If you weren’t excited about the next major Zuffa show on February 25 before, this 10-minute extended preview should get you pumped for the first UFC show in Japan in more than 10 years.
You know the card for UFC 144 is good when Yushin Okami, “Kid” Yamamoto and Hatsu Hioki are on the prelims. The card is stacked. Edgar versus Bendo will be a fast-paced chess match, Rampage versus Bader should be a slugfest, Hunt versus Kongo will be a K-1 bout in a cage and Pettis versus Lauzon is an interesting clash of styles. What’s not to like about this event?
Frankie Edgar is one of the most easygoing, respectful and likeable fighters in the UFC, so it’s no wonder that he was able to laugh off a prank that was pulled on him by his teammates and a media outlet earlier this week.
According to “The Answer’s” Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Ricardo Almeida, Yahoo! Sports orchestrated the stunt in which a phony repo man attempted to tow away the UFC lightweight champ’s BMW from the parking lot of Almeida’s school in South Jersey.
It looks like Gray Maynard will be eating Brazilian kicks and punches for Christmas in the delicacy’s native land.
The former number one UFC lightweight contender will be in Rio de Janeiro for the next few weeks to help UFC featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo prepare for his January 14 UFC 142 bout with Chad Mendes. Aldo invited “The Bully” to Brazil as his style is very similar to Mendes’. Gray arrived on Wednesday and will stick around until after the event in three weeks.
Given their frequency within the sport, we oft discuss the rematch here at CagePotato: we’ve mentioned a few that we’d like to see, we’ve mocked the possible occurence of others, and we’ve even gone as far as to predict how future ones would go down. And with 2011 featuring over 10 in the UFC alone, we decided to take a look back at at a year that both showcased and disgraced the awesomeness that is the rematch. Join us on this trip down memory lane, won’t you?
The Ones We Needed to See
#5 – Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami at UFC 134 (Silva v. Okami, though this image could be from just about any of Silva’s fights.)
Why it had to happen: Because the first fight marked the last time Silva had lost…at anything, and even if it was by way of illegal upkick DQ, it was enough to convince some people that Okami had his number. Plus, Okami had earned his shot by this point, and we were getting pretty damned tired of debating this old issue.
How it happened: Absolute. Domination. In typical fashion, Silva toyed with Okami like he was wrestling with his 4 year old nephew, letting the audience know that the fight would end when he decided it would. A head kick that rocked Okami at the end of the first round reinforced this belief, and Silva mercifully finished him off in the second. Cut. Print. TKO.
Confirmation comes at the 12:35 mark of the press conference highlights. Props to MMAFighting.com for the video.
Leading up to last night’s historic UFC on Fox broadcast, there were rumors that the winner of Benson Henderson vs. Clay Guida would be fighting Frankie Edgar in Japan for the UFC lightweight title. As you know, Ben Henderson went on to defeat Clay Guida by unanimous decision in a Fight of the Night winning performance. Now, it has been confirmed that Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar will be the main event of the UFC’s return to Japan.
Since losing to Anthony Pettis back at WEC 53, Ben Henderson has gone 3-0 in the UFC. Even though all three victories have come by unanimous decision, Henderson has proven that he is incapable of being involved in a boring fight. Likewise, Frankie Edgar is coming off of a come from behind fourth round TKO over Gray Maynard at UFC 136 in October.
(Fun fact: Clay Guida has never owned a single piece of silverware.)
According to a new report from MMA Junkie, the UFC plans to give the winner of tomorrow night’s UFC on FOX bout between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson a title shot against lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. Sources indicate that the fight would likely take place at UFC 144 (February 26; Saitama, Japan).
Unfortunately, Guida vs. Henderson won’t be part of the “Velasquez vs. Dos Santos” TV broadcast — which kicks off at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on FOX — but viewers can watch it as part of the undercard stream on Facebook and FOXSports.com. Currently, Henderson (-250) is a strong favorite over Guida (+236).
