Here’s a little taste of Brock Lesnar’s appearance on ESPN’s E:60 tonight at 7 pm EST (which is like, now). The interview seems to be taking place in a barn for some reason. I’m sure it will all make sense when we see the whole thing. In other news…
- Luke Cummo was arrested and charged with “driving while impaired with drugs” in Lynbrook, New York last week. He wasn’t drunk, but was reportedly tested for a drug that officials would not name. Fightlinker says Cummo claimed, at least briefly, that he got a contact high from being in a room full of people smoking pot, and this was exacerbated by eating a bunch of chicken wings. Seriously. He’s pleaded not guilty, and we really hope he decides to represent himself in this case because that would be awesome.
- Matt Hughes says on his website that he talked to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva this week and he may finally get his shot at Matt Serra in April. He also went bowhunting and bagged a deer.
- The UFC sent out a press release today officially announcing three fights for the stacked UFC 92 event on Dec. 27. As expected, Rashad Evans/Forrest Griffin, Wanderlei Silva/”Rampage” Jackson, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira/Frank Mir are on tap. Said Evans:
“Forrest fights from the heart just like me, and everyone underestimates Forrest until they get in there with him, like me. I think he and I are going to be like Ali vs. Frazier – this will be the first time we meet, but it won’t be the last, so I want to set the precedent.”
“(UFC CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta), (UFC matchmaker) Joe (Silva) and I got together and thought yeah, he deserves the title shot,” White said. “How could you say, ‘No, he doesn’t deserve the shot’ after [the Liddell fight]?”
White said he had a date in mind but wouldn’t share it until the organization has the opportunity to announce some other upcoming cards.
Sugar Rashad’s stunning upset increased his overall record to 12-0-1 (7-0-1 in the UFC). I wouldn’t argue that Evans deserves a shot at the belt more than the winner of the (postponed? nixed completely?) fight between Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva, but timing is certainly working in his favor; Griffin needs a title defense, and Evans is available. Unfortunately, the UFC’s hope of a big money fight between Chuck and Forrest is now up in smoke, and they’ll have to put in major effort to convince fans that a title scrap between two TUF winners is equally worth buying. After his nipple-tweaking, pop-n-locking, Fred Sanford-imitating ring antics last night, Evans’s likeability is still a big question mark.
(One of these men fought Anderson Silva on Saturday — can you tell which one? Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)
Affliction’s next show will maybe be held on November 8th, maybe in Atlantic City, and Aleksander Emelianenko maybe doesn’t have hepatitis. (MMA Junkie)
Personally, I don’t agree that Rampage was “robbed” in this decision whatsoever — I think Griffin clearly controlled rounds 1, 2, and 5 — but for all three judges to give round 3 to the challenger is very questionable; Rampage found his distance in that round and started landing his lead-fisted punch combos. But then again, all three judges gave round 4 to Jackson, which I saw as a very close frame that could have been scored for Griffin due to his triangle attempt, which came within a ball-hair of finishing the fight. I’m sure the argument will rage on, but there’s one thing we can all agree on: These judges are totally incompetent. Where’s Cecil Peoples when you need him?
As if there was any doubt, Rampage vs. Forrest won UFC 86’s Fight of the Night bonus, with both headliners picking up $60,000 for their event-saving performance. As mentioned earlier, Knockout of the Night went to Melvin Guillard for his 36-second destruction of Dennis Siver, and Submission of the Night went to Cole Miller for choking out Jorge Gurgel; those bonuses were also worth $60k. Full payout info to come as soon as we have it…
Rampage and Opie battle for the light-heavyweight belt, Cote and Alemeida scrap for the #1 middleweight contender spot, Joe Stevenson tries to keep his blood inside his head, Josh Koscheck and Chris Lytle try to make it two in a row…and that’s pretty much it. Not an awesome card, but UFN 14 is just two weeks from now, and sometimes quantity is quality. Results from the UFC 86 undercard and live updates from the PPV broadcast are after the jump; refresh your browser every few minutes to read all the latest, and share your reactions in the comments section.
