UFC 161 Recap: Nelson fizzles against Miocic, Evans pulls of win against Hendo
(video via FoxSports.com)
Leading up to last weekend, Roy "Big Country" Nelson was leveling everyone in his path like a rotund, redneck version of the Hulk. It was the last fight of his current contract and he was holding out for more money and a title shot. Dan Henderson could have finally got his chance to challenge Jon Jones for the Light Heavyweight title to cap off his career if he could get past a Rashad Evans who hasn't looked like himself lately.
And then UFC 161 happened.
Instead we got the exact opposite. Stipe Miocic battered Big Country for all three rounds exposing Nelson's game plan(or lack thereof) leaving Nelson swinging in desperation while gasping for air. It cemented the notion that Nelson can beat the less skilled heavyweights in the division if he can land one of his punches early, but has no answer for a fighter who actually can hit him back with clean shots and stay away with superior footwork. Nelson has a passionate fan base, a fire hydrant for a head, and can land some of the hardest punches in the UFC. He was surely hoping that would be enough to get him the win and some much needed leverage in negotiating a new contract with the UFC after this fight.
In this fight Nelson looked like a guy who didn't belong fighting professionally at the highest level of the game. Nelson's stubbornness, refusal to cut weight, unwillingness to use any of his jiu jitsu, and notable disagreements with the UFC, leave him in a pretty bad spot if he wants to ask for more money in a new contract. Lesson learned? Probably not. In the post fight press conference, he asked for a title shot against current champ Cain Velasquez for his next fight….smh!
Rashad Evans spoiled Dan Henderson's title shot aspirations as he weathered an early storm from Hendo and rallied to take the last two rounds and walk off with a decision win in the main event. While Rashad had claimed he was going to break the UFC record for takedowns and get Henderson to the ground more than 50 times, he instead was able to use his movement to negate Henderson's power punching and effectively score his own strikes. UFC match maker Joe Silva has to figure out what he will do next for Evans. He might want a rematch with Jon Jones, but their last fight wasn't exactly a barn burner and Jones easily handled him. But Evans did look like he has found a new spring in his step and will prove to be a tough fight for any other Light Heavyweight not named Jon Jones. As for Hendo, many wonder what he has left to accomplish in his career. From the looks of it, he still has a few more fights left in him. The die hard PRIDE fan in all of us will still have us tuning in, but UFC 161 was definitely not one of his career highlights.
Full UFC 161 results after the jump
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Jon Fitch discovers WSOF is also a very hostile work environment
Dana White and the UFC received their fair share of criticism when they cut Jon Fitch from their roster. Fitch was still a ranked top 10 welterweight who proved himself to be hard to beat with his dominant wrestling, even if his style wasn't exactly the most exciting to watch.
Fitch made no secret his displeasure with his former employer, saying he was never truly appreciated and that they were holding him back. He was quoted as calling the UFC a hostile work environment and there were clear signs of the company not wanting him around.
Now that he had a new contract with World Series of Fighting it was his chance to show the world and his former boss what he was truly capable of doing without anyone holding him back.
He made his debut fight at WSOF 3 this weekend against another former UFC fighter Josh Burkman in Las Vegas and got choked out in 41 seconds of the first round.
We can't feel too bad for Jon Fitch as his disclosed fighter salary was $30,00 for less than a minutes work, but he has left himself in the unenviable position of pissing off his old boss and disappointing his new one. Everyone can get caught and this most certainly was the case but WSOF is going to have to spend some time and money in building him back up in order to generate some fan interest in Fitch again. If he still wants to be considered as a top 10 welterweight and worthy of the big time show money he needs to come back and win his next fight in a very impressive fashion.
Full WSOF 3 fight salaries after the jump:
TRT usage is no longer allowed in California
(Know what I'm sayin' homie?)
TRT has been a hot topic in MMA, is it ok to use it? What if you really need it? What happens if you really need it because you used steroids earlier in your career? The answers aren't really that simple but if the goal is to create an even playing field in all of MMA there needs to be some clearly defined answers.
The California Athletic Commission took a step in actually trying to regulate the usage of TRT this week. According to MMAJunkie.com CSAC will not issue any more TRT exemptions until the laws are amended to explicitly spell out approval for the proper use of testosterone.
The full document can be seen here.
What this means is means is there will be no new TRT exemptions given to any fighters wanting to fight professionally in the state of California. The only exceptions are fighters with "irreversible, structural/organic hypogonadism." In other words fighters that have already been granted previous exemptions might still be able to get one.
Fighters like Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, and Frank Mir have been granted exemptions in the past.
What will this mean for the UFC and future events in California? Dana White has taken a hard stance on TRT exemptions, but will this mean that they will avoid booking some of their biggest stars in the Golden State?
Either way, this is a step in the right direction. There needs to be clearly defined rules if the controversy surrounding TRT is to ever go away. Will other states follow suit? That remains to be seen.
Metamoris 2 Results- Gracie taps Aoki, Schaub earns a black belt...in Bitch-Assery
(video via FightSummary)
We love BJJ. We're not the kind of fans that start booing as soon as a fight goes to the ground. On the contrary we love to see the chess match when two skilled grapplers go at it. We love competing in jiu jitsu as well. There have been plenty of times where we have even been choked into a living death but we still come back for more. Sometimes BJJ doesn't get the respect it truly deserves by the casual fan but Metamoris 2: Aoki vs Gracie was made just for those lovers of jiu jitsu by having a stacked card full of grappling superfights. All jiu jitsu, all the time. What could possibly go wrong?