Dana White’s video blogs, though sporadic, have taken an increasingly interesting turn in that they are now largely made up of post-fight footage from UFC events rather than the day-to-day extravagance that is “The Baldfather’s” life. As with his UFC 136 vlog, Dana gives us a brief introduction and wishes us a happy Halloween before throwing us behind the scenes of UFC 136 to witness the agony of defeat firsthand.
Particularly tough to watch is that of Melvin Guillard, who, after having his lightweight title aspirations choked out of him by Joe Lauzon, completely loses his shit backstage, throwing a chair across the room before breaking down on his hands and knees as the doctor’s try to attend to him. Even Joe Warren had to look away.
Join us after the jump for some other musings from this week’s vlog:
(“I am not impressed with the UFC’s injured champions statistics.”)
Add Georges St-Pierre to the list of UFC champions who have been sidelined by injury in the past year.
According to a tweet by UFC president Dana White, the 30-year-old French Canadian has been forced out of his scheduled UFC 137 title defense against Carlos Condit.
With the injury, St-Pierre brings the UFC’s injured champions list from the past year to 100 percent. Each of the promotion’s title holders from bantamweight up to middleweight has been on the DL list in the past 365 days.
Check out the injury curse list as it stands today after the jump.
Lets face it, Potato Nation, the current face of MMA judging is nearly as bad as it’s original state of refereeing. And although some of the fault can be attributed to the judges themselves, there is no denying that the 10-point must system upon which nearly all of mixed martial arts competition is judged upon is in dire need of a change. How many decision’s have left us scratching our heads in this year alone? In fact, the very first fight card of the year, which took place on New Year’s Day mind you, ended in the controversial draw between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. You can’t make this stuff up.
It’s easy to sit back and take pot shots at those in the spotlight, and let’s be honest, it’s kind of what we’re known for. But not today. Today we move from “identifying the problem” to “finding the solution” so that maybe in the future we can say we made even the smallest of differences in the world. (Take that, Wall Street protesters.)
(We will be perfect in every aspect of the game. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts and then you will run a mile. Perfection. Let’s go to work.)
With his come from behind performance against Gray Maynard at UFC 136, lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has quickly become one of the more inspirational figures in the sport, so much so that last night, he was called upon by the always inconsistent New York Jets to provide some much needed inspiration heading in to their Monday night match against their long time rival, the Miami Dolphins. Despite making it to the AFC championship game the past two years in a row, the Jets have started the year with a less than stellar 2-3 record, and are in desperate need of a win against the 0-4 Dolphins, who have won their last 3 road games against the Jets.
(Former UFC Octagon Girl Brittney Palmer shows off her work, shares her plans for an “art empire.” Props: MMA30tv)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…
- Dana White: If Victorious Over BJ Penn, Nick Diaz Will Get a Title Shot (LowKick)
“I expect nothing from him (at the press conferences). I expect him to be sitting right here in this chair. He doesn’t have to answer one question if he doesn’t want to. I just want him to sit there and then get up and do the (staredown). Just show up man. He’s probably going to flip everybody off and do all this other stuff – its Nick Diaz. I don’t want him to not be Nick Diaz, I just need him to show up.”
- 10 MMA Rematches That Should Have Never Happened (BleacherReport/MMA)
“Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva and the recently concluded Gray Maynard vs. Frankie Edgar trilogy are both examples of what a warranted do-over should look like…Then, there are other bouts where a decisive ending merits no speedy return for the two fighters to be joined together again inside the cage.”
- ‘King’ Mo Lawal Talks ‘Rampage’ Jackson: We’re Going to Fight Eventually (MMA Fighting)
“This fool Rampage calls me out, and then people get mad when I respond? He’s a b—h in my eyes, because he didn’t respond. Maybe he’ll respond later, but the word is he wants to fight [Mauricio] ‘Shogun’ [Rua]. That’s whatever.”
(If Jesse Ventura ever sees this, someone out there is going to get sued. / Props to MMAFighting.)
