UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[Carbomb]

I didn't know it was ongoing now!

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Dammit, my timing was out too. Went to go find a *ahem* means of watching it and it tells me it's ended. But now that I have that sorted, I'll be able to watch the Bendo card later.

 

Looked like the main event was pretty entertaining and the rest was your standard international UFC card.

[jimufctna24]

 

Cung Le was a mess after that fight

Bisping by no means has "feather fists" but he lacks that one shot knockout power. More powerful fighters would have taken care of Le sooner.

Le was always dangerous, but Bisping consistently landed with a lot more volume. If it went to points there was only going to be one winner. Bisping made sure it did not even come to that

So, nice performance by Bisping. I hope Le hangs them up now. Bisping vs Rockhold seems next. Decent fight.

 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Someone needs to get on changing the topic title, it's obvious we're going to have spoilers in here for post-event discussion, we shouldn't need tags. The following comment will include partial spoilers, just to cover my bases.

My body clock is all out of whack since moving here Totally intended to stay up and watch the Bendo card, but in line with my first couple of days here, I crashed out around 7:30pm and woke up at 5am, just in time to see that Jordan Mein won his fight. Good to see after that mess last night involving Mein's father. Shockingly quick finish of the usually durable Mike Pyle.

 

I got to Ben Saunders make possibly the most impactful return to the Octagon I've seen. Guys have returned and gotten nice finishes in the past, but to come back and write yourself in the history books with the first omoplata sub in UFC history? Damn impressive.

 

And RDA delivered the goods in a huge way, what a shock! I didn't expect him to trouble Bendo at all, but he looked in a league above. Again though, fuck Bendo. He jumps up, smiles and acts like he wasn't even fazed while protesting the stoppage. He fooled the crowd, who shat all over the finish thinking it was premature. He can't be a sportsman and just admit he got caught. Sure, other fighters protest stoppages, but he does it in such a cocky manner that he confuses people. Look at the Pettis fight. People didn't even know he tapped because of the way he bounced up smiling. It's a really smarmy way of detracting from his opponent's victory. It was the biggest moment of dos Anjos' career, fairly earned, but he got showered with boos.

 

Arrgh. Fuck Bendo up the arse with a trident of flames. That fucker went limp as my cock when I see obese guys in budgie smugglers.

[Supremo]

I hate Ben Henderson. Just take the fucking loss like a man. Even if you think it was an early stoppage. Just take it. There's nothing more irritating than him jogging on the spot and acting like he's fine. He did it after the Pettis loss and he's done it again here. I can't wait for the day when someone knocks him out cold, leaving him no opportunity to act like such a dick.

[Noah Southworth]

Ben Saunders (170lbs, 16-6-2) vs. Chris Heatherly (170lbs. 8-1, 1 NC) saw Ben Saunders make his UFC return and it was a successful one; Heatherly quickly took Saunders down and Saunders was just as quick to put Heatherly in a triangle choke. Heatherly almost got out but Saunders transitioned into an umaplata, and when Saunders grabbed the arm to add more pressure, hammerlock style, Heatherly tapped. It’s good to see Saunders back in the UFC; I’ve been a fan of Saunders since his destructive showing at the second Tribute to the Troops event, and it would be nice to see that short of showing again, and maybe we will after this successful return.

 

Aaron Phillips (135lbs, 8-1) vs. Matt Hobar (135lb, 8-2) was a good fight and a very dominant showing from Matt Hobar; Aaron Phillips didn’t have much of an answer whenever Hobar grappled with him or took the fight to the ground, which happened a lot with Hobar getting 7 of 14 takedowns. Phillips threw some nice elbows off his back in the first round, but after that, he really only threw upkicks when taken down, and they didn’t do much damage or otherwise prove effective. Hobar looked good here and he should because he apparently has over 20 amateur fights that are obviously not on his pro record, but now that he’s a pro, Hobar can really get training and I think he could get to be really good.

