Two friends face off to open the main card of UFC 205: Tate vs Pennington

To kick off the main card of Madison Square Garden’s first ever UFC event, two seasoned bantamweights will look to set an example for others to follow in what is a beyond talent-packed event. As former champ, and now #1 contender, Miesha Tate looks to eradicate what was a ‘bad day at the office’ when she lost UFC gold to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200. Number 8 ranked Raquel Pennington hopes to pounce on an opportunity which could extend her three fight winning streak and make a strong claim for a title shot.

Tate suffered a brutal loss at the hands of Amanda Nunes
back at UFC 200 in July.
Credit: The Guardian

 With so many monumental match-ups under the spotlight, it is hard to believe Miesha Tate, who (in a hectic turn of events) headlined what was dubbed to be “the biggest event in company history” back at UFC 200 in July, is fighting on UFC 205. Her bout with Raquel Pennington is the first time in almost 2 years that Tate will not be appearing in a main, or co-main event of the evening, which itself speaks leaps and bounds about the current depth of this New York card.

It’s not often a fighter who has recently lost the belt will face such a low ranked contender in their division, but it was not like Tate had defended the belt several times, it was her first defense, and she fell short. It’s similar to the Werdum v Browne 2 situation. However, I think a re-match with Cat Zingano (who lost to Juliana Pena on the same night as Tate at UFC 200) or a bout against Shevchenko who is ranked third would have made more sense. Pena is out of the question as White recently announced she has been turning down fights.

One big factor that could play into Tate’s favour (and potentially Pennington’s) is that back when she was a coach on TUF 18, she chose Pennington to be on her team. Although they were only with each other for a few months, it obviously gave both competitors a rough idea of each other’s training methods, and fight styles.

Pennington's most recent win came vs Elizabeth Phillips
at UFC 202 in August.
Credit: MMAJunkie

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Tate credited Pennington as extremely ‘durable’ and very ‘physically strong’ however she was also surprised about the match-up. Not pushing aside Pennington’s abilities, Tate was expecting a potential re-match with either Holm or Zingano, however she acknowledges the ‘great match-up’ with Pennington and was ‘honored’ to take this fight.

Standing with very similar frames, there will be no height or reach advantage for either woman in this fight. Another similarity these women share are their well-rounded fight styles, both have adapted their game to suit wherever the fight ends up, however Tate may hold a slight advantage with her extensive wrestling background. Nevertheless, it will be a fun way to fuel the first ever UFC event in NYC, and will hopefully set up for what is ‘destined’ to be another historic card.

UFC 205: Khabib vs Johnson - As a menace continues his resurgence, an eagle salivates over his next victim.

Freak show? Bullshit? Call it what you want, but Khabib Nurmagomedeov is not getting the title shot in which he felt he had rightfully earned a long time ago. Instead, he will face a revitalized man, fresh off a win at Fight Night Hidalgo, Michael Johnson aims to accomplish what no fighter has been able to do, and that’s defeat “The Eagle.”

When Khabib announced on his Twitter account he had received “a very generous birthday gift” from the UFC, things looked to be set in stone for a title fight at UFC 205 vs. Eddie Alvarez. Not so fast. As we know now, Alvarez will fight McGregor, Khabib will fight Johnson. Not the best birthday present after all.

Johnson recently put an end to Dustin Poirier’s four fight and win streak, and made a great comeback from his loss to Nate Diaz.
Credit: abcnews.com

We hear it all the time, classic striker vs grappler match-up. Johnson often credits himself as the ‘fastest’ in the lightweight division, whereas no such statement is needed from Khabib to advertise his grappling skills, as we all know they are beyond high level. It would be comical to say if Johnson can keep the fight standing, he can trouble Khabib with his sharp 1-2, and swift in-and-out movement. Because so far, no-one has been able to fend off the grittiness of Khabib.

However, it is worth noting that although his record stands at an impressive 23-0, other than his win over Rafael Dos Anjos, Khabib doesn’t hold a win over any high-level fighters in the UFC. For me, the likes of Pat Healy and Gleison Tibau just don’t fall into that upper echelon.

So it will be interesting to see Khabib face some serious competition in Johnson, and dealing with the rapid hand speed adjoined with the fast footwork will by no means be a ‘cruise control’ night for Khabib, like so many of his fights have been.

Khabib outclassed former champ Dos Anjos back when the pair fought in April 2014. 

Credit: fightsday.com

I see this fight panning out to be fight of the night.

