(via Getty)

Even as someone who follows the sports as closely as I do, I would be remiss to say that I could regularly identify more fighters on the average UFC card than I could not these days. With over 550 fighters on their roster, the UFC is becoming an increasingly sink-or-swim promotion with little room for error, which doesn’t exactly help fighters still in need of development upon being signed by the world’s premiere organization (ie. TUF stars, unheralded prospects, late replacement opponents, etc.). Nor does it help mid-level MMA bloggers keep track of who’s coming and going.

Earlier this month, the UFC released TUF 13 finalist Ramsey Nijem along with Elias Silverio, Jorge Oliveira, and Nazareno Malegarie, which more or less proves my point (of those four, I only recognize the first two). Late last week, TUF 19 middleweight winner Eddie Gordon was cut following 3 straight losses, as was Christos Giagos (1-2), Matt Van Buren (0-2), and Roger Narvaez (1-2). The most interesting thing to come out of that bit of news was Giagos’ claim that he was released as a result of the UFC “over-booking” their roster and needing to make some cuts as a result, which coincided with an unconfirmed Swedish report that the UFC would be cutting a total of 50 fighters.

Marcus Brimage and Chris Clements announced their releases shortly thereafter, and today, UFCFIGHTERSINFO announced the deletion of some 17 more profiles from the UFC’s fighter database, meaning almost surely that said fighters are no longer under UFC contract. Those fighters are…

While Duane “Bang” Ludwig experienced something of a career revival during his stint as Team Alpha Male’s striking coach, he is a name that never really left the tongues of MMA fans with a true appreciation for the striking elements of the sport. Consistently and rightfully praised by Joe Rogan as being one of the most elite strikers to ever enter the UFC, Ludwig holds both the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history and the honor of being the only K-1 World MAX champion to compete under the Zuffa banner.

Although Ludwig has since departed from Alpha Male to start his own gym in Colorado, his impact could be seen in not only TJ Dillashaw‘s improbable and plain brilliant upset of Renan Barao at UFC 173, but in Chad Mendes‘ gritty performance against Jose Aldo last weekend. Ludwig is a tactician, a Bas Rutten disciple, and an absolute dynamo when it comes to the art of exploiting an opponent’s weaknesses — look no further than his wins over Jens Pulver, Genki Sudo, and more recently, Amir Sadollah for proof of how incredible Ludwig could look when he was in the zone.

So to honor Ludwig’s illustrious career (and because there’s not much else going on out there today), I present you with this stupid awesome Duane “Bang” Ludwig highlight reel, which I randomly stumbled upon last night. It’s cool, you can thank me later.

-J. Jones

(Tate vs. Nakai and Hunt vs. Nelson — the only weigh-ins you really care about. Complete UFC Fight Night 52 weigh-in video is after the jump.)

Mark Hunt had us nervous yesterday, but he — and everyone else — successfully made weight earlier today for UFC Fight Night 52 in Saitama, Japan. Hunt hit the scales at 264 pounds, which means he cut a full twenty pounds in the 24 hours prior to weigh-ins. (Our sources tell us that he’s already rehydrated up to 385.)

Also, Rin Nakai walked to the scale in some sort of samurai-hooker costume, then stripped it off to reveal an American flag/Superman bikini top. I was hoping for something tentacle-related, but whaddya gonna do. Full “Hunt vs. Nelson” weigh-in results are below…

Main Card (Fight Pass, 3 a.m. ET / 12 a.m. PT)
Mark Hunt (264) vs. Roy Nelson (260)
Myles Jury (156) vs. Takanori Gomi (155)
Yoshihiro Akiyama (170) vs. Amir Sadollah (170)
Miesha Tate (135) vs. Rin Nakai (135)
Kiichi Kunimoto (171) vs. Richard Walsh (171)
Kyoji Horiguchi (125) vs. Jon delos Reyes (125)

