A trio of new bouts was reported today for the UFC's July 11th event in San Jose, California, which will serve at UFC on Fuel TV 4. In light heavyweight action, New Jersey-based grappling standout, Tom DeBlass, will face Canada's Nick Penner as reported by TheScore.com, while Renzo Gracie protege, Rafael Natal, tweeted that he will face Andrew Craig in a middleweight bout, and talented Brazilian, Marcelo Guimaraes will make his UFC debut against Dan Stittgen in the welterweight division, according to Globo's SporTV.com.
DeBlass, despite posessing an outstanding BJJ pedigree under Ricardo Almeida, made the decision to take his first UFC fight on extremely short notice against Cyrille Diabate in Sweden. Although he was never in danger of being finished, DeBlass's lack of a full training camp was evident as he quickly tired and was unable to impose his ground game against Diabate, who wound up winning the decision. Penner, who made his bones on the Canadian regional scene, also lost his UFC debut when he got TKOd by Anthony Perosh at UFC on FX 2.
Natal, a BJJ black belt better known as "Sapo", is surpisingly under a three-fight unbeaten streak under the UFC banner, having gone to a draw with Jesse Bongfeldt in late 2010, and then following that with two consecutive decision wins against Paul Bradley and Michael Kuiper. Craig surprised many at UFC on FX 2, when, filling in for Jared Hamman on short notice, he upset hometown favorite, Kyle Noke, in a decision win that saw Craig drop the first round only to come back and control the final two frames, unleashing some serious ground and pound on Noke.
The undefeated Guimaraes make his UFC debut after a successful run in Brazil's Jungle Fight promotion, where he held the welterweight title. A former training partner of fellow UFC fighters, Erick Silva and Paulo Thiago, Guimaraes is now training with Wanderlei Silva in Las Vegas. Guimaraes is notable for having tried out for TUF: Brazil, only to be signed to a UFC contract without having to go through the competition. Much like another Brazilian prospect, Ronny Markes, Guimaraes uses a strong wrestling game and a smothering top control style to wear down his opponent. Unfortunately for Stittgen, an Ohio native and Jorge Gurgel student, he seemed to be cannon fodder for young karateka, Stephen Thompson, when they both made their UFC debuts in February, and ended with Thompson KOing Stittgen via head kick in the first round.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos' coach had strong words concerning how his fighter matches up with former UFC Champion Frank Mir. This fight has been put together on short notice following the fallout of the Alistair Overeem scandal and it has given both fighters precious little time to prepare their strategies for one another.
The immediate reaction was the the Champion held a imposing advantage on the feet. Junior dos Santos has a rare combination of speed, power and size that makes him extremely dangerous on the feet. Most fans agreed that Mir's chances are pretty slim on the feet and his only path to victory is to somehow wrestle dos Santos to the mat. There Mir's years of black belt experience in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu could help him secure a submission victory.
From that point of view the biggest challenge Mir faced was somehow closing the distance and solving the puzzle of how to get dos Santos down. The Champions ground grappling ability is completely discounted, in large part because we've haven't seen dos Santos forced to use his grappling in years.
Guilherme Cruz of Tatme caught with dos Santos' jiu jitsu coach Yuri Carlton while he helped prepare the champion for his UFC 146 match with Mir and when asked how dos Santos' skills compares to Mir's, see what he had to say after the jump...
According to a report from the Liverpool Echo (HT: MMA Convert), former UFC fighter, Paul Kelly (12-5), along with several others, has been arrested and charged for drug offenses after a drug bust in Liverpool, England.
Cannabis, ammunition, and "drugs believed to be heroin" were reportedly found in the several locations that were raided during the sting. From the report:
THREE men were charged with drug offences last night after raids across Merseyside.
Police swooped on addresses in Liverpool and Sefton yesterday and arrested six men and a woman after seizing Class A drugs and firearms ammunition. The force’s Matrix unit supported by neighborhood officers executed the dawn raids and also confiscated large amounts of money.
