been my goal since we bought this company. Coming off “The Ultimate Fighter” finale last weekend, every fight was sick, it was an amazing finale. We pulled 1.7 million viewers. We were the highest-rated thing on network and cable television with males 18-34. This fight on FOX is going to be a big one. Ben Henderson is defending his lightweight title again, this time against Gilbert Melendez, who is probably the toughest guy at 155 pounds that has never had a shot in the UFC. Everybody thinks this guy might be the best in the world, so we are going to find out on Saturday.
I have been thrilled with the Strikeforce fighters. A lot of bad stuff happened at Strikeforce. A lot of guys didn’t get paid for a while and these guys are hungry. First of all, they are happy to be back fighting and getting paid to do it. These guys want to prove to the world that they can fight and become the best in the world. The UFC is the place to do that. These guys have been fighting like maniacs, and I love it.
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Strikeforce, UFC
Tags: Benson Henderson, Cat Zingano, Dana White, Daniel Cormier, Frank Mir, Glibert Melendez, Henderson vs. Melendez, Josh Thomson, Miesha Tate, MMA, Nate Diaz, Ronda Rousey, Strikeforce, UFC, UFC on FOX, UFC on FOX 7, UFC President
UFC President Dana White sounds off on Boston Marathon attack
Posted by Drew Ellis (04/17/2013 @ 12:04 am)
UFC President Dana White is a busy man, but he is passionate about the things he cares about.
With the UFC set to hold its seventh event on FOX this Saturday (its third of four events in April alone), I had the chance to speak with him for an interview for Bullz-Eye.com.
The interview will come out later this week, but I wanted to post White’s thoughts on what happened on Monday at the Boston Marathon. White previously lived in Boston and is a known supporter of the Boston pro-sports teams.
“It really bummed me out because when the city that you lived in gets attacked like that….you know, you think about when I lived there, we used to watch the race all the time, we would walk up and down Newbury Street. It was just a disgustingly, cowardly act. It makes me sick. To attack a race like that, where people have trained to run this thing from all over the world and their friends and family are waiting at the finish line for them, it’s just so (expletive) cowardly that it makes me sick. The one thing about the city of Boston and the United States as a whole, it’s one of those things where people will all come together, just like 9/11, and the city will bounce back. It’s just unfortunate that….not to mention that it’s the most popular marathon in the world and the oldest marathon in this country, to just do something like that is just….ugh. I can’t even put it into words without going crazy and sounding like an absolute psycho.”
I will post the rest of the interview with White later in the week.
Posted in: Events, News, UFC, Uncategorized
Tags: Boston, Boston Attacks, Boston Marathon, Dana White, MMA, UFC, UFC on FOX, UFC on FOX 7, UFC President
Women’s MMA is stealing the show in the UFC
Posted by Drew Ellis (04/13/2013 @ 10:54 pm)
Dana White once stated that he’d never have a women’s bout in the octagon that is the UFC.
White didn’t feel there was a market there.
Not only is there a market in women’s MMA, but the market is rising at a very fast pace.
Ronda Rousey put the women on the map in the UFC with her win over Liz Carmouche in the main event of UFC 157 in February. Though the fight went just one round, it was exciting from start to finish and featured great grappling and striking.
On Saturday, in the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 17, the UFC held its second women’s bout, with Miesha Tate taking on Cat Zingano.
These two bantamweights put on an even better show than Rousey and Carmouche did, going nearly 15 minutes before Zingano finished Tate with an impressive flurry of knees and elbows.
The crowd was electric for the fight, knowing the winner would face Rousey next and get a spot coaching against Rousey in The Ultimate Fighter Season 18. The two battled it out on the feet and on the ground for the entire duration of the fight. Each showed tremendous skills and a determination to win.
When the fight ended, it felt like the fans and viewers had just witnessed the main event. It is clear that the fans appreciate a good fight, and the women have been giving the fans great fights.
White isn’t stupid either. He is trying to capitalize on the buzz surrounding the women’s bantamweight division by having Rousey and Zingano coach TUF next season. With Rousey already pulling in over 400,000 pay-per-view buys, and Zingano stealing the show Saturday night, there is a lot of evidence that the UFC should look to expand its women’s crop to more divisions.
The women have showed an aggression that has been lacking in some of the marquee men’s fights as of late. The fans always want to see two fighters leave it all in the cage, and the women are doing exactly that.
I personally am excited to see upcoming women’s bouts because the bar has been set very high by Rousey and Zingano.
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Results, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC
Tags: Cat Zingano, Dana White, Liz Carmouche, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Rousey vs. Carmouche, Rousey vs. Zingano, Tate vs. Zingano, UFC, UFC 157, Ultimate Fighter, Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale, women’s bantamweight division, women’s MMA, Women’s UFC
Gegard Mousasi wins in a no-win situation
Posted by Drew Ellis (04/06/2013 @ 8:57 pm)
Gegard Mousasi faced the most dangerous situation he has faced in his MMA career on Saturday afternoon.
He faced an unknown opponent if his UFC debut and was expected to run right through him.