Preliminary Card (Fight Pass, 12:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. PT)
Alex Caceres (135) vs. Masanori Kanehara (135)
Katsunori Kikuno (146) vs. Sam Sicilia (145)
Hyun Gyu Lim (171) vs. Takenori Sato (169)
Michinori Tanaka (135) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (136)
Kazuki Tokudome (155) vs. Johnny Case (156)
Maximo Blanco (146) vs. Daniel Hooker (145)

It’s been quite a while since we first penned our list of the 7 Biggest UFC Busts of All Time, and a lot has changed in the time since. While some of our choices are even more relevant now than they were when the list was originally published in July of 2009, most of them seem either inaccurate or simply out of date in light of current circumstances. Knowing what we know now, we’ve decided to update our list to align with today’s MMA landscape. Enjoy.

#7 – Robert Drysdale

Robert Drysdale had already achieved the distinction of being one of the most credentialed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors and sought-after coaches in all of MMA when he signed with the UFC last year. He had also picked up six straight first round submissions in professional competition, and was primed to make some huge waves in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.

But oh, if only it were that simple. Drysdale was first scheduled to take on Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 163 until he was forced out of the bout at the last minute due to a “lingering staph infection” and definitely not the fact that he had been denied a therapeutic use exemption for TRT days prior. He was then scheduled to face Cody Donovan at UFC 167, but was denied licensure after an out-of-competition drug test came back with an absolutely absurd 19.4:1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio.

You’d think the UFC would have shitcanned Drysdale right then and there, but The Baldfather is nothing if not a softie for guys with a great ground game (lol!). Drysdale was given another shot at the TUF 19 Finale in July, and to his credit, he actually managed to show up and submit Keith Berish in just over 2 minutes. The post-fight drug test, however, would reveal that Drysdale was once again competing with an unnatural level of testosterone flowing through his veins. But hey, at least his T/E ratio was only 12:1 this time!

One fight. Two failed drug tests. And to our knowledge, Drysdale is still employed by the UFC. Let’s hope he can get his sh*t together long enough to pick up one legitimate win before all is said and done.

(So *that’s* what Amir’s been up to these past few years? That poor, poor man…)

You might not know this, but the UFC needs to book a fight approximately every 3.5 seconds in order to pull off hosting as many cards as it does these days. And with fighters going down to injury every 5-6 seconds, the UFC is all but forced to inflate its already bloated roster (or keep some fighters around way, way too long) with less than experienced fighters to make up the difference. Hence, Royston Wee.

In the past 12 hours, a half dozen or so fights have been booked for just these reasons. Most of them promise to be entertaining affairs. Some of them, not so much. Hence, gifs. Let’s get started.

Chan Sung Jung vs. Akira Corassani — Fight Night Sweden

Although not officially confirmed, it looks like we will finally see “The Korean Zombie” return to the octagon for the first time since being broken to pieces in his four round smash-up with Jose Aldo at UFC 163. According to reports, Jung will face TUF 14 alum and Swedish native Akira Corassani at Fight Night 53 on October 4th.

Corassani has also had a rough go of things lately — back in November, he scored a victory via DQ against Maximo Blanco at the TUF 18 Finale when a blitzkrieg of illegal knees rendered him unable to continue. He was then legally smashed up by Dustin Poirier in the second round of a back-and-forth, “Fight of the Night”-earning effort at the TUF Nations Finale. At the very minimum, someone is going to have something broken in this fight, which makes this ranking obvious:

(Whoa, he finally got a wikipedia page? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?? / Photo via MMAnytt.se)

Highly regarded light-heavyweight Jan Blachowicz has become one of Poland’s greatest home-grown talents, with a 17-3 record competing almost exclusively for the KSW promotion. Blachowicz hasn’t competed since March 2013, but he’s currently riding a five-fight win streak, including decision wins over UFC veterans Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Mario Miranda, Houston Alexander, and Goran Reljic.

Unfortunately, he’s about to get swallowed by the goddamned juggernaut that is Ilir “The Sledgehammer” Latifi. (Or Iliir Latifa, as it’s spelled traditionally.)

