Month: January 2014

UFC signs Polish light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz and Israeli featherweight Noad Lahat

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC News

It’s not a big dent in the problem of a stagnant light heavyweight division, but it’s certainly a start. The UFC has signed one of the world’s top light heavyweight fighters, Jan Blachowicz of Poland. Blachowicz cut his teeth years ago fighting on the KSW circuit where he won three light heavyweight tournaments as well as the promotion’s 205 lb title. Most recently he completed a pair of title defenses and each of his last three victories have been against former UFC fighters. Blachowicz announced his signing via twitter.

There has been some noise out there about a trip to Poland for the UFC this year and the head of KSW has already expressed his interest in seeing some of his organizations top fighters in the UFC. Blachowicz may be the tip of an incoming flood of Polish prospects to the UFC ranks. Having racked up a 17-3 record in his 6 years as a professional, Blachowicz is perfectly suited to step in to the UFC and be an exciting addition to light heavyweight. He trains out of the Nastula team with UFC heavyweight Daniel Omielanczuk and under the training of the great Judoka and Pride vet Pawel Nastula. At 30 years old he’s pretty much at the do-or-die point of his career. If he can’t step in and make an instant impact in the UFC, either at 205 or 185 he probably won’t get a second chance.

Watching Blachowicz fight it’s clear there are major skills and gaps at play. Hes a fast, accurate striker with a great kicking game and pinpoint punches. He switches stances constantly to try and open angles to land head and body kicks and seems competent from either stance. However, he doesn’t possess great footwork, making him something of a statuesque, plodding fighter in the ring. He also doesn’t do a lot of combination striking. He’ll snap out a head kick, or a powerful straight left, but everything comes in ones and twos. On the ground he’s a very aggressive and competent submission grappler. He has seven submission wins in his career and will throw up a mean armbar from his back. But he can get a bit passive, especially against a controlling top grappler. What he really doesn’t seem to posses, however, is much wrestling. He’s skilled on the ground, and skilled on the feet, but a bit of a mixed bag in between. LHW isn’t exactly knee deep in wrestlers, but it will mean that a select few matchups will probably be poison for him.

The second UFC signing is the UFC’s second Israeli and second Krav Maga based fighter (after Moti Horenstein). Noad Lahat was rumored to be on the UFC radar way back in 2011, but after a couple of years away from the sport, and a successful return against former Bellator fighter Shad Smith last August it looks like his signing is finally official. The news was announced on the Israeli sports website Sport 5. According to reports the 29 year old had been offered a contract with the WSOF, but for reasons unclear, the negotiations fell apart. Now Zuffa is swooping in on the undefeated featherweight to give him a slot in the UFC. Lahat is training at AKA, so he’ll have no lack of top quality instruction and sparring partners for his debut.

Watching Lahat fight, he’s a serious top control wunderkid. He does a great job using cradles, foot sweeps, and ankle picks not only to get opponents to the ground, but to keep them there as well. He shows signs of being a competent kickboxer, but I do worry that he overextends himself and leads with his face a bit while throwing in combination. He also doesn’t appear to have a lot of finishing tools yet. He had Shad Smith thoroughly dominated but ended up taking him to a decision. He can’t afford to give fighters that kind of time in the UFC. Eventually it’s hard to say where Lahat is as a prospect. He looks good, but without facing any serious competition and with such a long layoff it’s hard to say how well his skills will translate.

To get us better acquainted, check out a couple of videos of their most recent fights.

Jan Blachowicz vs. Goran Reljic at KSW 22:

Noad Lahat vs. Shad Smith at Badbeat 10:

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Julianna Pena suffers severe knee injury, withdraws from UFC 171

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC News, Women's MMA

A few rumors were swirling when sources began leaking that Julianna Pena may not be able to compete on the upcoming UFC 171 card where she was scheduled to meet Jessica Andrade. Now, a source close to Pena (who spoke under anonymitiy) has revealed that the Ultiamte Fighter Season 18 winner has suffered a sever injury in camp. Apparently the injury was to her knee although it was unspecified as to the exact nature of it or the expected treatment for it. MMA Junkie has the report.

What this does mean is that there is suddenly a vacancy, Jessica Andrade needs an opponent and at least two current UFC fighters appear to be taking up the campaign. Sarah Kaufman has made her desire for the fight very vocal, taking to Twitter with a callout, not just of Andrade, but of the Texas AC as well.

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Shayna Baszler hasn’t been quite as direct, but she’s certainly been eager to spread around support for her filling in as well. Otherwise, I haven’t seen anyone else campaigning for the slot. Bethe Correia has just been penciled in for the upcoming Natal Fight Night card. If the UFC doesn’t like the look of Andrade vs. Kaufman or Baszler they may have to stretch outside their roster and bring in someone new.