That’s a bold statement to make on such a monumental, talent-packed card, but I believe many people will be surprised on how this fight turns out. Much similar to the way McGregor was pushed to the limit for the first-time, in his recent five-round thriller with Diaz, I see Khabib being troubled by Johnson’s athleticism, and the take-down not coming as easy as he may think.

That doesn’t mean that it won’t come, because it will. Khabib’s sambo skills are unlike any we have ever seen, so the fight is undoubtedly going to hit the canvas, and when it does Khabib will be in his element. However, all fights start standing up, so Johnson will have his fair share of success too.

UFC 204: Can Bisping put a downer on Hendo’s final straw?

 
Following the unusual circumstances of UFC 203, you would think there is no way that the next pay-per-view could be as strange. Or could it. Henderson vs Bisping 2 for the middleweight championship. A guy who isn’t even ranked in the top 10 leapfrogging multiple contenders for the shot. A combined age of 83 years old. I think UFC 204 is living up to the bizzarity of 203, but for all the right reasons.

The last of a dying breed. With an opportunity to go out on top. Dan Henderson has found himself in a position that virtually no other fighter can say they have been in before. Born in the Pride days, raised in the UFC, Hendo is one of the few long serving greats in MMA that is still fighting to this day, and a title shot this late is his career is by no means a fluke. A head kick followed by a ruthless right elbow saw him put away Hector Lombard on the very night Michael Bisping became middleweight champ, just days later, the re-match was on.

Bisping has become the posterboy for British MMA.
Credit: Fighters Only Magazine

An ’energetic and lippy’ kid, Bisping’s persona has by no means changed as he grows older. From paving to plumbing, Bisping has fought his way up to become the flagbearer for UK MMA.  Starting relentlessly on the local scene, Bisping quickly accumulated a flawless 13-0 record in just over two years, all wins of which coming by stoppage. He was a force to be reckoned with, and all of this took place in light heavyweight.

Confident and ferocious, the only paving Bisping does today is laying a path for his fellow nation to follow.  Dispatching Luke Rockhold on two weeks’ notice to finally claim his first ever piece of UFC gold, Bisping was awarded a re-match with the very man who gave him his most brutal loss of his career.

To take a look at how these veterans match-up against each other, there is no better place to look then their first fight. We all know how it ended, due to Hendo’s much famous signature being his whole bodyweight smashing down into Bisping’s face, but let’s take a look on how we got to that ever so historic knockout.

When you think of Bisping’s fighting style to date, you think of constant movement, a high volume of strikes and relentless pressure. Surprisingly, it was Hendo who was conforming to Bisping’s traits in their first outing. Headhunting throughout the fight, Hendo narrowly missed the huge overhand right on several occasions, but little did Bisping know his defence of leaning back to avoid the punch would eventually be his downfall.

An inside low kick to get into range, and then much like Lombard, Bisping found out the harsh way that whether it’s an elbow or a punch, Hendo’s right has devastating consequences.

The punch which quickly became Hendo's logo.
Credit: MMAMania

According to “The Count”, this title fight should not be labelled as a ‘re-match’, because they are both “completely different fighters” compared to when they met seven years back at UFC 100. Convinced he is going to make Hendo feel “old and slow”, the champ feels he will ‘toy’ with Henderson for two rounds, then ‘knock him out cold’ in the third.

For the casual spectator, this “rematch” is not the only fight to look forward to this Saturday at UFC 204.

Prior to Bisping’s first title defense and Hendo’s last octagon battle, Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi the two seasoned middleweight contenders with great contrasting styles will look to entertain the Manchester crowd. As well as England’s own Jimi Manuwa taking on fellow power puncher Ovince Saint-Preux in a light heavyweight bout.

The Al Iaquinta dispute is not an individual issue.

When Al Iaquinta infamously flipped off the crowd after edging out a narrow split decision over Jorge Masvidal last April, no-one thought the road back to the octagon would be such a topsy-turvy tale for “Raging.” Out of his fight on his home soil at UFC 205, it looked like Madison Square Garden would have to wait for Iaquinta, however, it now looks like the pair may never meet.

It was all shaping up so perfect for the New York native. A return to the octagon after a 17-month-layoff, on home soil, potentially sharing the card with team-mate Chris Weidman, it couldn’t have been pictured any better.

Not the case.

Behind the scenes it was a different story, the bout agreement hadn’t even been signed yet, reluctant to put pen to paper, Iaquinta just couldn’t bring himself to sign on the dotted line. Why though? Who cares, he can fight someone else? It’s not quite that simple. Digging into the facts, the opponent, or even the destination is not the issue in this dispute, it’s the one thing that most fighters tend to shy away from discussing. Contracts.