The UFC announced this morning that Blachowicz will make his Octagon debut against Latifi at UFC Fight Night 53, October 4th at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. (Only on Fight Pass!) Latifi is coming off a quick TKO of Chris Dempsey earlier this month, which came after his historic manhandling of Cyrille Diabate at UFC Fight Night 37 in March, in which no significant strikes were attempted by either fighter; Latifi won by guillotine choke after three minutes.

The fight marks Latifi’s return to competition in Sweden, following his unsuccessful UFC debut against Gegard Mousasi in April 2013. But true Latifi fans don’t really count that fight; the former non-wiki combatant was coming in to replace his training partner Alexander Gustafsson on short notice, and was unable to show us the real Latifi.

A main event for UFC Fight Night 53 hasn’t been announced yet. The current lineup is as follows…

(This is one of approximately 4 photos that exist of the most talented fighter in all of Singapore. According to the UFC, at least. Via Yahoo.)

Who is Royston Wee, you ask? Oh, he’s just the first Singaporean fighter to ever sign a deal with the UFC is all. No big whoop. He’s also undefeated, and has picked up every single one of his victories by way of first round submission.

The problem is, Royston holds just two professional fights to his credit, and they both took place back in 2011. Yet somehow, he, along with the slightly more experienced Filipino Dave Galera (5-0) and One FC veteran (and therefore, most experienced) Leandro Issa (11-3)*, recently secured a multi-fight deal with the UFC. In fact, Royston already has his first fight lined up — against Galera at Fight Night 34:Ellenberger vs. Saffiedine, which goes down in, you guessed it, Singapore, on January 4th.

Is Royston some Brock Lesnar-level star over in “The Lion City,” you ask? Not exactly. He’s just a 27 year-old bantamweight who was competing for a spot on TUF China last July like everyone else. The difference between Royston and his fellow potential castmates, however, is that Royston was able to convince whomever he was auditioning for — in a few short hours, no less — that he was not only TUF-caliber, but that he was UFC-caliber.

Is Royston simply that good? Here’s the only video of him in action that we could find. We think it’s from his last fight against Syed Shahir, who was making his pro debut at the time and has not fought since. Royston seems like a competent enough grappler, sure, but the caliber of his opponent speaks volumes more than that of his performance.

I keep using that word: caliber. It might be because that, for a time, there was a dubious distinction that came with having the letters “UFC” placed before it. It meant that you were proven. It meant that you were exceptional. But lo, it appears that the age when “UFC-caliber” actually meant something has passed us by.

(Renan Barao: Started from the bottom, now he here. / Photo via Getty)

By Adam Martin

At the UFC 165 post-fight presser last month, UFC president Dana White showered praise upon UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao, calling him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and remarking that the media hadn’t given enough credit to his eight-year, 32-fight undefeated streak, which has remained pristine since May 2005.

Barao has only tasted defeat once, and it was in the first fight of his career. The fact that he’s rebounded with the longest current undefeated streak in mixed martial arts — despite the fact that his first loss could have ruined his confidence forever — is absolutely amazing to me, as many young would-be prospects have crashed and burned in their debuts, never to be heard of again.

It got me thinking: What other mixed martial artists lost their first fight but then went on to have great success? I expected to bang out a list of ten fighters, but once I started doing the research, it blew my mind that some of the best fighters to ever compete in the sport, and a number of currently top 10-ranked fighters, actually lost their very first fight.

And so, I compiled a list of the top 24 MMA fighters of all time who lost their first fight. The list is based on accomplishments in the sport, overall skill level, and potential. Enjoy, and if I somehow missed somebody notable, please leave a comment below and explain why he or she should be included.

