The middleweight showdown between Dan Henderson and Tim Boetch will headline the latest UFC Fight Night card from Louisiana on Saturday evening. Both fighters are coming off losses, but the bigger story here is that Henderson, a legend in the sport, has won only one of his last six fights.
With his 45th birthday right around the corner, could this be the last time we see ‘Hendo’ grace the cage? Continue reading “Henderson’s Last Ride?”
The UFC makes its debut in the Philippines this Saturday as Frankie Edgar, and Urijah Faber will tango in the main event. While the card boasts what should be some fun fights, the five-round featherweight attraction between the two former WEC and UFC champions could very well be MMA’s version of the Thrilla in Manila.
Fight night is a term that encapsulates the evening’s combative festivities. However, this event has the unusual distinction of airing in the early a.m. to compensate for the twelve-hour time difference. One would wonder why such a big fight would be booked for this particular show, but the UFC’s aggressive push in the Asian market probably answers that question. Continue reading “Calling The Shots: Frankie Edgar vs. Urijah Faber”
The opening bout of this Saturday’s UFC on Fox 15 main card features a women’s strawweight showdown between the experienced veteran in Felice Herrig and divisional prospect Paige VanZant. While I used the word prospect in regards to VanZant, she is being promoted as anything, but a prospect as the UFC machine along with a Reebok endorsement deal are promoting her as the belle of the octagonal ball. Continue reading “Calling The Shots: Paige VanZant vs. Felice Herrig”
UFC 185 produced an interesting night of fights that not only provided some divisional clarity but crowned two new champions. One of the new titleholders became a star on Saturday night as she pummeled her way towards straw-weight gold and her name is Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
The first straw-weight title defense in UFC history hadn’t gained a lot of fanfare even though an entire season of The Ultimate Fighter was used as a vehicle to usher in the division. Carla Esparza seemed to have a firm lock on the title since her wrestling appeared to be unstoppable. Continue reading “Remember The Name: Joanna Jedrzejczyk”
Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz main event at UFC 183 is a fight that was never supposed to be made. A middleweight that walks around at 220 lbs. and a thinly framed welterweight doesn’t make sense in the combative sphere of the MMA. However, a gruesome injury, along with the eclectic desire to only vie for a high valued prize, suddenly made this bout go from impractical to something that makes complete sense.
Silva is coming off a thirteen-month layoff after recovering from a broken leg he suffered in his bout with Chris Weidman. Diaz emerges from a 22-month retirement where a seven-figure payday in a loss to Georges St. Pierre made him very selective on who he does business with inside the confines of the Octagon. Continue reading “Calling The Shots: Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz”
I almost hate admitting this, but I have been bored with MMA as of late. The UFC’s overwhelming slate of shows has given me little cause for excitement. While I understand their business strategy is to create new stars, appealing content extends beyond merely two people fighting in a cage.
We’ve been spoiled for so long with a plethora of intriguing personalities. Gladiators like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, and Tank Abbott introduced us to this combative spectacle. At the same time, warriors such as Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, BJ Penn, and Matt Hughes ushered in the sports boom period.
The new generation of fighters have evolved quite nicely, but besides Ronda Rousey, no one else has mass appeal. People want to like Jon Jones, but his Ill-mannered and disingenuous personality is a turnoff. Cain Velasquez, Demetrious Johnson, and Chris Weidman seem like the type of athletes you’d want your kids to look up to. Unfortunately, they lack that larger-than-life persona.
UFC 181 rejuvenated my excitement for Mixed Martial Arts. The event had everything you could ask for and then some, and I wrote a column about it at What Culture.com titled 5 Things We Learned From UFC 181.
This past Saturday at UFC 181 in Las Vegas, it was announced that former WWE Superstar CM Punk has signed to fight in UFC and will make his Octagon debut sometime in 2015.
Punk was interviewed at cage side by Joe Rogan and said he is done with professional wrestling and that MMA is his full-time career now because it’s now or never for him.
Punk said that the weight class he will fight at is up in the air, but he is looking at middleweight (185 lbs), but welterweight (170 lbs) is a possibility. He also said that he will not fight at light heavyweight (205 lbs)
When asked who he was going to train with, Punk said he didn’t want to tip his hat just yet and that he is making inquires with a few camps. Continue reading “Thoughts On CM Punk Signing With UFC”
UFC 181 features two championship bouts to close out the promotion’s pay-per-view calendar for the year. With an unprecedented 45 events scheduled for 2015, this card will go a long way in bringing clarity at the top of the welterweight and lightweight divisions. From top to bottom, this looks to be the most intriguing and action-packed card of the year.
This is a fight of technique versus raw aggression. Ferguson is very skilled, and Abel Trujillo made some serious noise with his win over Jamie Varner, which turned into a violent slugfest. Ferguson cannot win a firefight and has to dictate the pace with takedowns. I believe that Trujillo will land big shots, thus forcing Ferguson out of his wheelhouse.
The Pick: Abel Trujillo Continue reading “Calling The Shots Of UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler II”
As an MMA fan, sometimes we pay for stories instead of fights. Last Saturday night, I didn’t plop down $54.95 to watch the first heavyweight title fight in thirteen months. I paid to see Mark Hunt shock the world and topple Fabricio Werdum on three weeks’ notice to become the interim champion as the UFC made their maiden voyage into the hardened fight mecca of Mexico. Unfortunately, Hunt would be denied his glass slipper.
Continue reading “Werdum Denies Hunt The Glass Slipper”
Under the leadership of Scott Coker, Bellator MMA will hold its biggest event to date on Saturday night when Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar clash at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, CA. This fight should have happened in the UFC. However, the stars never aligned for a plethora of reasons.
Both fighters have been vocal about their disdain for one another, which has garnered a lot of attention to the bout. Bonnar is coming out of a two-year retirement, while Ortiz is fresh off a win over Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. Continue reading “Calling The Shots: Tito Ortiz vs. Stephan Bonnar”
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