Photo by Esther Lin for MMAFighting.com
In a preliminary fight at UFC on Fox 2, Mike Russow defeated Jon Olav Einemo via unanimous decision. Scorecards were 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27. With this win, Russow remains undefeated in the UFC, with a 4-0 record. Einemo drops down to 0-2.
In the lead-up to this fight, I said it had the potential to be a pretty boring 15 minutes, and sadly, that is what we got. For the most part, the fight turned into a plodding ground battle. Einemo, the submission grappling expert, was unable to control Russow on the ground, and while he attempted to work for better positions, he never had Russow in trouble, and spent most of his time absorbing punishment. By the end, both men were gassed, but the Chicago native pushed through it (as he is known to do) and got the win.
What was the high spot of this fight?
Einemo had a nice striking flurry at the start of the 3rd, but that was about it.
Where do these guys go from here?
Post-fight, the BE staff had an interesting conversation about Russow. He's a tough one to figure out because there are huge holes in his game, and his fights are sloppy, but he keeps winning. He should face someone tough next, but chances are good Russow will win in a boring fight. Still, I think he deserves a shot. I'd like to see him against either Travis Browne or Matt Mitrione.
Einemo is pretty clearly not cut out for the UFC anymore, and I imagine will be cut. It's a shame he lost so much of his career to injury - he could potentially have been a Heavyweight of note, but that time has passed and he is done at this level. The big question is, will he continue to fight MMA at all? And honestly, I kind of doubt it.
Watch it now, later or never?
Never. It was seriously not fun.
0 recs | 15 comments
When Einemo gets cut
I think we should write a commemorative post on JOE and his great accomplishments in the UFC.
SSreporters - January 29, 2012
JOE will never be cut. He simply will ascend to another level. No matter where it is he can still beat up broken down old man Carwin.
memitim - January 29, 2012 via mobile
I almost forgot Carwin existed
he’s been gone for a while now.
av1o3 - January 29, 2012
That was always my point with JOE. When he was matched against Carwin the deluge of certainty that Carwin would kill him made me think the odds would come out crazy against him and I thought it would be a good bet. In my post, the point I made, was Carwin was cooked. A long time PED abuser around his age starts to break down and I felt that JOE could withstand the initial barrage, with improved GG stand up as he has shown, and land a submission against Carwin. We will never know but I think this slow, shrunken Carwin is in danger against anyone in the HW division, especially someone with JOE’s pedigree.
memitim - January 30, 2012 via mobile
Who'd you pick in this fight?
and the JOE-Herman fight?
Chris Groves - January 29, 2012
I picked JOE to submit him in the second round. I didn’t realize his conditioning was such an issue. Still, that mount in the first comes :45 earlier and the result would be different.
memitim - January 30, 2012 via mobile
Oh, and I saw the Herman fight as a toss up but naturally pulled for JOE.
memitim - January 30, 2012 via mobile
who else thinks mike russow should get a jump up in competition maybe the winner of kongo/hunt
THEFILMGUY - January 29, 2012
I'm thinking maybe more like the winner of Schaub-Rothwell
Chris Groves - January 29, 2012
Both guys shouldn't bein the UFC...
….Both are super nice guys but they are both one dimensional and not exactly fun to watch. Both guys have no stand up and terrible conditioning. Again, 2 very nice guys but I don’t think they belong in the UFC.
Taiter - January 29, 2012
It’s hard to argue that russow doesn’t belong. He’s still undefeated in the ufc
Baby Wads - January 29, 2012 via mobile
Mike Russow is 4-0!
Russow > Madsen > Yvel > Kongo > Cro-Cop > Wandy > Jardine > Forrest > Rampage > Machida > Sokoudjou > Ferreira > JDS
Russow > JDS
SSreporters - January 29, 2012
This is why Pride was awesome.
Seriously… Imagine 20 years from now when you can’t match-up flyweight champs with HW cans due to insane match-making.
Gugabe - January 30, 2012
Einemo / Beltran and Russow / Carwin
Kevin Jennison J. Zametov-St Pierre - January 29, 2012
JOE/Rolles.
memitim - January 30, 2012 via mobile
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Bloody Elbow to post a comment.