UNDERCARD RESULTS
Justin Buchholz def. Corey Hill via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:57 of round 2
Melvin Guillard def. Dennis Silver via TKO, 0:36 of round 1
Cole Miller def. Jorge Gurgel via submission (triangle choke), 4:48 of round 3
Gabriel Gonzaga def. Justin McCully via submission (kimura), 1:57 of round 1
We are back in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada, and the light-heavyweight title is on the line. Mike Goldberg says “this card is stacked top-to-bottom.” LOFL!
Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio
Griffin comes out to “Eye of the Tiger.” A bold statement. But then again, he’s predicting a stoppage win at the end of the first round, so it’s a bold kind of night for him overall. Round 1: Aurelio gets a light right hook in after some feeling-out. Crowd booing after 45 seconds, but Griffin shuts ‘em up with a right hook to Aurelio’s dome. Griffin misses a leg kick. Griffin trips Aurelio down and throws in a punch. Aurelio trying to work sub attemtps from the guard while Griffin punches from his feet. Aurelio grabs Griffin’s arm and wraps his legs around him in high guard. Upkick by Aurelio, then he kicks Griffin off after some shots traded on the ground. Back on the feet, Griffin throws a good punch combo. Hard leg kick by Griffin, then a hard punch to the body. Another leg kick, and one more. Aurelio shoots, but is rebuffed by Griffin, who clinches against the cage until the bell rings. Probably a 10-9 round for Griffin.
Thiago Alves is in Aurelio’s corner. “Proud Brazilian, speak the Portuguesa,” says Goldberg. Round 2: Leg kicks from Griffin stagger Aurelio. Griffin’s looking sharp, landing some tight punches. Aurelio’s reach advantage is being totally negated. Aurelio rushes in for a takedown and Griffin clinches him against the cage, as before. Griffin working knees to Aurelio’s legs, and foot stomps. Aurelio gives a couple knees right back. Griffin slams Aurelio after a breif stalemate. Aurelio reverses, gets up, and takes Griffin’s back. Griffin rolls and gets on top, throwing some punches to the head. Aurelio nearly gets a triangle, and hits Griffin with an upkick when Griffin shakes out. Big elbow to Aurelio’s face. Aurelio controls Griffin’s body as the round comes to an end, and Griffin bounces back to his corner, very fresh. The round was definitely Griffin’s.
In the audience, Criss Angel is identified, but not Sully from Godsmack. Joe Rogan is offended. Round 3: Griffin with a leg kick and a right hook. Aurelio shoots but Griffin sprawls. Good punch combo from Griffin. The pace is slowing down a bit, but Griffin is still ownung the standup exchanges. Another takedown attempt from Aurelio is stuffed. Griffin nails Aurelio with a punch, but Aurelio gives one back. Griffin looks like his leg might be hurting him, but he shoots for a takedown and gets it. Aurelio grabs an arm and nearly stretches Griffin out. And again. Griffin frees his arm and throws down an elbow. The last bell sounds as Aurelio continues to threaten Griffin’s arm. Tyson Griffin wins the unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 30-27.