Iaquinta last fought in March 2015 - he won a close split decision
against Jorge Masvidal.
Credit: mmafrenzy

Speaking on The MMA Hour, Iaquinta discussed in detail about the injuries and treatments that have caused him such a lengthy lay off.

Originally, Iaquinta was planning on undergoing an allograft to repair his injured knee, under Dr. Riley Williams in New York. The UFC thought otherwise. Adamant that stem cell surgery would not work to treat his injured ACL, Iaquinta flew out to L.A go ahead with it regardless, much under the UFC’s command. Six months later, there is no progress and he is back at square one.

Iaquinta stated that ironically after this disappointment, the UFC only offered to pay less than half of his $60,000 allograft surgery with Dr. Williams. However, after some time the organization did pay the full cost. It was this, accompanied with the newly instated Reebok deal which left Iaquinta ‘ripping his hair out.’

Iaquinta in action vs Masvidal
Credit: Bloody Elbow

Now we all know about the Reebok deal by now, it’s been in tuition for over a year now. But it wasn’t until this situation with Iaquinta, that I myself realized, how little I knew about it. I had no idea that prior to the Reebok deal, fighters were being paid monthly by their sponsors, I was under the impression it was only per fight. I guess there’s a reason fighters keep this stuff behind closed doors. It’s shocking.

I believe the pivotal point of this situation is not necessarily the fact that Iaquinta signed his UFC contact before the Reebok deal was introduced, because that’s common sense, he hasn’t fought since April of last year, and besides, many other fighters are in that position too. What interests me is looking at where Iaquinta stands, ranking wise, in the company.

Now of course he is not one of the faces of the UFC, or even his division in that case. But this is a guy who is ranked #13 in one of the toughest divisions in the UFC. So what does that mean? It means that if you’re an upcoming fighter, making and breaking your butt off to try and step foot into the UFC, you better buckle up because it will be rougher than a bumpy ride. Not everyone can talk-the-talk like Conor McGregor to build up their persona, and certainly no-one can avoid the ever so present injuries of the sport.

If there was ever a time for a fighter’s voice, it’s now.

UFC 203: Will Miocic be another victim to the hometown curse?

 

Strike one. UFC 188: Mexico City, Mexico, Cardio Cain is contrastingly outworked by Fabricio 'Vai Cavalo' Werdum, and is eventually submitted much to the shock of his loyal Mexican followers.

Strike two. UFC 198: Curitiba, Brazil, the calculated, technical Vai Cavalo uncharacteristically runs hands down at Stipe Miocic, only to be knocked out stiff in front of his home faithful.

Strike three. UFC 203: Cleveland, Ohio, we wait for the consensus to be answered.

With a combined total of 56 MMA fights on his resume, and an impressive kickboxing career to match, Alistair Overeem is certainly not lacking in the experience aspect when he faces Stipe Miocic this Saturday, for the UFC heavyweight title. As usual, this title fight means much more than a gold belt to Overeem. Looking to become the first fighter ever to hold belt's in three different MMA organizations (Dream, Strikeforce and UFC) Overeem believes this fight will cement his legacy.

Miocic celebrates winning the UFC Heavyweight
title, after knocking out Fabricio Werdum.
Credit: @stipemiocicufc

Overeem's myriad of experience is not something in which Miocic (or most fighters in that case) can say they have under their belt. Being fairly new to the game, but winning the most prized assets of all so quickly, Miocic has dispatched some of the most seasoned UFC veterans on his pathway to becoming the champ. Most notably his effortless knockout of Fabricio Werdum, who also fights on this card, back at UFC 198 in May.

Well known for his durable wrestling, as shown in his five-round masterclass over Mark Hunt, Miocic's boxing is the foundation of his MMA game, and being a Golden Gloves champion, saying he shines in this aspect is an understatement. A great analysis by Dan Hardy, shows the acute angle, and minimal build-up Miocic's punches have, using his bodyweight in rhythm to generate devastating knock-out power. For Overeem, it is the tenacious kickboxing which catches your eye when he fights. Although with a plethora of his finishes coming from kicks and knees, Overeem is certainly comfortable when the fight hits the canvas too. Surprisingly, he has more submission wins then knockouts, and his guillotine has been a frequent feature of these wins.

