LAS VEGAS – On Friday at UFC 141, fast-rising Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson defeated an opponent 16 years older with 18 more pro fights and a decade more experience. Gustafsson now has won four straight fights, and his lone blemish came to top contender Phil Davis. But before we all get ahead of ourselves, [...]
It’s hard to understand the significance of Johny Hendricks’ recent accomplishment without fully understanding the ones his opponent has racked up over the years. In 15 UFC fights, no opponent had ever knocked out or submitted Fitch, and only one – welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre – had even defeated him. Thanks to Hendricks’ trusty left [...]
Fedor Emelianenko picked up his second consecutive victory in a long-awaited return to Japan. The former PRIDE champion and Strikeforce heavyweight plastered former Olympic judoka Satoshii Ishii with stiff punches to earn a first-round knockout win. Emelianenko vs. Ishii headlined “DREAM: New Year! 2011″ (also dubbed “Genki Desu Ka!!”), which took place early Saturday at [...]
Filed under: UFC Johny Hendricks, welcome to the big time. That’s what Joe Rogan said to Hendricks after his knockout victory over Jon Fitch at UFC 141, and it pretty well describes what has just happened in Hendricks’ MMA career: There’s now no doubt that Hendricks is one of the truly elite fighters in the [...]
Filed under: DREAM Fedor Emelianenko returned to Japan on New Year’s Eve and earned an easy first-round knockout victory, leveling the Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii with a right-left-right combination that ended the fight quickly. Fedor’s performance in the main event at the Dream New Year’s Eve show at the Saitama Super Arena in [...]
LAS VEGAS – Dana White never publicly discusses his fight predictions, but post-UFC 141, the UFC president admitted he thought Brock Lesnar was going to walk away victorious over Alistair Overeem. But when that didn’t happen, White said he wasn’t surprised Lesnar decided to walk away from the sport. Check out the embedded video to [...]
LAS VEGAS – When the lightweight scrap between Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone was first announced for Friday night’s UFC 141 event, most MMA pundits expected it to be the evening’s “Fight of the Night.” When conflicts between the two escalated in the weeks leading up to the fight, those expectations move up to “Fight [...]
LAS VEGAS – UFC welterweights Matt Riddle and Luis Ramos lost the opportunity to compete at UFC 141, but they did not lose out on a paycheck. In fact, according to UFC officials, both fighters went home with not only their “show” money but also with their win bonuses, as well. MMAjunkie.com today learned of [...]
LAS VEGAS – Alistair Overeem’s first-round destruction of Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 officially announced his arrival as a UFC contender, but it was hardly an overnight arrival on the scene. “The Reem” has been fighting professionally since 1999, and he feels he’s paid more than his share of dues. But now, Overeem has earned [...]
LAS VEGAS – Friday’s year-end UFC 141 event drew an announced attendance of 12,158 and a live gate of $3.1 million. UFC president Dana White announced the figures in the night’s post-event press conference, which MMAjunkie.com attended. UFC 141 took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and featured former Strikeforce champion [...]