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle
Lytle whiffs on some big punches and a kick. Koscheck staying “elusive.” Lytle taps a leg kick and lands a body kick. More swinging and missing from Lytle, who’s being the aggressor. Kos ain’t pulling the trigger. Kos throws a head kick, falls on his ass, then pops back up. Lytle gets a body kick in; Kos takes Lytle down but almost falls into a guillotine. Koscheck in Lytle’s half-guard. Lytle kicks Koscheck off, but Kos dives back on, in Lytle’s full guard. Koscheck landing a couple strikes from the top. Lytle rolls, Kos briefly takes his back, then Lytle rolls again and Kos is back in his guard. A couple hammer fists from the top from Kos as the round ends. A slow and uneventful round that the judges probably gave to Josh. Round 2: Leg kick from Koscheck. Koscheck goes for the single-leg takedown, gets it briefly but Lytle springs up and takes a knee in return. Koscheck takes Lytle down again and almost gets caught in a guillotine again. Koscheck pops out and throws some shots down on Lytle against the cage. Lytle’s cut. Koscheck with a slashing elbow from the top. More shots; things are looking bad for Lytle. Koscheck is just teeing off; Lytle’s blood flies onto a camera lens. Yeesh, that’s distasteful. The cameraman wipes it off as Koscheck continues to rain down damage. Lytle’s face is Stevenson-esque. Koscheck drops about a dozen light punches into Lytle’s head as the round ends. Lytle has trouble getting to his feet, but his corner tells him “you’re fine, you’re fine, you’re fine Chris.”
Joe Rogan remembers Marvin Eastman’s cut as “like a goat’s vagina.” Round 3: Lytle is wobbly. Koscheck shoots in and pushes Lytle against the cage. Koscheck takes Lytle down, Lytle again goes for the guillotine, Koscheck spins out. Lytle tries for it again, Kos gets out again. Koscheck puts Lytle against the cage again and throws down more elbows. This is one of the bloodiest UFC fights of all time. There are big puddles on the mat. There’s no way Lytle can see through it. Koscheck’s elbow is covered in gore. A couple more punches, and Yves Lavigne stands them up. Barbarian! Everyone thought it was going to be a stoppage. Lytle swings hard and almost gets Kos in trouble with punches. They clinch, Koscheck trying to ride out the clock. Yves separates them against the cage and Lytle throws every punch he has left at Koscheck. Kos survives it. The horn sounds. Fucking bloodbath. Josh Koscheck wins the unanimous decision, and is booed loudly by the crowd.
I was referring to Aurelio as “Almeida” in the 2nd round of the Griffin fight? Cripes. Fixed now.
Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
Tibau comes out to “Iron Man.” Props. And he looks huge for a lightweight. Round 1: Stevenson sticks Tibau with a jab. He lands another punch, dives on and almost sinks on a guillotine. Tibau gets out, and almost gets an anaconda choke. Back on the feet, clinching against the cage. Tubau takes Stevenson down, but Stevenson gets back up. Stevenson dirty boxes his way out of the clinch, then rushes back in for a double-leg takedown. Tibau working his guard, and clamps on an omoplata. Joe’s in trouble. Tibau throwing some punches at Stevenson’s head. Stevenson is just sitting there in a stalemate, waiting for a good moment to pop out. Stevenson can’t do anything, but he’s not getting submitted. He rides the clock out.
Joe Rogan says “chess match” like three times. Round 2: Tibau lands a left hook. Stevenson rushes forward and pushes Tibau against the cage. Tibau takes Stevenson down briefly, but Joe bounces back up. Tibau gets another takedown and passes into side control, then full mount. Stevenson bucks to get out, and does. Back on the feet. Tibau gets a takedown, but falls into an arm-in guillotine. Joe uses his Daddy-strength to crush out a submission despite the arm. Wow.
The official call: 2:57 of the second round. ‘Bout time we had a stoppage. Stevenson shouts out his son and said he had a bone-bruise coming into the fight.
Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
Cote says he doesn’t care if Almeida trained “with Gracie, or the Pope, or whoever.” Yes, because the Pope is notorious for his ground game. Almeida comes out to “Fortunate Son.” Double-props. Round 1: Almeida goes for a flying guillotine, and pulls Cote into his guard. Damn! Almeida seems to be looking for a gogo, but Cote gets out and to his feet. Almeida ties Cote up, looking for a takedown. Cote tries to shake out, but Almeida is tenacious with his clinch. Finally, he gets the takedown. Almeida on top, throwing some shots, with Cote trying to keep some distance with his legs. Almeida in Cote’s half-guard, punching Cote in the ribs. Cote attempting to upkick after pushing Almeida off, but Almeida closes the distance, lands a couple punches and returns to Cote’s full guard. Almeida returns to his feet, throwing shots down from a distance. The horn sounds; the round was all Almeida.
