Category: Fighters (Page 5 of 58)

      Women’s MMA is stealing the show in the UFC

      April 13, 2013 /

      nullDana 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.

      Events, Fighters, News, Results, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC

      Gegard Mousasi wins in a no-win situation

      April 6, 2013 /

      nullGegard 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.

      Events, Fighters, Results, Strikeforce, UFC

      UFC 152 Results & Recap – Jones subs Belfort

      September 23, 2012 /

      nullJon 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.

      Continue reading »

      Events, Fighters, Results, UFC

      UFC cancels UFC 151, conveniently puts all blame on Jon Jones

      August 23, 2012 /

      nullIn 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:

      Continue reading »

      Events, Fighters, News, UFC

      UFC 150 Results & Recap: Henderson Edges Edgar Once Again

      August 12, 2012 /

      nullAfter 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.

      Continue reading »

      Events, Fighters, News, Results, UFC

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 MMA Blitz

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