Before Miocic and Overeem let fists fly, two men (who will be very interested in that headliner) square off in a re-match of a one-sided affair back in 2014. When Travis Browne came into his first fight with Werdum, he was a 2-to-1 favourite riding three consecutive knockouts over Josh Barnett, Gabriel Gonzaga and the man in the main event, Overeem! 

However, Werdum was not bothered by Browne's success. Thoroughly outclassing him in wherever the fight went, many say to date that was Werdum's best performance inside the octagon. Since that fight, it's been a rocky road for Browne. Troubles outside the octagon, and inconsistent performances inside, a win is crucial if Browne wants to make a serious run for that title. 

 

Werdum dominated Browne in all aspects in their first fight.
Credit: Bleacher Report

Having your first pro MMA bout on the main card of a UFC pay-per-view is something that no fighter can have to claim, that will no longer be the case this Saturday. CM Punk becomes only the second man to make the transition from WWE to MMA, as he takes a fellow UFC newcomer in Mickey Gall. When Lesnar made the same move as Punk, criticism was not as apparent due to Lesnar's freak appearance, and successful college wrestling background.

Due to Punk having no MMA experience whatsoever, he has been under the cosh from many big names in the UFC. Unphased by this, Punk will be making his highly-anticipated debut after almost two years of training at Roufusport in Milwaukee, with some of the UFC's biggest names, such as Anthony Pettis, and recently crowned welterweight champ, Tyron Woodley.

This card definitely has the potential to be a thrilling night of fights, from seasoned veterans, to noobie newcomers, UFC 203 will be worth the watch.

UFC Vancouver - Maia vs Condit: The success of UFC 202 causes a killer of a card to be overlooked.

With a potential card of the year, and fight of the year occurring last weekend at UFC 202, Fight Night Vancouver will be looking to step up to the mark with some fascinating match-ups being overshadowed by last week's hecticness.

Condit will be looking to set up a title shot when he takes
on Demian Maia this Saturday
Credit: MMAFighting

Demian Maia. Eight years, twenty-three fights, and the most elite ground game you see in all of UFC to date. Carlos Condit. Seven years, twelve fights, and some of the crispest knees and elbows you will see in the UFC to date. Although Maia respectively has almost double the amount of bouts in the UFC then Condit, these pair come together this weekend in what sets out to be a number one contender fight (after Wonderboy faces recently crowned champ, Tyron Woodley). 

A lot is on the line for these two UFC veteran's, who are still peaking late in their careers, but are currently on very different paths. Maia has been on tear in recent at 170, a five-fight winning streak dispatching prospects such as Gunnar Nelson, and Neil Magny in the process. His Brazilian jiu-jitsu needs little of mentioning, it overwhelms his opponents, making his victories look effortless. Ask anyone, and most will tell you Maia's is on a different level compared to those within the UFC (bar a couple, Fabricio Werdum and Jacare Souza being the two that come to mind).

For Condit, the path has been a little more wayward leading up to this main event in Vancouver. Two steps forward one step back describes Condit's most recent UFC bouts, with only two wins from his last six, his journey has been arduous to say the least. However, that doesn't mean Condit will be discouraged coming into this one. After a back and forth five round war with Lawler in January, in which many believed he should of became welterweight champ, Condit will be looking to prove a point to the rest of the division, that he is by no means down and out of this stacked 170 weight class.

Anticipation is not lost when looking at the co-main event either. Three to four years ago, a freight train hit the lightweight division. A plethora of kicks and twists in his arsenal, Anthony Pettis' elite taekwondo skills lead him to finishes over several UFC veterans such as Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson and Joe Lauzon.

Above: Pettis after knocking out Donald Cerrone via body kick at UFC on Fox 6.
Credit: Bloody Elbow

The highs are high, and the lows are very low. For Pettis, this could nt be such a fitting statement. Coming off three consecutive losses, all being thoroughly outclassed, many have forgotten about the force in which he once was at lightweight. Making the decision to drop ten pounds could re-ignite a spark in Pettis career, but Charles Oliveria will be looking to spoil the party. With an aggressive submission game, it is clear Pettis owns the striking, whereas Oliveria will favor this fight on the ground.

In addition to the main and co-main event, the main card for UFC Vancouver has two other fun matchups. Jim Miller takes on Joe Lauzon in their re-match of what was an end-to-end, bloody brawl in which Miller came out the victor at UFC 155.

Also strawweights Bec Rawlings and Paige VanZant kick off the main card in a match-up that contains two bulldog-like women who will bite down on their mouthpiece until the final bell is sounded.