 

Beneil Daruish (155.5lbs, 7-1) vs. Tony Martin (155.5lbs, 8-1) was a fight of two halves, and two rounds. The first round saw Martin do a good job of lighting Daruish up with strikes, using his range effectively, even bloodying Daruish up. In the second round, it was clear that Martin had used a lot of energy; he was slower, his punches had less zip, etc. Martin did pull out a nice sweep using a kimura, but when Daruish got Martin down with just under two-minutes left, Daruish was quickly able to get the mount and transition into an arm-triangle choke and get the tap out. This was another good fight and we’re off to a good start.

 

Neil Magny (171lbs, 11-4) vs. Alex Garcia (170lbs, 12-1) did not do much for me, although a lot of that could have been because Garcia was fighting with a dodgy knee from early on in the second round and wasn’t able, or willing, to do more than try and hold Magny down. Magny should have done more against a one-legged opponent but he did enough to get the win.

 

Chas Skelly (145.5lbs, 11-1) vs. Tom Niinimaki (145lbs, 21-6-1) was short but still saw some fun grappling, with Skelly escaping a guillotine to take the back of Niinimaki and getting a rear naked choke for the tap out. Too short to get much of a read on Skelly, but he looked quick and sharp on the ground and could be one to watch down the road.

 

James Vick (155lbs, 5-0) vs. Valmir Lazaro (155lbs, 12-2) had a wild first round with little in the way of defence from either fighter. The second round was more methodical from both men; late on when Vick landed a right that clearly wobbled Lazaro, but Vick couldn’t follow up. The third round saw Vick land a great high kick that knocked Lazaro down, but Lazaro grappled Vick to avoid the follow up. Vick looked good for a guy who has been out of action for a year; Lazaro showed a good chin and was very resilient, but Vick takes the fight comfortably.

 

Max Holloway (149;bs, 9-3) vs. Clay Collard (150lbs, 13-4, 1 NC) had a heck of a first round; like in the prior fight, there wasn’t much defence on show as both men, especially Collard, were just letting it all hang out. Both men were tired in the second but Collard more than Holloway, likely because he was fighting on two weeks’ notice and thus this was a catchweight fight. Despite the pace slowing down from the first, this had plenty of action and, again, little defence. The third round saw Collard totally gassed out but still moving forward; the kid has heart, no doubt about it. Heart wasn’t enough and Holloway got him down, flat on his back, and Holloway eventually got the stoppage with strikes. This was a good fight and I would love to see a rematch down the road because it should be can be so much better when Collard has the benefit of a full training camp. In any event, Collard looks like a great prospect, as does Holloway, with both men having plenty of time to improve.

 

Francis Carmont (186lbs, 22-9) vs. Thales Leites (185lbs, 23-4) had a very uneventful first round, other than Leites showing an improved striking game. The second round saw Leites really showing that improved striking game by cracking Carmont with an overhand right, following up with a barrage of strikes to knock Carmont down and out and Big John pulled Leites off and Leites picks up an impressive looking finish and Carmont, after starting his UFC run with six straight victories, has lost two on the bounce and desperately needs to find a way to rebound.

 

Mike Pyle (171lbs, 26-9-1) vs. Jordan Mein (170lbs, 28-9) saw Mein drop Pyle in just over a minute after a left-right-left combination dropped Pyle, and some ground and  pound quickly finished Pyle off. Pyle is 38 and it appears he can’t take big shots, so I wouldn’t be shocked if Pyle decided to hang it up after this, given his age and apparent inability to take big shots.

 

Benson Henderson (155.5lbs, 21-3) vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (155lbs, 21-7) saw a nicely developing fight end out of nowhere when Dos Anjos knocked Henderson down with a flying knee and as Henderson got back up, Dos Anjos caught him with a left and Henderson dropped and was out; it was only for a moment, but Henderson was out and Big John pulls RDA off of Henderson and he we have what is a fairly big upset. Henderson gets back up quickly and the fans are booing but it was a good call because Henderson was out and RDA pulls out the upset and surely earns himself the chance to fight for a title shot after this.