As a long time UFC fan, I’ve recently noticed that their marketing team has seemingly taken a break from using corny phrases to label their events. In fact, the last UFC pay-per-view to not be named after the fighters in the main event was back at UFC 125: Resolution, which featured the eventual draw between, you guessed it, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. You just don’t see that kind of irony everyday.
UFC 136 was actually able to provide us with closure, however — more closure in fact than any card in quite a while. Not only did Edgar vindicate himself in triumphant fashion, but Jose Aldo proved to many of his critics that his gas tank is not an issue, Kenny Florian proved that he will never, ever, win a title fight, and Chael Sonnen proved that ring rust is for the weak. But now, we look to the future, and more importantly, try to predict it for the weekend’s big winners. So if you think our future match-ups are garbage, be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
Of the 11 bouts hosted at UFC 136, eight went to the judges — which made the other three seem even more special by comparison. In case you missed ‘em on Saturday, take a look back at the two dramatic submissions and one classic knockout from “Edgar vs. Maynard III.”
Dana White post-event interview with Ariel Helwani. Props: MMAFighting.com
It’s no stretch to say that UFC 136 was, on paper, the most stacked UFC card since UFC 100. It featured two title fights, the return of the only middleweight to make Anderson Silva look human, a rematch from one of the most controversial decisions of 2010 and a lightweight contender looking to keep his winning streak alive. Add on the UFC Fan Expo being held on the same weekend, and it would seem impossible for UFC 136 to live up to the hype. Yet, impressively enough, it did.
If you’re a fan of “zombie style” fighting, then Frankie Edgar absolutely has to be one of your favorite fighters after last night. In a performance that caused more than a few of us to experience déjà vu, Edgar seemed like he was one punch away from being knocked out throughout Gray Maynard’s early onslaught. But Edgar hung on and managed to take the next two rounds en route to a fourth round TKO. It’s an impressive accomplishment, especially considering that Frankie Edgar is a natural featherweight while Gray Maynard is pretty big for a lightweight, if Mike Goldberg is to be trusted. Any questions about Frankie Edgar’s ability to finish seem to have been answered last night. Especially in the eyes of Dana White, who awarded Frankie Edgar the 75k Knockout of the Night honors.
(“I’m so sick of your friggin’ face.” “No, I’m so sick of *your* friggin’ face.”)
Well, we’re finally going to sort out this lightweight championship mess. Thanks for joining us for the ride. Bear with us as we try a slightly different format to appease the complaints we’ve had about spoilers and such. If you want to read about certain fight, click ”next page.”
Just a friendly reminder that we will have the live stream of today’s UFC 136 weigh-ins from Houston, Texas starting at 5:00 pm ET.
There’s a pretty good chance that at least one fighter is getting shoved during the festivities. Unfortunately we likely won’t hear from Stann or Sonnen since Joe Rogan typically only interviews the main event participants, so we’l have to settle for listening to Maynard say that Frankie has his belt and to Edgar say he’s sick of fighting Gray.
Time for a few friendly wagers in the comment section.
Want to make some real money this weekend? Then come over to my place on Saturday afternoon and be prepared to clean some toilets. Want to make some hypothetical, for-entertainment-purposes-only money this weekend? Then check out the latest UFC 136 betting lines (via BestFightOdds) and read our gambling advice after the jump.
PPV Main Card
Frankie Edgar (-125) vs. Gray Maynard (+120)
Jose Aldo (-320) vs. Kenny Florian (+301)
Chael Sonnen (-255) vs. Brian Stann (+227)
Nam Phan (-210) vs. Leonard Garcia (+208)
Melvin Guillard (-312) vs. Joe Lauzon (+310)
Spike TV Prelims
Demian Maia (-275) vs. Jorge Santiago (+245)
Anthony Pettis (-277) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+250)
Facebook Prelims
Joey Beltran (+190) vs. Stipe Miocic (-210)
Tiequan Zhang (-120) vs. Darren Elkins (+115)
Aaron Simpson (-313) vs. Eric Schafer (+300)
Steve Cantwell (-135) vs. Mike Massenzio (+130)
Zuffa Editorial Director Thomas Gerbasi has just given us a stack of his upcoming book UFC Encyclopedia, a slick and meticulously detailed reference guide to the promotion’s 18-year history — perfect for your coffee table or the crapper. And we want to give away three copies to the savviest fight-pickers in the Potato Nation.