After preparing for months to face top UFC light heavyweight contender, Alexander Gustafsson, Mousasi would instead be forced to face Ilir Latifi after Gustafsson wasn’t cleared to fight after suffering a cut earlier in the week.
Latifi, a native of Sweden, where the fight was taking place, was making his UFC debut and trains with Gustafsson. So, Latifi had some insight on what to expect of his opponent, while Mousasi knew nothing of the man he was to face.
I give credit to Mousasi for taking the fight on such short notice, because he really had nothing to gain. Everyone expected him to win. A loss would have set his career back a great deal, especially in a crowded light heavyweight division.
Mousasi didn’t look overly impressive in a decision win over Latifi, which was to be expected, but he did escape a dangerous situation with a victory.
The win doesn’t propel the former Strikeforce champion into title contention in the UFC, but it at least gives him some experience and he can now focus on bigger things, perhaps a fight with Gustafsson.
Posted in: Events, Fighters, Results, Strikeforce, UFC
Tags: Alexander Gustafsson, Ericsson Globe Arena, Gegard Mousasi, Ilir Latifi, MMA, Mousasi vs. Gustafsson, Mousasi vs. Latifi, Stockholm, Strikeforce, Sweden, UFC, UFC card, ufc light heavyweights, UFC On Fuel TV 9
UFC 152 Results & Recap – Jones subs Belfort
Posted by Drew Ellis (09/23/2012 @ 12:58 am)
Jon Jones maintained his hold on the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on Saturday with a fourth-round submission win over Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC 152.
Jones came into the fight as the heavy favorite and he dominated most of the fight. Jones did nearly get caught in an armbar in the early going, but escaped and controlled the fight from there. Jones used his grappling and elbows to bloody up Belfort, and in the fourth round, caught the challenger in an Americana for the victory.
Belfort deserves credit for his effort and taking the fight on short notice in a bigger weight class, but Jones is just the better man.
With Dan Henderson dealing with his injury, there is no clear contender for Jones in the 205-pound division. That champion is becoming as dominant in his class as Anderson Silva is at 185 pounds.
In the co-main event, Demetrious Johnson won the first ever UFC Flyweight Championship with a decision victory over Joseph Benavidez.
The fight had a fast pace and was very competitive, as expected. The difference in the bout was the array of leg kicks that Johnson landed on Benavidez. The kicks slowly wore down Benavidez and allowed Johnson to control the pace. Benavidez still did enough to earn the victory on one of the scorecards, but Johnson was the victor on the other two cards, and in the eyes of most of the fans.
Johnson now is the first 125-pound champion in the UFC. It will be interesting to see how this division grows in the near future with a thin roster of talent in the weight class.
In another big bout, middleweight Michael Bisping defeated Brian Stann by decision to improve his ranking in the 185-pound class.
Bisping was able to out-point Stann with his technical striking and wrestling ability. Bisping actually utilized some nice takedowns in the latter stages of the fight to neutralize Stann.
Looking at Bisping, his resume is pretty strong and it appears he deserves a title shot. He has never been given a crack at the gold but has steadily been near the top of the division for years.
Check out the full results after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Events, Fighters, Results, UFC
Tags: Benavidez vs. Johnson, Bisping vs. Stann, Brian Stann, Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Jones vs. Belfort, Joseph Benavidez, Michael Bisping, MMA results, UFC 152, UFC 152 results, UFC Flyweight Championship, ufc light heavyweight championship, ufc results, Vitor Belfort
UFC cancels UFC 151, conveniently puts all blame on Jon Jones
Posted by Staff (08/23/2012 @ 8:02 pm)
In case you have been under a rock today, UFC 151 has been cancelled.
The short story is Dan Henderson injured his knee and couldn’t fight next Saturday, prompting the UFC to offer Jon Jones a replacement opponent of Chael Sonnen. Jones, after speaking with his team, declined to take the fight on such short notice.
So, the UFC, instead of finding a new main event, or just running with the card they setup sans the main event, decided to just axe the event altogether.
In the process, they completely threw the light heavyweight champion under the bus.
Normally, I am on Dana White’s side of things. He is a hot head, no doubt, but he usually tells it like it is.
However, blaming Jones for the canceling of an event is simply a convenient way to take the blame off of himself and the UFC.
First off, canceling an entire UFC event is a big deal. It impacts the fighters, the venue, the host city and those that would be working the event.
Many fighters rely on a small paycheck from fighting on the under card simply to make ends meet. Due to the UFC’s venom spewed at Jones, many of those fighters are now taking their anger and frustration out on the champion as well.
But, let’s all take a deep breath and take into consideration two things:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, UFC
Tags: Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Dana White, Jon Jones, Jones vs. Henderson, mma events, mma light heavyweights, UFC 151, UFC events, ufc light heavyweight championship, ufc light heavyweights
UFC 150 Results & Recap: Henderson Edges Edgar Once Again
Posted by Drew Ellis (08/12/2012 @ 12:37 am)
After a close first encounter, a second fight was deemed necessary.
After UFC 150, we may need a third.
Benson Henderson managed to retain his UFC Lightweight Championship over Frankie Edgar in the main event of Saturday’s card, as two judges saw him winning a 48-47 decision, while another saw Edgar winning 49-46.