Almeida’s glove is torn, and is re-taped. It’s not good enough. Finally, Herb Dean says it’s cool. Round 2: Cote pops Almeida with a punch. Almeida drags Cote to his guard, and into “crackhead control” (feet around Cote’s neck), but Cote slips out and gets up. Almeida is dropping his hands a bit too much; bad opponent for that strategy. Cote lands a nice right straight from a clinch. Cote pushing the pace with punches, and winning the round. Almeida clinches and falls to the ground, but Cote avoids. Almeida with another clinch against the cage; the crowd gets antsy. Almeida tried for the flying guillotine after a clinch, but Cote gets out. Cote bumrushes Almeida, who falls to his back after taking a punch, and the horn sounds. Round 3: More clinching. Cote snaps a leg kick after they separate. And another hard one that staggers Almeida. Almeida is not looking great in this fight. Cote misses on a punch combo, then eats a jab. Good leg kick from Cote, and another. Slow round, but Cote’s on his way to winning the fight. Almeida lands a punch, and absorbs a leg kick. Cote pushes forward, fists first. Almeida chases back and hits air, but he scores a takedown. Cote pushes off, but Almeida attempts a choke. Cote gets on top as the round ends. Kind of a tossup, but it may go to Cote for aggression.
Talk about a fight that didn’t live up to the hype. Both men are far from ready for Anderson Silva.
The scores are 29-28 Cote, 29-28 Almeida, and 29-28 Cote. Cote takes the split decision.
Our man Gerald Harris is in Rampage’s dressing room running through some grappling drills. WAR HARRIS!!!
Bangkok Dangerous commercial, yo. Nicolas Cage is in it, and he picks the worst fucking movies to star in lately. This does not bode well.
Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin
Forrest, as usual, comes out to “Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys, and the white people in attendance are psyched. Rampage walks out and gets in the face of Wilmer Valderamma, who maybe pisses his pants. War Fes? Griffin smiles in the cage, while Rampage looks deathly serious. David Spade and Mandy Moore are in the audience. Not together, of course. Yves Lavigne is reffing this one. Big responsibility for the Frenchman. Round 1: Both guys exchange punches. Forrest slips in a leg kick. Forrest throws a head kick off Rampage’s glove. Forrest gets another leg kick, and a body kick, wisely keeping his distance. Rampage whiffs a haymaker. Rampage nails him with a left hook, then a knee. Griffin throws some kicks. He lands two leg kicks. Big punches from Rampage, then a leg kick. Griffin fires back with some punches of his own. Griffin punches out of a brief clinch. Griffin lands a nice left hook, then a leg kick. Rampsge punches Forrest to the ground. Rampage pushes Forrest against the cage on the ground. Rampage in Forrest’s closed guard, landing some punches as Griffin gets to his feet. Punches landed by both men in an exchange. Great first round. Hard to call; Forrest got rocked and knocked to the ground, but he controlled the majority of the round. Round 2: Griffin fires off two leg kicks that clearly hurt Rampage. Forrest scores two big knees in a clinch and takes Rampage down! Forrest in Rampage’s half-guard. Forrest trying to work some short elbows from the top. Forrest passes to side control, and briefly goes for an Americana. More short elbows. Rampage is lost on his back. Another Americana attempt, then Forrest passes to full mount, dropping punches and elbows. Total domination by Forrest, who’s a relentless blanket of doom on Rampage. The horn sounds. 10-8 round? Rampage lookin’ rough in his corner, getting his bum knee iced. Round 3: Inside leg kick from Forrest, who then misses a head kick. Rampage gets him with a hard punch and Forrest backs up. Rampage misses some punches, then lands some nasty ones. Forrest misses a leg kick, then gets one on Rampage’s thigh. Rampage catches Forrest with a right. Rampage looking a little better now, finding his rhythm with the punches. Both men clash with punches. Forrest’s leg kicks are looking a little weaker. Good 1-2 combo from Rampage, and a solid body shot. Injside leg kick from Forrest. Rampage tags him with a left hook. Forrest pushes forward with punches, and Rampages blasts right back. Much closer round, that possibly belonged to Rampage. Round 4: Rampage scores a hard punch combo, and another in a clinch. Forrest goes for a takedown but falls onto his back. Forrest is cut. Forrest going for a triangle; it’s sunk in, but Rampage slams out of it, Arona style! Rampage back on top on the ground. Big cut over Forrest’s eye. Rampage gets an elbow in, but not much else. Forrest gets to his feet but gets caught with a big punch on the way up. Forrest throwing some kicks that miss. Rampage gets in two more big punches. And two more as the bell rings.