 

This was a really good show; a mixture of good fights, good finishes, and capped off by something of an upset.

[wandshogun09]

Someone needs to get on changing the topic title, it's obvious we're going to have spoilers in here for post-event discussion, we shouldn't need tags.

I don't think I could've fit 'SPOILERS' in the thread title with having to put the two cards' main events in the title. Since the forum revamp you can't put a sub-title on threads now, which is where I used to put a spoiler warning. Everyone knows anyway that if you're avoiding spoilers for a UFC event, it's not a good idea to be clicking on UFC event threads on here the day of the event. I'll try to put 'SPOILERS' in the thread title when I can fit it in future though.

 

I really enjoyed the Bendo vs Dos Anjos card top to bottom really. What an unexpectedly fun show that was.

 

Dos Anjos vs Bendo was the shocker of the night for sure. I can see why the crowd thought that was a bad stoppage. In the arena it's different to watching at home and Big John did jump in fast when Bendo went down, to the crowd it probably looked really early. Bendo's bouncing about is really annoying though yeah. He always pulls that sort of shit. Not just when he gets stopped either. Any time he gets knocked down he'll usually wipe his foot as if he slipped, he did it in one of the Edgar fights for sure, maybe the Jim Miller fight as well. Then he's pissing about with his hair while a guy's got his back. He's always doing stuff like that. I don't know if it's a conscious thing to be a cunt, or if it's a thing he does when he's embarrassed because he's on the receiving end of some punishment. It is annoying though.

 

Myself, I thought the stoppage might've been a tad premature. At the same time, I really don't think things were going to get better for Benson in that spot. It wasn't just that left that floored him. There was a left that hurt him before that on the feet, then RDA cracked him flush with that flying knee, then he dropped him with another left. Bendo was getting worked. Big John was straight in as soon as he went down and I thought it was a bit quick, but even when Bendo got up and did his little dance, he was noticeably shaky and swaying a bit when he was congratulating Dos Anjos. He was hurt pretty bad. I think Big John basically just saved him going out cold.

 

I'm absolutely chuffed for Dos Anjos. Anyone who's been reading these threads for the last few years will know I've been singing that fuckers praises for ages. He's great. I've been rooting for him pretty much his entire UFC run. To think there was a time where he was just known among me and my mates as 'that Brazilian bloke Jeremy Stephens uppercutted', now look at him! That's what made me a fan of his actually. I felt bad for him in that Stephens loss. I felt he was winning that fight and looking the better fighter of the two. Then he got wiped out right at the end. Seemed really cruel that after a solid start to his debut, he'd become highlight reel fodder for Stephens, who I've never really liked. Then he went to a close decision with Tyson Griffin (who was having FOTYs for fun back then) and nearly ripped his leg off. Had bad luck again against Clay Guida with the broken jaw, again in a fight I felt he was getting the better of. He's had an up and down career but he's really put everything together the last few years. It's great to see. Who'd ever have predicted him to hold wins over Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone? I was always a believer in his skills and thought he was underrated but he's even surpassed my expectations, I'd never have called him to do this good.

 

 

Mein vs Pyle was short and sweet. Mein's a handful for a lot of guys at 170. To be that young and that experienced is a unique thing. I saw recently that Thiago Alves wanted the winner of this fight. Alves vs Mein would be fantastic.

 

Fucked up about Mein's dad. Apparently he got arrested at the weigh in for sexual battery. The victim was some female hotel staff at the hotel the were at in Tulsa for this show. He was released on bail but the UFC banned him from the arena on Fight Night. Considering they still let Lloyd Irvin in as a cornerman with his shady past tells you this Mein stuff is very serious.