...
Christopher McGirr, 27, of Carina Court, Aigburth, and Paul Kelly, 27, of Swanside Road, Knotty Ash, were charged with conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs. Paul Rogers, 27, of Smithford Walk, Roby, was charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
All three men were held in custody and were due to appear at Liverpool magistrates court this morning.
Kelly has since responded, saying there was nothing illegal found on his Liverpool home:
@paulkellymma
paul kelly Just to clarify yes my house was raided by mersyside matrix division who found no drugs or anything ov any criminal nature
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Kelly compiled a (4-4) record in the UFC and last fought in the promotion on February 2011, losing to top contender, Donald Cerrone. After being released by the promotion, the Brit competed in Super Fight League 2, losing to Ryan Healy by a lopsided decision.
Promoters will always be promoters. Just look at Don King, a man who keeps smiling, spiking his crazy hair and waving mini-American flags regardless of what he's pushing. No matter what, he always focuses on the positive, regardless of what the naysayers are trying to counter with. And with boxing these days, that can be a lot.
UFC president Dana White is a different breed of promoter. He isn't afraid to taunt or fire back at anyone on any subject, something that endeared himself to many as the UFC rose through the sports muck to prominence over the past seven years.
Sometimes he has been right on the money and other times, he has been horrendously off base. When forced to, he's apologized for the really bad stuff, but has never apologized for being open and honest. To say the least, he is the 'anti Roger Goodell' -- a sentiment against a perceived PR-friendly figurehead as opposed to someone shooting from the hip.
But White's video tirade this week against Wrestling Observer founder/MMA journalist Dave Meltzer crossed the line -- not just because it came across as childish and petulant but because it was simply mean spirited in a direction that it never should have gone in.
For the second time in a row, The Korean Zombie has come into a fight as the underdog and not only pulled off the win, but done so in spectacular fashion. Last time, it was former UFC Featherweight title challenger Mark Hominick on the receiving end of a 7 second knockout; this time, it was Dustin Poirier being choked out in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 3. He's proven himself as true contender, a great underdog story and managed to bring the fans into his fights like few others at 145. And now?
The Korean Zombie is the #1 contender to the UFC Featherweight title.
Post-fight, Dana White was at first a bit tentative, telling Ariel Helwani that Jung "may" get the next shot. But at the post-fight press conference, White confirmed that Jung would indeed be the next title challenger. He's moved past Hatsu Hioki, and claimed his spot as #1.
And that is undoubtedly a good thing. Brent Brookhouse already laid out the positives last night - primarily, that Jung is a name fans know and respond to. Sure Hioki may have the better resume (though after the Hominick and Poirier wins - does he?), but fans don't know him. And that's what this young division needs right now - a challenger fans know.
Champion Jose Aldo is currently getting ready for his 4th UFC title challenger. Of those 4, only Kenny Florian was a name opponent to most fans. The rest - Hominick, Mendes, Koch - were simply "the challenger", men in there against Aldo, but not their own individual stories. Jung will change that and make this a fight where both combatants matter.
Despite this, there are some arguments against Jung. He's outclassed. He was KO'd be George Roop not long ago. He can't win. Maybe that's all true. But it's also the exact same thing I said before he faced Hominick, the exact same thing I said before he faced Poirier. And, I admit, I was wrong. Twice.
When Jung does get his shot, particularly if that shot comes against Jose Aldo, I'll probably pick Aldo. I think he's too good with his kicks, too good on the ground, too good of an all-around fighter for the Zombie. But I keep underestimating Jung. Am I underestimating him once again? Can he be the man to dethrone pound for pound great Aldo? I won't be betting on him, but in my heart, I'll be rooting for him to prove me wrong yet again. And that is what a world title fight is all about.
