Aggression or Elusiveness: Who will win Cruz vs. Barao?

With Renan Barao’s convincing defeat of consensus number-one contender Urijah Faber at UFC 149, talk shifts to his looming bout with current Bantamweight titleholder Dominick Cruz. Cruz, who still remains on the shelf following major knee surgery, is rumored to be unable to fight until March of 2013 at the earliest. While the main event of UFC 149 has been much-maligned over the past few days as not delivering, the fact remains that Renan Barao is one of the most gifted and well-rounded fighters in the

Alistair Overeem: Jones vs Silva is not going to happen

Alistair Overeem was recently called on to  judge the K-1 tryouts in Southern California. MMA Interviews spoke with him about his return to the Octagon, a potential Jon Jones matchup with Anderson Silva and his picks for UFC 150.  
 On his return to the Octagon, The Reem is hoping for it to happen in December and while he does not know whom he will face, he says he will take on anyone: “I’m looking to return in December. It looks like they’re going to match Cain with Dos

Hector Lombard and four other most disappointing debuts in the UFC

When it comes to MMA promotions, the UFC is the biggest kid on the block. The best fighters in the world fight in the Octagon and the competitive level is second to none. Very often fighters will have successful runs in second and third tier promotions and go on to success in the UFC. However, there are a few that follow that same pattern only to find themselves totally outclassed in their Octagon debut.If it is “UFC Jitters”, it is usually bypassed by the second fight. However, if it goes beyond that,

UFC 149 Post-Fight Interviews: Dana White is disgusted with MMA officiating

First off in a series of UFC 149 post-fight interviews, Dana White expressed his disgust with the way UFC 149’s main card played out, especially in terms of the officiating that took place. Controversy due to officiating did surround both Cheick Kongo vs. Shawn Jordan and Tim Boetsch vs. Hector Lombard. White appeared visibly angry, saying:
“The officiating is gonna kill combat sports….I don’t even know what to say.”
We will see if officiating continues to plague MMA and boxing with needless

UFC 149: Fighter Bonuses and Attendance, Gate sets record for venue

The attendance and post-fight bonuses have been announced for tonight’s UFC 149 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Canada. Bonuses of $65,000 each, were awarded for Submission of the Night to Matthew Riddle, Fight of the Night went to Bryan Caraway and Mitch Gagnon and the Knockout of the Night was awarded to Ryan Jimmo for his 7-second KO victory over Anthony Perosh. The total bonus payout for this event came to $260,000. These numbers do not represent any pay-per-view bonuses or victory bonuses.UFC

UFC 149: Tim Boetsch defeats Hector Lombard by Split-Decision

Tim Boetsch, remains undefeated in his drop to the Middleweight division with a split-decision victory over former Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard. Lombard went in riding a 25-fight win streak and was making one of the the most highly anticipated UFC debuts in a long time. For whatever reason, be it “UFC jitters” or something else, he fought defensively from a distance. While Boetsch continually nailed him with counter-attacks. Yet, the whole time, neither went in for the “finish”. As UFC

UFC 149 Results: Renan Barao wins Interim title, Tim Boetsch upsets Hector Lombard

UFC 149 from Calgary, Alberta, Canada is finished and Renan Barao has emerged with the UFC Interim Bantamweight title wrapped around his waist. He got there by using great striking and utilizing great wrestling defense. Faber could never get anything going against Barao, and while he had good movement, his offense was nonexistent at times. He appeared tentative in what may have been his final title bout. Barao will look to unify the belts against Dominick Cruz whenever Cruz is fully recuperated from knee

UFC 149: Renan Barao beats Urijah Faber with unanimous decision

Brazilian phenom Renan Barao extended his unbeaten streak tonight with a decisive unanimous decision victory over opponent Urijah Faber. Faber as always came out with a lot of motion and speed, but he was just unable to find an opening in the defense of Barao. Barao used a lot of kicks as expected, utilizing great Muay Thai leg kicks similar to Jose Aldo. The kicks seemed to cause Faber’s leg to swell up as the fight wore on.
Barao also attempted many headkicks and even high spinning back-kicks, showing a