 

Leites battering Carmont was nice. I thought that might be boring but Leites brought it. Holloway vs Collard was my FOTN. Really fun fight. Always enjoy watching Holloway. He's looked good recently. I'd love to see that Bermudez rematch sometime but it's not on the cards at the minute. Holloway is still developing and Bermudez is onto bigger things. It's one I can see happening down the line though. Both still young. Collard is tough as fuck. On short notice as well. He'll definitely be back. Seemed bit of a cock but you can't fault his toughness. Thought Chas Skelly looked great in the main card opener. Totally turned the fight around. Within like 30 seconds he went from defending a submission to finishing Niinimaki with a submission. Impressive.

 

Chuffed with Ben Saunders return as well. He's so much fun to watch. Non-stop action whatever the fight goes. People remember him for his Thai clinch mostly but anyone who's watched him in Bellator knows he's got a killer guard as well. I'd love to see him and Matt Brown or Carlos Condit tangle down the road.

 

First omaplata finish in UFC history as well. That's how you return in the UFC. Awesome stuff. In fact the only other omaplata finish I recall in MMA was Shane Del Rosario's (RIP) in Strikeforce. Had there been any others?

 

Really good show. And I know we bum him furiously on here but I thought Matt Serra was really good as an analyst. I hope they use him more. Thought Ellenberger was a bit cack though.

 

The China show was all about the top two fights as expected. I only saw the main card but heard the prelims were mostly shite. Woodley blitzing Stun Gun was kind of what I expected sadly. I enjoyed Kim's little streak while it lasted.

 

Bisping vs Le did exactly what it said on the tin. Cracking fight and exactly the kind Bisping needed. He's not looked good since 2012 with the strong showing against Sonnen and the dominant win over Stann. He needed this badly. I've seen people go 'Le is 42, had been out two years and couldn't see', so what? That's not what people were saying going in. It was a risky fight for Bisping and a lot of people were calling Le by KO. Even on the Cage Warriors forum which you'd expect to be biased towards Bisping, a lot were picking Le. And the 'Le couldn't see' stuff is bollocks. He couldn't see because Bisping fucked him up.

 

Look at the poor fuck...

 

 

I bet he wished he called in sick. Looks like someone put his face in a blender. Bisping might have pillow fists, but I think he's stuffed those pillows with razor blades.

 

Bisping looked good. His volume punching reminded me of Nick Diaz at times. Bisping vs Rockhold is absolutely the fight to make now. And I think they will. It's a no brainer. They've already been going at it on twitter since the fight. And a win over Rockhold would put Bisping right back in the title race. A win over Bisping would do the same for Rockhold. It just makes sense. For the division, as a fight to generate hype and interest and as a fight that will deliver in the cage. There's no sense not to make this fight.

 

Oh and I didn't see the fight but I wouldn't be surprised to see Elizabeth Phillips get released in the coming days...

 

 

Anyone see it? Was it a bad decision? Either way, publicly saying you hate your employers and calling them corrupt isn't a smart move is it. Plus being a cunt about her opponent isn't a good look either. I assume she meant 'Russian piece of crap', not 'price of crap'. Anyone know the price of Russian crap? How much does that go for these days?

[Noah Southworth]

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone see it? Was it a bad decision? Either way, publicly saying you hate your employers and calling them corrupt isn't a smart move is it. Plus being a cunt about her opponent isn't a good look either. I assume she meant 'Russian piece of crap', not 'price of crap'. Anyone know the price of Russian crap? How much does that go for these days?

 

It was not a bad decision; as soon as Dudieva landed her first punch, Phillips started backing up and initiated almost nothing offensively for the rest of the fight. When Florian called the stoppage 'awful', I wanted to punch his smug face. It was not awful or bad or anything negative. It was the right call when one fighter does almost nothing for the entire fight.

[lambyUK]

I hate Ben Henderson. Just take the fucking loss like a man. Even if you think it was an early stoppage. Just take it. There's nothing more irritating than him jogging on the spot and acting like he's fine. He did it after the Pettis loss and he's done it again here. I can't wait for the day when someone knocks him out cold, leaving him no opportunity to act like such a dick.

Are you shitting me? Obviously I've yet to see it but know the results.