Stitch rubs a glob of goo in Forrest’s gaping cut. Round 5: Leg kick from Forrest, and another. Rampage scores with a punch. Two more leg kicks from Forrest. And another big one. Rampage with a big right hand, and Forrest answers with his own. Forrest brushes Rampage back with a head kick. He’s clearly the aggressor in this round. More leg kicks from Forrest, but Rampage scores a head/body punch combo. Big right hand from Forrest. Rampage gets in his own. Rampage’s leg is clearly bothering him, but his punches still look dangerous. Knee from Forrest in the clinch, and an uppercut from Rampage. And they slug it out in the closing seconds to the bell. Amazing fight.
The official decision, people. 48-46, 48-46, 49-46 all to Forrest Griffin. OPIE IS THE NEW LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION! Forrest Jardine’d Rampage to death!
Forrest says that he was never “hurt-hurt,” but every punch Rampage threw “hurt.”
Rampage said “he jacked my leg up. I tried to pretend, I ain’t that good at acting.” He says his leg got a chance to recover when he was on the ground all through the 2nd. Afterparty at Prive! Rampage vows to never take that much time off from the cage ever again, and limps off.
They’re showing the Guillard/Siver fight now. Guillard rocks Siver to the ground right off the bell, but Siver gets to his feet. Two dead-on punches knock Siver to the ground, and Guillard jackhammer-punches him into unconsciousness. By default, he’s getting the Knockout of the Night bonus. “He didn’t even get a chance to say uncle,” Guillard quips.
Submission of the Night goes to Cole Miller for his triangle choke of Jorge Gurgel in the fight’s closing seconds. Well done.
Joe Rogan talks about a Rampage/Wanderlei rematch like it’s already booked. Feel our goosebumps! And that’s the end of the broadcast. So, maybe a solid 3 out of 10 overall, but the main event delivered all it could short of a knockout. Good night, and good luck…
(They say that shoe is his, but it barely even resembles him.)
Quinton “Rampage†Jackson is one of MMA’s most charismatic stars, but the UFC light heavyweight champ has also become one of the world’s best fighters since moving from Pride to the UFC. In this exclusive interview, “Rampage†discusses his evolution as an athlete, his upcoming title fight against Forrest Griffin, and what he hates most about life as an MMA fighter.
CagePotato.com: Hey, “Rampage.†Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. How is your training camp going? I hear that you really don’t like training.
“Rampage†Jackson: That’s true. I hate training. I don’t know why. I guess because I’m lazy. I do it anyway and I train really hard, but I hate every minute of it.
If you hate it so much, how do you get through weeks of it without losing your mind before every fight?
I joke around and have fun in the gym. I like to have fun people around me. It helps me get through it. I also think about what I’m going to do to my opponent, how I’m going to take it out on him for making me do all this training.
How have you been preparing specifically for Forrest? What are you expecting out of him?