This Saturday, UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III goes down at the Toyota Center in Houston, featuring the conclusion (we hope) of MMA’s grittiest lightweight rivalry, Jose Aldo‘s latest title featherweight defense against Kenny Florian, and Chael Sonnen‘s love-fest with Brian Stann. Submit your predictions for these three fights in the comments section below, including the winner’s name, the method of victory, and the time/round of stoppage, if any. Your entry should be in this format:
Just a friendly reminder the the UFC 136 countdown show will air tonight at 11 pm ET.
One thing that’s clear is that Gray Maynard is coming into this bout pissed off that he hasn’t lost to Frankie Edgar in two fights, yet “The Answer” has the strap. “The Bully” is confident that this is his fight and says he’s not leaving without the belt. Hopefully for his sake he wins the fight, since it’s going to be pretty awkward to watch him snatch the belt out of Dana White’s hands and run back to the dressing room with it. If he does happen to lose, maybe they can get him one of those replica belts Jon Jones refuses to sign.
Regardless of who wins and the pre-conceived notion that Maynard is a boring fighter, if the last fight is any indication, this fight is going to be a war (Sorry Tim Kennedy. That’s just how we feel. Pinch our cheeks if you want.).
Anyway, if you’re one of those people who can’t wait until Christmas to check out your presents, you can watch part one of the show after the jump.
(Deja vu all over again all over again: Frankie and Gray strike a familiar pose at the UFC 136 press conference. Photo via MMAMania)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
(You don’t *have* to cover your face when you wear this shirt in public — but it couldn’t hurt. Props: Punch Buddies)
After Tuesday’s pep-talk, I’m happy to report that you guys got your acts together and started to produce quality work. So after sifting through the most recent wave of submissions for our Punch Buddies photoshop contest, we’ve chosen five runners-up, as well as two winners who will score “Young Assassin” t-shirts. Check out the Melvin Gulllard-themed brilliance after the jump.
(Ah, 2007 — when picking up a draw against Tito Ortiz could be the greatest accomplishment of a fighter’s career.)
By Jared ‘DangadaDang” Jones
In a sport where upsets come as easily as a lone, well placed punch, the rematch has become not only commonplace, but a huge commodity for the UFC as well. Fight fans worldwide have embraced the rematch because they offer a chance to witness a fighter’s redemption first-hand. Sometimes these matches provide us with instant classics, and set in place the even more lucrative Trilogy, while others serve only to confirm what we already knew.
Tito Ortiz, the man behind some of the UFC’s most profitable rematches and trilogies, is looking to continue his path to redemption and possibly contendership (!) when he takes on Rashad Evans at UFC 133. Though the odds are against him, his recent win over Ryan Bader proved to us that he can still choke someone out when it’s called for. (No Brett, you’re doing it wrong.) And since Ortiz stepped up to the plate, so shall I. Here are four upcoming UFC rematches and how I believe they will go down…
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans – UFC 133
(Click image to watch video.)
What happened the first time: Ortiz was able to secure a takedown within the opening minute of the fight, giving him the edge in a grappling-and-clinch-heavy first round, but after repeatedly grabbing the fence in the second frame, referee Big John McCarthy deducted one point from Ortiz, nullifying a round he would have won. Rashad was able to mount some offense in the third and secure a takedown of his own, resulting in a draw across the board.
(Christ, Dana, you’ve never heard of ‘personal space’?)
MMA Fighting is reporting that Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard have verbally agreed to meet for the third time in a headlining lightweight title fight at UFC 136 (October 8th, Houston). Following their draw at UFC 125, Edgar and Maynard were originally scheduled for a do-over at UFC 130 in May, which was postponed when both sufferedinjuries in training. The two 155′ers first met at UFC Fight Night 13 in April 2008, with Maynard winning by unanimous decision.