UFC 202: As Conor seeks vengeance, Nate aims to eradicate the McGregor era once and for all.

The wait is finally (almost) over.  This coming Saturday, at the T-Mobile Arena, Nate Diaz will face Conor McGregor in what is undoubtedly one of the most eagerly waited, and tough-to-call rematches in UFC history. Cliché? Heard it all before? Yes, well, at the end of the day, it is McGregor who is fighting, so I should at least get some leeway on this one!

The pair get under each other's skin in an interview
on the Jay & Dan show prior to UFC 196.
Credit: Jay & Dan Podcast

Now don't worry, I won't ramble on for long about the magnitude of this re-match, as simply, there is no need too. However, what was impressive to me was not the fact that Nate beat Conor on eight days’ notice (yes of course that's notable in its own right) it was the fact in which eight days was all it took to break "all of" the UFC's records on one Saturday night. 

A press conference, and a couple interviews on some "Tim and Suzie nobody gives a fuck morning shows" to make 196 the biggest PPV in UFC history.  The Stockton style? The McGregor effect? Choose your pick.

Speculation has been drawn to the pairs last outing in which concludes down to one question: Did McGregor gas out? To answer this, we can look at two different approaches, from two very well respected trainers. Firstly, John Kavanagh who (surprise surprise) is McGregor's coach at SBG Charlestown and secondly, Firas Zahabi who is head coach at Tristar Gym in Montreal.

Just two days after Conor's first UFC defeat - Kavanagh told Ariel Helwani he had "never seen Conor breath that heavy before." This doesn't come as a surprise though. 'Exhaustion' and 'inefficiency' were the two words used by coach and fighter to describe the key components of Conor's downfall mid second round to the Stockton native.

McGregor and Coach Kavanagh feel exhaustion was the main factor in his loss,
however Firas Zahabi thinks otherwise.
Credit: Esther Lin - MMAFighting

On the flip side, Zahabi's pre-fight analysis of the match-up is somewhat a great contrast of Kavangh's. "McGregor did not get tired" Zahabi firmly states. "The one-two from Nate" adjoined with the psychological effect of Diaz not hitting the deck, like Conor's previous opponent's after the "big left hand shot," was what lead to his loss. "You're crazy" if you think it was his cardio.

Playing the devil's advocate in Firas' assessments is not often an easy role to take up. However due to the fact the fight was at welterweight, a weight in which McGregor had never competed in, a justifiable counter argument to Zahabi's strongly thought out analysis does seem clear. Conor himself stated he was eating steaks, rice and even ice cream for god sakes, in the lead up to this fight. A great quote from Kavanagh prior to UFC 196 was "You've seen him on salads watch what happens when he's on steaks!"

Left picture: UFC 194 Weigh In - vs Aldo at 145 pounds
Right picture: UFC 196 Weigh In - vs Diaz at 170 pounds
Credit: Esther Lin - MMAFighting

Packing on all that lean muscle mass (which is evident in before and after pictures of McGregor) can play a crucial role on one's cardiovascular fitness. Which, supporting Kavangh's theory, may of lead to Conor being exhausted by the end of the first. 

Scrap that all now. Because the pairs first fight was almost five months ago, so the talk of the town should be there upcoming one, not their first outing. 

A lot of changes have been made by McGregor’s camp in preparation for this re-match. Most notably is (for the first time ever) they are preparing for a specific opponent. Last minute pullouts have been a common theme of The Notorious' hectic schedule. But confident in the fact Diaz will (fingers crossed) show up on Saturday in one piece, the SBG camp have brought in guys from all over the world to emulate Nate's southpaw style. Dillon Danis - a multiple world time BJJ champion, and Conor Wallace - a six-time All-Ireland boxing champion are examples of this.

Don't get me wrong, the fact that two of the most charismatic showmen in the UFC are about to stand toe-to-toe, and create a twenty first century war is appealing, but it is not the key contributor in what makes this fight so special. We have seen re-matches on the grandest stage of all in the UFC - for example St Pierre vs Serra 2, Aldo vs Mendes 2 - and they just don't live up to the bill as the unpredictability is not there. A clear favourite is set and most usually, they always prevail as the victor. 

Not in this re-match though. Fans are split fifty-fifty, down the middle in their picks, half saying Diaz shows off his octagon experience again, and will overwhelm Conor with his endless skills wherever the fight may go. The other half predicting there is no way Nate escapes the Celtic cross for the second time. 

Saturday night, we will find out which half's prediction is fulfilled!