 

I can't stand the moron. Even on twitter he was labelling the fight "a wake up call" which basically means he felt his opponent wasn't on his level and wasn't taking him seriously.

 

As you say, i would like to see nothing more than the smug shit laid out flat.

 

Also, Wand, there's no need to label the threads with SPOILER. Anyone entering here if they didn't want the results deserves all they get. This and all mma threads will go on live results.

[weevil]

 

Anyone see it? Was it a bad decision? Either way, publicly saying you hate your employers and calling them corrupt isn't a smart move is it. Plus being a cunt about her opponent isn't a good look either. I assume she meant 'Russian piece of crap', not 'price of crap'. Anyone know the price of Russian crap? How much does that go for these days?

 

It was not a bad decision; as soon as Dudieva landed her first punch, Phillips started backing up and initiated almost nothing offensively for the rest of the fight. When Florian called the stoppage 'awful', I wanted to punch his smug face. It was not awful or bad or anything negative. It was the right call when one fighter does almost nothing for the entire fight.

 

It was one of those fights we're seeing a lot of lately, where someone has top control and not much else and loses the round. There were a couple on the Henderson v DosAnjos undercard too.

[wandshogun09]

Matt Serra rocking the Mike Pyle mullet...

 

 

FOX need to give him a permanent position. He was really good on Saturday.

[wandshogun09]

 

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD

Jacare Souza vs Gegard Mousasi

Alistair Overeem vs Ben Rothwell

Matt Mitrione vs Derrick Lewis

Joe Lauzon vs Michael Chiesa

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Charles Oliveira vs Nik Lentz

John Moraga vs Justin Scoggins

Al Iaquinta vs Rodrigo Damm

Rafael Natal vs Chris Camozzi

Chris Beal vs Tateki Matsuda

Sean Soriano vs Chas Skelly

 

Main event is Jacare vs Mousasi 2. I fucking love this fight. Their first fight was back in 2008 in Japan. They both entered DREAM's Middleweight Grand Prix tournament and they met in the finals. Mousasi won by KO in about two minutes. Jacare was fairly inexperienced in MMA back then. He was still transitioning from BJJ to MMA, his striking was nowhere near where it is today and he relied on his grappling mostly. He took Mousasi straight down and got absolutely wiped out with an upkick.

 

Give the fight a watch;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=EY2qHdvtsXQ

 

Jacare is a different animal now and I expect a much more competitive fight. Jacare has gone 10-1-1 since Mousasi beat him. And the loss to Rockhold was debatable. I had Jacare winning at the time. The no contest was against Mayhem Miller where the fight was stopped when Jacare got cut from an illegal kick. You could make the case that Jacare should be undefeated since the Mousasi loss.

 

His striking has improved big time. He's now a complete mixed martial artist. And of course his grappling ability is pretty much unrivaled in MMA. He's part of a small group of MMA fighters who are true elite grapplers. We're talking Jacare, Maia, Werdum, Rousey and a couple of others and that's it. Gold medals, black-belts, the lot. The type of grapplers who can make other black-belts feel helpless. Frank Mir once said that after rolling with Demian Maia he didn't feel like he was a black-belt anymore. When you consider Mir probably has about 60lbs in weight on Maia, that's pretty fucking scary. And that's the bracket Jacare is in. That level of grappling is a rare thing in MMA.

 

And Jacare is not only a world class grappler, he's a psycho. We're talking about a guy who faced Roger Gracie in BJJ, was outpointing Gracie but got caught in an armbar right at the end of the match.

 

 

Fully extended, bone popping shit. And he let his arm break rather than tap, so he could win on points.

 

This is a hell of a fight and at probably the perfect time. Jacare's looking like he's pretty much in championship form at the moment. And Mousasi looks like he's ironed out some of the kinks in his game and knocked the rust off from the knee injury layoff. It should be a cracker. Winner should be very close to a title shot as well. I could see the winner of this facing the winner of Weidman vs Belfort in the first half of next year. Jacare is right there now, a win here would only cement it.

