UFC 192. The Lows.

UFC 192 had over thirteen fights scheduled to take place. It had some memorable moments, mostly for good reasons which I have written about here. This article is about the other side of UFC 192. The Lows.

Thankfully there were not as many lows as there were highlights but some of them do need to be addressed. To start, the fight that never happened. Johny Hendricks vs Tyron Woodley. Mixed Martial Arts is a professional sport, training camps are difficult and making weight is one of the toughest things a fighter puts themselves through both physically and mentally, so its fair to say that after a fight camp, fighters deserve to live a little and to relax on their strict regimes. This however is something that Johny Hendricks takes a little too seriously when it comes to blowing out. His former dietician Mike Dolce spoke on the MMA Hour about how he nearly refused to work with him leading up to his title defence last year against Robbie Lawler as he let his weight blow up to nearly 220lbs. (Welterweight is 170lbs). As a result of trying to cut too much weight this time around, Hendricks suffered kidney stones, a intestinal blockage and gained himself a one way ticket to the UFC middleweight division.

Below, Mike Dolce on the MMA Hour speaking about Johny Hendricks weight issues.

After a two year layoff, former Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad ‘Suga’ Evans returned to the Octagon against Ryan Bader. Fans were not sure how two years on the sidelines would affect ‘Suga’ and unfortunately the layoff seems to have gotten the better of him. Evans seemed like he just couldn’t get going, he was second in every exchange and struggled to land anything effective. Bader like I said earlier in the article, executed a perfect game plan to get the decision win over Evans. I only highlight this as a low overall for the simple reason that its sad to see a former champion return after a long injury and fail to pick up where they left off. Everyone was hoping for the old UFC 88 Rashad Evans to make the walk but it wasn’t to be.

One of the lowest moments of UFC 192 came hand in hand with one of the highlights of the night. Like I mentioned earlier soon to be former UFC Lightweight Fransisco Trevino was finished by Sage Northcutt after only fifty eight seconds of round number one. What Trevino did after was nothing short of disgraceful. Having being subject to a flurry of punches, a big takedown and then some vicious elbows, Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight, albeit to protect Trevino who was not effectively defending himself for getting badly hurt. Trevino like most fighters do after losing a fight due to stoppage protested it saying he wasn’t out and that he was still defending himself. In making his argument he shoved referee Herb Dean, something that fighters cannot under any circumstances do. The MMA community has struggled in the main stream media with the false image of fighters all being thugs, an image that is thankfully dying away but nonetheless, a vine of someone pushing a referee can go viral very quickly and having people asking those questions about the legitimacy of the sport etc. Having missed weight by four pounds, on a two fight losing streak and now having pushed an official, expect to see Fransisco Trevino in the prelims of a Bellator show near you.

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UFC 192. The Highlights.

A little over twenty four hours has passed since one of the most entertaining UFC cards of the year. Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier defended his belt for the very first time against former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson at the Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas at UFC 192. In this post I am going to have a look at just some of the many highlights from the card.

The main highlight of the event is the status of the Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier as the now undisputed champion. DC has had a roller coaster of a year, having lost to former UFC Champion Jon Jones back in January at UFC 182 and crying in the press conference afterwards, DC was given the chance at redemption when he got to face Rumble Johnson in May for the vacant light heavyweight belt. He beat Rumble and became the undisputed champion. However with Jon Jones still potentially in the mix, Cormier was the disputed champion, the paper champ, keeping the belt warm for Jones, you name it, he was called it. Now having defended his belt and doing it against Alexander Gustaffson in what can only be described as a phenomenal performance, DC will hopefully now start getting the respect he deserves. Yes Jon Jones is still around and a rematch would probably end in the same manner as the first but thats not DC’s fault that Jones had to vacate his belt. DC didn’t crash into a pregnant woman and run away, Jon did, I hate to quote Ben Parker from Spiderman but great power does bring great responsibility and Jones actions did not show responsibility in what he did and he deserved to be stripped of his title. DC can only beat who is put in front of him and he has done that spectacularly. Hopefully this victory will bring the recognition DC deserves and stops the questioning when Bruce Buffer announces him as ‘Undisputed’.

The Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader Vs Rashad ‘Suga’ Evans fight brought with it some fantastic highs and one low. Before the whole Jones saga took place back in April, Ryan Bader was due to fight DC in Lafayette, Louisiana in June. When DC got the call for UFC 187, it left Bader without a dance partner for the UFC Lafayette show. At the UFC 187 press conference after DC won the belt, there was the infamous engagement between the pair where DC stated he only wanted to fight Bader because it was the “easiest paycheque” on the roster for him. The obvious contender right then and there for DC’s first title defence was Ryan Bader. He was over looked for a title shot despite being on a four fight win streak. His last fight was a lack lustre and less than convincing split decision win over Phil Davis back in January. When this fight was booked, the fate of Jon Jones had not been known, with a potential federal charge and prison time potentially looming for the former champion, the UFC had to plough on and make fights, this fight for Bader and Rashad was a number one contender fight. The highlight of this fight was Bader stepping up to the mark and executing a perfect game plan and dominating the former champion Rashad Evans to a 30-27 Unanimous decision win.

In the Women’s Bantamweight Division, season eighteen winner of TUF 18 Julianna Peña continued her impressive return from her knee injury by beating the number six ranked Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye. In a division dominated by Ronda Rousey, contenders are high in demand and low in supply. Peña had dominated season 18 of TUF in 2013 but was sidelined with a knee injury which left her on the sidelines until April this year. Julianna had a spectacular return with a first round brutal knockout of Miliana Dudieva. This was her first true test against a top ten ranked opponent and despite a shaky second round, Peña battled through and beat Eye in a unanimous 29-27 on the Judges scorecard. Eye is coming off a loss to Miesha Tate and is now slipping down the rankings. Pena moved up the rankings to number seven. (One spot above Holly Holm who fights Ronda next month for the belt)  In her post fight interview she called out Ronda Rousey, she alluded to Dana Whites comments calling Ronda Mike Tyson and that she is her Evander Holyfield. Peña has the hype behind her to get the title shot, if she doesn’t I would like to see her fight Cat Zingano.

The UFC released a new show format on youtube a couple of weeks back called ‘Looking for a fight’. The idea is simple, UFC President Dana White, Nick The Tooth and Matt Serra travel the world, attending regional shows looking to recruit fresh talent to the UFC or TUF. One of the fighters they found was a nineteen year old called Sage Northcutt. Sage, a world karate champion and model was laughed at when the trio first saw his picture, when they seen him fight it was a different story. Sage dominated his fight and impressed Dana White so much that he offered Sage a UFC contract. Sage made his UFC lightweight debut on the UFC 192 Fight Pass Prelims against soon to be former UFC lightweight Francisco Trevino and he did it in the most incredible fashion ever by winning a TKO victory after only fifty eight seconds. Sage celebrated by what can only be described as defying physics with a crazy front flip. You could see the dollar signs lighting up in Dana Whites eyes.

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