I’ve just been training to whip his ass. Other than that I don’t really know. I think he’s probably going to try and use those leg kicks and keep moving. He’s pretty good with leg kicks. But I’m pretty sure that after I hit him a couple of times he’ll forget about all that.
It seems like you’ve become a much different fighter in the last couple of years, ever since coming to the UFC. You look more polished and more technical. What do you think has made the difference?
Well, now I’m more mature. I’ve got better trainers and better sparring partners. I’m training harder and my hands are a lot better. I’ve been training my boxing a lot more. Back in the day I had amateur guys training me and now I’ve got a professional training me. That makes a big difference.
On “The Ultimate Fighter†they made it seem like you weren’t really interested in being a coach. They showed you sleeping on the mat, stuff like that. Was that an accurate portrayal of your time on the show?
I fell asleep on the mat. It happened. They showed it.
I did my best. You know, I was in it. I did my best. But I’m not a coach. I’m a fighter.
What do you think Forrest Griffin does well as a fighter?
That’s a hard question. Let me think. I think he puts together kicks pretty good. I’ll give him that. He kicks better than me. He’s got better leg kicks, but that’s it.
Is there a lot of extra pressure now that you’re the champ? The only place to go is down. How do you deal with that?
I don’t even worry about pressure. Not at all. My job’s to fight. I don’t even think about being champion. Somebody beats me and takes my belt, okay, that’d be a sad day for me, but then I just start working to get the belt back.
What’s the hardest part about being an MMA fighter?
The hardest part of being an MMA fighter is when you fight and then the government takes half your money for taxes. Some of the fights it’s like you go out there and almost didn’t even get paid for it.
Uncle Sam didn’t do a damn thing for you, but then takes half your money. They ain’t taking no punches. They ain’t doing none of that. I know the government calls it taxes, but I call it pimping. I don’t mind helping out, doing my part. I don’t mind that. But don’t take half my damn money.
What’s the most memorable fight of your career so far?
My most memorable fight is always the fight that I had last. That’s the one that’s the clearest for me. I don’t really think about all those other fights too much.
I look at it like my job. When you’re working in a grocery store bagging groceries, what’s the most memorable bag of groceries that you bagged? This is a job for me.
What are the chances that we’ll see you and Wanderlei Silva fight again in the UFC? Would you like a chance to avenge your losses against him?
I don’t know. If Wanderlei keeps winning and if I keep winning, we might get to do it again. I don’t know, I’m not psychic. But yeah, I would love to fight Wanderlei. I’d love to fight all of them. I don’t care who.
Dana White has moved the meeting for UFC employees to Noon tomorrow (Wednesday) for the big announcement. So word should break shortly after that time.
MMA Mania points out that the New York Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee is slated to vote again tomorrow on legislation to legalize MMA in NY. That could just be a coincidence — White previously denied that his announcement was related to New York MMA regulation — but we’ll update you when we know more.
And hey, just so this post isn’t a total waste of your time, here’s a rather-awesome UFC 86 hype video, running down the matchups between Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson, as well as Cote vs. Almeida. By the way, if you tell Rampage he’s not going to win this fight, you can kiss his natural black ass.
Above is the first video promo for UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin (July 5th, Las Vegas). The main event should be fantastic, but it doesn’t bode well that Cote vs. Almeida is the only other match that warrants a mention in the clip. And even if the winner will technically be “moving up the ranks toward a middleweight title shot,” it’s not like they won’t have to beat 2-4 more guys to get there. The current lineup is below; is it better or worse than UFC 85’s?
MAIN CARD
Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin
Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle
Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio
UNDERCARD
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully
Jorge Gurgel vs. Cole Miller
Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver
Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz
Unrelated, but important: The earth-shattering news that Dana White was promising to deliver tomorrow has been pushed back to this coming Tuesday. My guess? The UFC needs a little more time to obtain rights to “The Hex”…