 

 

Overeem vs Rothwell co-headlines. What can you say at this point about Overeem? We say pretty much the same thing every time he fights. He should win but who knows? He's so unpredictable from one fight to the next. He had a disaster of a 2013, getting knocked out by Bigfoot Silva and Travis Browne in fights he was winning. He bounced back in February this year with a shut-out decision win over Frank Mir.

 

This has the feel of the UFC trying to build Overeem up. Rothwell is a decent heavyweight but he's not someone you'd expect to ever be in the title hunt in the UFC. But again, who knows with Overeem? Rothwell is durable and heavy handed. That goes a long way against Overeem, a guy who has a history of fading, mentally crumbling and not having the best chin.

 

I hope Overeem wins. Not least because he's been making noises about finally fighting Junior Dos Santos. A fight two years in the making that the UFC have tried to do three times but always falls apart. Hopefully Overeem wrecks Rothwell quick and is good to go again by the time JDS returns. If all goes well we could finally see that fight around Nov/Dec.

 

 

Mitrione vs Lewis isn't likely to be going the distance. 'Meathead' vs 'The Black Beast'. Both brawlers, both big hitters. Should be fun. Lewis called out Mitrione after his last fight so there's probably some dislike there as well.

 

Lauzon vs Chiesa has potential to be a real grappling war. Neither guy ever has a boring fight so I can't see this one falling flat.

 

Oliveira vs Lentz is another rematch. The two had a fantastic fight in 2011 that got FOTN. Controversial fight though. Oliveira hurt Lentz with an illegal knee, the ref missed it and Oliveira submitted Lentz quickly after. The fight ended up getting overturned to a No Contest. It'll be nice to see the score settled here. Hopefully it's like their first fight minus the controversy.

 

Moraga vs Scoggins could be an excellent fight. Two flyweights who need to get back in the win column. Moraga got KO'd by John Dodson last time out, Scoggins got upset by the underrated Dustin Ortiz.

 

Prelims look decent as well. I like Al Iaquinta, usually a fun scrap out of him, Serra-Longo guy etc. Chris Beal was pretty good on TUF and had an impressive UFC return in his last fight. Fili shows some promise but got ran over by Max Holloway in his last fight.

 

I really like this card. I'll go as far as to say I think this is a lot better than UFC 177. I honestly think Jacare vs Mousasi 2 will be a better rematch than Dillashaw vs Barao 2. And the undercards don't even come close for me.

 

[damage inc]

.

[Supremo]

It's bad news when a Fox Sports 1 lineup is significantly more appealing than the upcoming pay per view.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Yeah, this Fight Night looks fantastic. Best overall card since 175 I reckon.

 

Jacare vs. Mousasi... not a huge fan of either guy, they're talented fighters and this fight is an important one in the division, but they're yet to really have their signature moment in the Octagon. Looking at their recent records, they have gotten a couple of finishes of good fighters between them, but they've all taken place on Fight Night cards to get to this top contender's position. Now would be the perfect time to make that big statement at the expense of a highly ranked opponent.

 

Overeem vs. Rothwell- love this fight because Rothwell isn't good enough to crack Overeem. Reem can crumble against high level fighters, which Big Ben is not. Reem by knees of doom to move him into heavyweight contendership. Despite the drugs, mental flaking and apparent fear of JDS, I think he'd be a fantastic contender to the title.

 

My next big fight is Oliveira vs. Lentz- I loved the first fight, and felt bad for Oliveira, who I feel got a bit overexcited in the midst of a flurry when he threw that illegal knee. At the time I thought that the use of the knee didn't play a huge role in the finish- Lentz was getting beat up regardless- but in later fights he really showed a greater durability which makes me think things could be different second time around. Oliveira is one of my favourite fighters, but I think he folds under pressure sometimes. Lentz to get the stoppage here through sheer willpower.

 

Mitrione, Lauzon, Moraga, Iaquinta, Beal... all fun fighters to watch. This'll be the first card in a while I watch top to bottom.