UFC 147 Results & Recap: Franklin Decisions Silva Again Posted by Drew Ellis (06/24/2012 @ 1:08 am) The sequel looked a lot like the original, only a little bit longer. Rich Franklin once again defeated Wanderlei Silva by decision in another exciting fight to headline UFC 147 in Brazil on Saturday, but this fight went five rounds instead of three. Each fighter had their moment in the contest, with Silva nearly finishing Franklin to end the second round following a flurry, but “Ace” survived and went on to dictate the rest of the fight with his crisp, technical striking. The win was impressive for the former middleweight champion, as he took this bout on short notice and fought in Silva’s raucous home country. Now, the question is, what is next for both men? Franklin is still one of the best, but he isn’t quite enough any more to challenge for a title. Silva is clearly far from what he was in the PRIDE days, but still entertaining. He has become somewhat of a gate keeper in the middleweight division. In the co-main event of Saturday’s card, Fabricio Werdum improved to 2-0 in his return to the octagon, as he ran through Mike Russow. Werdum continued to show his improved striking, as he quickly overwhelmed the inexperienced Russow with an array of strikes. Once Werdum rocked Russow, he quickly finished up on the ground and earned the TKO stoppage midway through the first. Werdum is making a strong case to be considered a top 5 UFC heavyweight with his two impressive showings since coming back to the UFC. Perhaps a battle with the likes of Frank Mir could be next in the cards. For complete results from UFC 147, check out the jump Read the rest of this entry » Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Results, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Tags: Fabricio Werdum, Franklin vs. Silva II, mike russow, MMA, MMA heavyweights, MMA results, Rich Franklin, top 10 heavyweights, UFC 147, UFC heavyweights, ufc middleweights, ufc results, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva
UFC 146 Results & Recap – Junior Dos Santos Keeps Rolling Posted by Drew Ellis (05/27/2012 @ 12:29 am) Junior Dos Santos verified himself as the top heavyweight in the UFC as he knocked out Frank Mir in the second round of the main event of UFC 146 on Saturday from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Coming into his bout with the former UFC champion, Mir, Dos Santos was expected to win with his crisp striking, and that is exactly what led to the win. After somewhat of an eventful first round that saw Dos Santos win thanks to his striking, the champion managed to finish off the fight in the second thanks to a big right hand that caught Mir flush on the cheek. JDS then followed up with a flurry on the ground to earn the TKO stoppage. The win for JDS was as big for him as it was a big loss for Mir. The former champion likely won’t see another title shot anytime soon after losing his last three matches where a belt was on the line by devastating knockout. Mir has had quite the career, but it is clear he doesn’t have the ability to contend with explosive strikers that have the ability to keep the fight standing. He has been brutally beaten by the likes of Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, and now Dos Santos. In the co-main event, Cain Velasquez destroyed Antonio Silva in Silva’s UFC debut. The former heavyweight champ bloodied Silva thanks to a big elbow across the nose and he followed up with a number of strikes thereafter. The win for Velasquez probably pushes him right back up to the No. 1 contender spot, as Dos Santos knocked him out in their meeting last November. For complete results from UFC 146, check out the jump. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Results, UFC Tags: Antonio Silva, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Dos Santos vs. Mir, Frank Mir, Junior Dos Santos, MMA, Shane Carwin, top 10 heavyweights, UFC, UFC 146, ufc heavyweight championship, UFC heavyweights, Ultimate Fighting Championship, Velasquez vs. Silva
UFC Matchmaking update – UFC 140 gets main event Posted by Drew Ellis (09/12/2011 @ 6:24 pm) Lost in a weekend that saw the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals take place were some big fight announcements from the UFC. Here is a look at three different UFC events that have added to their cards. – UFC 140 in Toronto go its main event as heavyweights Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will have their rematch. The two met back at UFC 92 with Mir handing Nogueira his first stoppage loss. Mir KO’d Big Nog in the second round. Nogueira claimed a staph infection hindered his abilities and has been seeking a rematch since. Mir has won his last two fights and looking to get back into the title hunt with a win while Nogueira is coming off his KO win over Brendan Schaub at UFC Rio. UFC 140 also added Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Brian Ebersole vs. Rory MacDonald to the lineup. – UFC 139 picked up a big fight as middleweight Vitor Belfort will return to action when he takes on former Strikeforce champion, Cung Le. This will be a battle of perhaps the two fastest strikers in all of MMA. Le hasn’t fought since June of 2010, when he KO’d Scott Smith to avenge his only loss. Belfort is coming off a KO win over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133. This fight should come down to which fighter strikes first. – Jon Fitch will make his long-awaited return to the octagon at UFC 141 when he faces off with Johny Hendricks. Fitch hasn’t competed since February when he had a draw against B.J. Penn. Fitch had shoulder surgery that put him on the shelf for a while. Fitch hasn’t lost since his 2008 title fight with Georges St. Pierre. Hendricks has one loss in his career, to Rick Story back in December of 2010. He has won his last two fights, but is facing the toughest opponent of his career when he squares off with Fitch. Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Strikeforce, UFC Tags: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Belfort vs. le, Brian Ebersole, cung le, ebersole vs. macdonald, fitch vs. Hendricks, Frank Mir, johny Hendricks, Jon Fitch, Mir vs. Nogueira, MMA heavyweights, mma light heavyweights, mma matchups, mma middleweights, mma welterweights, Ortiz vs. Nogueira, Rory MacDonald, Tito Ortiz, top 10 rankings, UFC 139, UFC 140, UFC 141, UFC heavyweights, ufc light heavyweights, UFC main event, ufc matchups, ufc middleweights, UFC welterweights, Vitor Belfort
UFC sets Lesnar vs. Overeem for Dec. 30 Posted by Drew Ellis (09/06/2011 @ 4:48 pm) The UFC has been big with their announcements and another big one dropped on Tuesday. The organization released through the L.A. Times that on Dec. 30, Alistair Overeem will make his UFC debut against none other than Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar will return to the UFC octagon in a five-round main event Dec. 30 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, facing newly signed former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. “Brock is a big name, a dangerous guy, and this is a dream matchup,” Overeem told The Times on Tuesday, just after signing a standard UFC fight contract in the office of Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta. “Brock’s a big guy, an exciting wrestler with his takedowns. “I want to see this fight myself. Overall, I’m a different fighter. A striker, athletic, big. These are going to be two big trucks going at it on a collision course.”
This fight will be as anticipated as the Velasquez vs. dos Santos bout on Nov. 12, if not more, as Lesnar has the drawing power and Overeem was the last Strikeforce champion. It is expected that this will be the main event of UFC 141 from Las Vegas and will take place on a Friday night, with New Year’s Eve being on a Saturday this year. In terms of the fight, this should be explosive and very interesting. Overeem has the clear striking edge, but will he be able to fend off the explosive takedown attempts of Lesnar? Either way, I don’t see this fight lasting too long. Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Strikeforce, UFC Tags: Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Dana White, heavyweight division, Junior Dos Santos, Las Vegas, Lesnar vs. Overeem, Lorenzo Fertitta, MMA heavyweights, mma matchups, strikeforce heavyweights, top 10 heavyweights, UFC 141, ufc heavyweight championship, UFC heavyweights, ufc matchups, UFC vs. Strikeforce, Ultimate Fighting Championship
Velasquez vs. dos Santos to headline UFC on FOX Posted by Drew Ellis (09/02/2011 @ 2:36 pm) The UFC wanted a premiere fight for its FOX television premiere and that is just what it has. Dana White announced via conference all on Friday that Cain Velasquez will defend his UFC heavyweight championship against top contender, Junior dos Santos, on Nov. 12 to headline the show. The fight was originally scheduled to take place on Nov. 19 as the headline of UFC 139 from San Jose, but will now take place at The Pond in Anaheim. White also indicated that this is the only fight scheduled for the 1-hour FOX premiere and if the fight ends quickly, they will air undercard bouts that took place earlier in the night. Velasquez hasn’t fought since winning the championship from Brock Lesnar last October. He is 9-0 in his career. Dos Santos is 13-1 and coming off a dominant win over Shane Carwin at UFC 131 in June. He has clearly established himself as being the top contender for Velasquez. While these two may not be the highest-profile of fighters to the outside MMA fan, this is an amazing fight to get on free television. The UFC is hoping for fireworks for this bout to really draw in a big audience and take the UFC to a new level. Hopefully this fight does just that. The new main event for UFC 139 has yet to be announced but White indicated that it was in the works. Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, UFC Tags: best heavyweights, breaking news, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Dana White, Fox, heavyweight championship, heavyweight division, Junior Dos Santos, knockout artists, mixed martial arts, mma fights, MMA heavyweights, MMA on Fox, octagon, one hour specials, San Jose, Shane Carwin, sports, top 10 heavyweights, tv ratings, UFC 139, ufc fight announcement, ufc fights, UFC heavyweights, UFC on FOX
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