Honorable mentions: Matt “The Wizard” Hume (5-5), Wesley “Cabbage” Correira (20-15), Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo (18-2), Rodrigo Damm (11-6), James Te Huna (16-6)

24. Travis “The Ironman” Fulton (249-49-10, 1 NC)

(Photo via ThunderPromotions)

On July 26, 1996, at the age of 19 years old, Travis Fulton fought Dave Strasser in his MMA debut at Gladiators 1 in Davenport, Iowa, losing the fight via first-round submission. He then went on to win 249 fights, the most wins in mixed martial arts history. Fulton also holds the record for most fights (309) and most knockout wins (91) in MMA history.

Mind = blown.

Was Fulton a can crusher? Yes, yes he was. Or, should I say, yes he is, as he beat some nobody in his native Iowa just this past March. But you don’t win 249 MMA fights by accident, and Fulton deserves a place on this list based on volume alone.

(Riddle’s doctor described the injury as occurring “right about in the toadstool-area.” Photo via Sherdog)

After getting fired by the UFC for a second positive marijuana test and ensuring that he’d never be back inside the Octagon by insulting Dana White’s business acumen and bald head, Matt “Deep Waters” Riddle was preparing to transition to Bellator later this month in a welterweight tournament quarterfinal against Luis Melo Jr. But thanks to another training injury, that fight’s not going to happen, and the TUF 7 vet says he’s stepping away from the sport altogether. As he wrote on Facebook last night:

I’m retiring from MMA today cracked my rib and can’t fight sept 20, Bellator said they can’t find me a fight till the next tournament and I can’t afford not fighting that long and need a job, sorry if I let anyone down but it isn’t paying the bills

Injuries have haunted Riddle’s professional career, which was spent entirely in the UFC. (Like his fellow TUF 7 castmate Amir Sadollah, Riddle only had amateur experience when he tried out for The Ultimate Fighter.) During his five years in the Octagon, Riddle had to withdraw from four scheduled fights due to injury and was pulled off of UFC 141 just hours before the event due to illness.

Making a living as a low-to-mid-level UFC fighter is hard enough when you’re fighting consistently. But if we’re going to talk about lost wages, we have to mention the fines and suspensions that Riddle received from his two separate positive marijuana tests, which he caught following his victories over Chris Clements (which originally earned him Submission of the Night honors at UFC 149) and Che Mills. Both of those wins were overturned to no-contests, leaving Riddle with a lifetime record of 7-3 with 2 no-contests, which would have been a more respectable 9-3 if he didn’t smoke so much damn weed.

Riddle’s latest setback was the last straw for him financially, and he’ll now try to enter general population and get a non-fighting job. (A “regular, you know, job, job-type job,” as Mr. Blonde would say.) But enough doom and gloom. Let’s look at Matt Riddle’s achievements…

(Photo via Getty. Click to enlarge.)

“I tried to punch him and he literally moved his head out of the way and looked at me like I was stupid for doing it. He looked at me like, ‘Why would you do such a stupid thing?’ He looked at me like, ‘Oh, did you really think you were going to hit me? What a stupid thing to think you slow, slow white boy,’ and then he punched me. I felt embarrassed for even trying to punch him. I felt like some kid trying to wrestle with his dad.”

That’s how UFC light-heavyweight Forrest Griffin described his painful run-in with Anderson Silva, which happened exactly four years ago today, on August 8th, 2009. The infamous one-rounder took place during UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, an event that was headlined by BJ Penn‘s second lightweight title defense against Kenny Florian. (The Silva vs. Griffin non-title fight was slotted in the co-main event; to date, it was the only fight in Silva’s UFC career that wasn’t a main event.)

If you’ll recall, Silva scored the knockout with a short, backpedaling right hand (you might even call it Petruzelli-esque), after putting on a brief clinic on head-movement and showboating. Afterwards, Joe Rogan called Griffin’s loss “one of the most embarrassing knockouts I think we’ve ever seen,” which is a little unfair when you consider Anderson’s other-worldly talent and the fact that Griffin was half-zonked on Xanax at the time.

Besides the incredible/humiliating knockout in the co-main event, UFC 101 was notable for a few other reasons. For instance…