So, any predictions on how the re-rematch will play out? (I mean, it’ll end in a decision, obviously, but what kind of decision, and for who?) UFC 136′s current list of matchups is after the jump, including newly-added bouts featuring Demian Maia, Mike Russow, and Josh Grispi…
One of our favorite online obsessions over the last month has been awesome people hanging out together, a tumblr photo blog devoted to celebrities mingling in unexpected combinations. (I mean, seriously: Dylan and Ali?Alice Cooper and Colonel Sanders? Epic.) Since there are aren’t any MMA fighters represented on the site, we decided to do some online crate-digging of our own and put together a CagePotato version of the “awesome people” photo-phenomenon. Enjoy these rare and classic MMA photos, which continue after the jump, and shoot us some links in the comments section if we’ve left out any of your favorites.
BJ Penn has a simple answer to boring fights and skewed judges’ decisions: Get rid of the belts and get rid of the judges.
“I definitely think the way to make it exciting is get rid of the belts and get rid of the judges first thing, right off the bat. If anything goes to a decision, it should be an automatic draw. The only way you can win a fight is by finishing your guy and the only way you can lose is by getting finished.”
Sure, Beej may be tooting a different horn if he hadn’t lost the majority of his career pinnacle fights against guys like GSP and Frankie Edgar by decision, but he didn’t.
TapouT’s Mike Straka recently caught up with Frankie Edgar to see how the UFC lightweight champ’s back rehab is coming along and an interesting nugget came out of the conversation. Apparently Edgar’s New Jersey-based boxing trainer Mark Henry was calling for the towel to be thrown in during the trouncing Edgar took in his January 1 UFC 125 bout with Gray Maynard.
Edgar said that Henry’s emotions got the best of him, and he mistakenly says it wouldn’t have mattered had he thrown in the towel as it isn’t a recognized gesture in the UFC. I guess “The Answer” never saw Royce Gracie’s corner throw in the towel prior to the start of his bout with Harold Howard at UFC 3.
Technically, the towel throw is a foul that is usually punishable by the opposing fighter being awarded the win due to disqualification.
Here’s the list of fouls under UFC rules:
1. Butting with the head. 2. Eye gouging of any kind. 3. Biting. 4. Hair pulling. 5. Fish hooking. 6. Groin attacks of any kind. 7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent. 8. Small joint manipulation. 9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head. 10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow. 11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea. 12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh. 13. Grabbing the clavicle. 14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent. 15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent. 16. Stomping a grounded opponent. 17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel. 18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck. 19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area. 20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent. 21. Spitting at an opponent. 22. Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent. 23. Holding the ropes or the fence. 24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area. 25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break. 26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee. 27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat. 28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee. 29. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury. 30. Interference by the corner. 31. Throwing in the towel during competition.
In other words, Edgar lucked out that Henry didn’t have a towel, or he may have lost his belt. Instead, he roared back to eke out a draw against Maynard and ensured a rematch.
The transcript of the interview is after the jump for those who can’t watch the video.
Don’t drink and: drive, dial, text, facebook, or photoshop.-Anonymous
Let’s face it, Nation. The lightweight field in the UFC is a hopeless clusterfoxtrot. Half of the names in the top ten last summer are either not at 155 anymore, or suddenly non-factors. Six months ago, the WEC-UFC roster merger was supposed to clear up, once and for all, who the best fighters were.
Well….
The UFC title fight between Gray Maynard and champ Frankie Edgar was supposed to coincide nicely with the WEC’s own lightweight title fight at the December 16th event, the last by the promotion. Anthony “Showtime Kick” Pettis defeated champion Ben Henderson by a close (but stupifyingly impressive) decision, something you would assume gives Henderson some legitimate claim to a title shot, or at least a number to get in line.
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