Most MMA writers feel that Edgar actually did win the fight, but most will also agree that neither man really dominated the fight.
Both fighters had high moments, but Edgar took on less damage this time around and Henderson didn’t seem to get into the same flow as he did in their first meeting.
Still, Edgar has now lost twice in a row to Henderson, no matter how close. It will be hard for the UFC to grant Edgar another title fight, as they have already committed to giving Nate Diaz the next shot.
In the co-main event, Donald Cerrone KO’d Melvin Guillard in an exciting and quick contest.
Guillard actually landed a big punch to open the fight and looked to be on the verge of an upset, but Cerrone gathered himself, and a minute later, landed a kick and right hand combo that put Guillard out cold.
The win for Cerrone keeps him in the discussion of top lightweight contenders, as his lone loss in the UFC is to Diaz by decision. Guillard now falls back out of the top 10, as he has been finished in the first round in two of his last three fights.
For complete results for UFC 150, click on the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Results, UFC
Tags: Benson Henderson, Cerrone vs. Guillard, Donald Cerrone, Frankie Edgar, Henderson vs. Edgar II, Melvin Guillard, MMA results, Nate Diaz, top 10 lightweights, UFC 150, UFC Lightweight Championship, ufc lightweights, ufc results
UFC 149 Results & Recap: Barao outclasses Faber
Posted by Drew Ellis (07/22/2012 @ 12:55 am)
UFC 149 saw a new champion crowned, an interim champ that is.
Renan Barao pushed his winning streak to 29 fights by beating Urijah Faber via unanimous decision to win the UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship on Saturday night.
Barao made not have gotten the finish, but he decisively beat Faber thanks to his reach and his kicks. Each round he managed to out-point Faber and stay out of danger, leaving “The California Kid” puzzled throughout.
Barao certainly beat Faber in easier fashion than the actual champ, Dominick Cruz. It will be interesting to see if Cruz can find a way to stop the runaway train that is Barao. Barao may very well be the best 135-pounder in the world.
Faber has now lost his last five championship bouts, dating back to his time as a featherweight in the WEC. Though he is still highly competitive, he will likely not get another title fight anytime soon.
In the co-main event, Hector Lombard had a very unimpressive UFC debut.
The man considered to be a potential threat to Anderson Silva proved to be more of a threat to himself, as he was very tentative against Tim Boetsch. Neither man did much to impress, but two of the three judges believed that Boetsch did a little bit more, which earned him a split decision.
The poor showing from both men may open the door for Chris Weidman to earn the next middleweight title shot following his brutal KO win over Mark Munoz last week.
For complete results from UFC 149, check out the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Results, UFC
Tags: Anderson Silva, Boetsch vs. Lombard, Chris Weidman, Dominick Cruz, Faber vs. Barao, Hector Lombard, Mark Munoz, MMA results, Renan Barao, Tim Boetsch, UFC 149, UFC Bantamweights, UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship, ufc middleweights, ufc results, Urijah Faber
UFC 148 Results & Recap: Anderson Silva is the best
Posted by Drew Ellis (07/08/2012 @ 12:50 am)
Not that many needed convincing, but Anderson Silva is the best fighter in the world.
There was a little bit of doubt in the minds of some due to Silva’s performance against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, but on Saturday at UFC 148, Silva removed all doubt.
Silva stopped Sonnen at 1:55 into the second round with a barrage of strikes that Sonnen couldn’t respond to, as he defended his UFC Middleweight Championship for the 10th time.
Sonnen won the first round, as he took Silva down quickly and held him down for five minutes, but Silva showed great takedown defense in the second and used his pinpoint accuracy with his striking to end the fight.
With Sonnen past him for good, there really is no viable challengers left to Silva. Sonnen seemed to have the best style to beat Silva, and the champ still ran through him.
Silva is now 15-0 in his UFC career and just adding to his legacy as the greatest UFC fighter of all time. Perhaps a change in weight class is in order to challenge him, or perhaps he should just retire on top of the world.
In the co-main event, Tito Ortiz saw his career come to an end in a unanimous decision loss to Forrest Griffin.
Ortiz (16-11-1) a former UFC champion and now Hall of Famer, seemed to tire early in the fight, which opened the door for Griffin to pepper him with strikes. Ortiz landed a few big punches and a few takedowns, but Griffin had a 3/1 edge on total strikes and was the more active fighter.
Ortiz is going out at the right time, as he clearly is not among the best in the division and this performance proves it. For knowing it was his last bout, he didn’t have much of a spirited effort to win. For a man of his stature and his talk about being the people’s champion, he sure didn’t go out on his sword.
Griffin didn’t look at that great either, but he was definitely looking to finish the fight at the end.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Results, UFC
Tags: Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen, Forrest Griffin, MGM Grand Garden Arena, MMA, Ortiz vs. Griffin, Ortiz vs. Griffin III, Silva vs. Sonnen, Silva vs. Sonnen II, Tito Ortiz, top 10 light heavyweights, top 10 middleweights, UFC, UFC 148, UFC Middleweight Championship
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