In the dawning hours of arguably the biggest Strikeforce card this year, rumors have flown around regarding possible injuries to one of the athletes fighting in the lightweight title match. About a week ago, rumblings that Josh Thomson had suffered a serious knee injury started making their way across Twitter feeds, bringing to mind the question, 'Will The Punk be fighting on Saturday?' In a quick TapouT Radio interview, Josh discussed his feelings on how the MMA media handles rumors, and gave some insight to these final days leading into his third outing with lightweight champion, Gilbert Melendez.
Frustration With MMA Media
There's no injury, everything is good. I tweaked my wrist and I tweaked some of my other body, but nothing bad. There's always little injuries going into a fight, but nothing that is going to take me out of it.
The thing that upsets me the most, is when the media, or whoever they are, come online, and let's just say a guy did have an injury, but the media guy guessed wrong. He's like 'Oh yeah, he hurt his wrist'. and let's just say his wrist was kind of bugging him, but he guessed wrong, and it wasn't anything too bad. Now that puts out a little bit of a target, and could end up basically affecting the guy's fight. At least verify with the camp, or just say, 'Hey, is there an injury?'
We've covered UFC president Dana White's response to Dave Meltzer's analysis of the UFC on Fox 3 ratings and we've covered Meltzer's response to Dana, but we haven't actually covered the Wrestling Observer article that got Dana so worked up.
Here are some of Meltzer's main points:
It should be clear from reading just these notes why Dana responded so strongly. Meltzer may have a relatively small audience at the subscription-only Wrestling Observer but his reputation as an analyst of the cable TV and pay-per-view businesses is well established.
UFC on Fuel 3 is in the books, and it definitely had some highs and lows. An early contender for fight of the year in the main event was obviously a high, as was the earlier bout between Igor Pokrajac and Fabio Maldonado. Some poor refereeing and a dull co-main event might have dragged it down a bit, but not enough to say it was a bad card or anything. One thing that was poor was the attendance though - 4,592 fans in a 10,000 seat arena isn't that great, even on a Tuesday. Anyway, let's get onto the winners and losers:
Winners
Chan Sung Jung: This man is a warrior, folks. He came into the bout dealing with injuries and it didn't faze him at all. Yes he gassed early in the third, but who cares when you win the fight in the fourth? The Korean Zombie still gets hit a lot, but he put on a masterful display of grappling and transitions to control the first two rounds and get the finish early in the fourth. He was also very smart to try and connect with the audience by saying four words in English - "I want Jose Aldo". You couldn't ask for a better performance.
Donald Cerrone: That was vintage Cowboy. After he got a feel for the range and knew Stephens was no match for him on the feet, he turned it into a 15 minute sparring session. He was trying out a bunch of fancy stuff, taunting a bit, and generally enjoying himself. It certainly won't be like that against guys that match him in reach and put more pressure on him, but Cerrone is clearly one of the best strikers at 155. A bout with Anthony Pettis next would be great.
Yves Jabouin: Jabouin shouldn't have heard the final bell in that fight. After the spinning back kick in the first, the referee totally screwed him over by jumping in front of him when he tried to go in for the kill, then backing off and telling Jabouin to continue. You could see that Yves was all sorts of confused, and it probably impeded his ability to finish then and there. The ref was just as bad in the third when Yves was close to finishing as well, admonishing him and making a nuisance of himself. Still, Yves is one of the flashiest strikers at 135 and is now 3-0 as a bantamweight. Going back to the Mike Easton fight would make a lot of sense if Easton will be back relatively soon.
Igor Pokrajac and Fabio Maldonado: One man lost the bout, but in the long run I think they are both winners coming out of this bout. They went to war, each using different styles which likely led to the scoring difficulties. Maldonado's boxing has flaws (as Brent pointed out last night), but his body work is second to none in MMA. Pokrajac took a ton of blows and continually came back with huge, damaging punches and knees. Both men showed off iron chins and a lot of heart, and I definitely want to see them both on a main card again soon. Does anyone else think that Maldonado should maybe consider 185 though, or is it just me?
Losers after the jump.