UPDATE: MMA Fighting has the update on the injury

Pena (5-2), the first female winner of The Ultimate Fighter, suffered the injury on Monday while grappling in training, ultimately damaging, among other aspects, her ACL, MCL, LCL and meniscus. She is expected to undergo surgery next Thursday in Los Angeles.

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Official: UFC signs Aljamain Sterling to replace Bryan Caraway at UFC 170

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC News

It’s hard for me to feel like the book hasn’t already been written on what a great prospect Aljamain Sterling is. Patrick Wyman, our resident prospect hunter, named Sterling as the #2 fighter on his list of future champions. And The 2012 Bloody Elbow Scouting Report had him as their #2 bantamweight prospect.

Rumors of his signing broke on Tuesday, but now the UFC has confirmed. Sterling will enter the UFC on a little more than three weeks notice to fight another young bantamweight (and former ligthweight) already three fights into his UFC career. His opponent will be Lucas Martins at UFC 170 on February 22. Sterling is filling in for the injured Bryan Caraway, the nature of Caraway’s injury is not known at this time.

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Sterling will bring a spotless 8-0 professional record with him into the cage, having defeated Claudio Ledesma, Sean Santella, and Sidemar Honorio. It’s an impressive list of names for a fighter only two years into his pro career. Of course a record isn’t all Sterling will be bringing to the cage. He was a two-time Div. III All American wrestling at SUNY. He started training with Team Bombsquad (Jon Jones’ first MMA gym) but most recently has made the jump to Team Serra-Longo, which has a great track record of turning strong wrestlers into incredibly well rounded strikers and grapplers. It’s the perfect home for a top prospect, and there’s no doubt that Sterling is a top prospect.

Watching him fight the raw talent and athleticism that he possesses immediately jumps off the screen. Unusually for a wrestling based fighter he uses a high volume kicking game to maintain distance and open up opportunities on his feet. While this could open him up to takedowns (or more particularly slips) the speed, volume, and balance with which he uses his legs makes it a tool many fighters will be ill equipped to deal with. Of course if he does end up on his back his fantastic scrambling ability and growing submission savvy make him an incredibly difficult fighter to hold down or keep control of. He’s currently on a three-submission streak and I only expect that part of his game to get more dangerous training at Serra-Longo.

While Sterling is a fantastic prospect he does have a couple of small holes in his game. He tends to wait a bit on the end of his punches and doesn’t tend to throw them in combination, which could leave him open to counters against better strikers. His footspeed compensates, but it’s something he’ll probably need to correct down the line. He also can be a bit passive in guard and in top control. He’s got great ground-n-pound and does a great job of keeping control while standing over his opponent, but he can be a bit static while looking for opportunities. Bantamweight, like flyweight, is full of dynamic scramblers who will take advantage of passivity while grappling. Eventually these feel like the natural gaps of a fighter with limited cage experience and things that should correct themselves over time (and with strong training).

To get us better acquainted here’s footage of his most recent bout against Joel Roberts:

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UFC planning 5 visits to Canada this year

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Event, UFC Interview, UFC News

It looks like the UFC will continue to keep Canada dead in its sights with our without the country’s biggest star, Georges St-Pierre. Tom Wright, the Director of Operations for UFC Canada announced on Monday that Zuffa has 5 events planned for our Northern brothers & sisters this year. Wright made the announcement at a press conference ahead of the TUF Nations Finale in Quebec City (transcript via MMAJunkie)

“We’ll also be taking the UFC into four other communities with UFC Experience, which is all about taking our athletes and brand and message into communities that most likely will never host a UFC event,” Wright said. “(We’ll visit) British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. By the end of the year, we’ll have been in six of Canada’s 10 provinces and truly have had an opportunity to bring our sport to as many locations as possible.”

Vancouver will once again be the stop for the UFC in British Colombia. It will be the third trip for the UFC, the first since UFC 131 in 2011. Vancouver has been something of a questionable destination for the UFC in the past as it almost failed to hold UFC 115 in the city as there were no regulations in place to govern MMA events at the time. When the UFC returned in 2011 it had to compete with that year’s Stanley Cup finals between the Canucks and Bruins. Hopefully the UFC can make their 2014 trip somewhat more favorable.

This year the UFC also has plans to visit Halifax, Nova Scotia, Toronto, and Montreal. It will be interesting to see what headliners they have planned for these events, and whether or not they splash out and bring in some new Canadian talent along the way.

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Duke Roufus says he asked Chico Camus to leave the team because he wasn’t training hard enough

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Interview, UFC News

It sounds like Duke Roufus runs a pretty tight knit camp up in Milwaukee. It’s a camp with a lot of high level pro fighters and in an environement like that it’s understandable that he’d want a pretty strict set of rules enforced. It’s also understandable that a lot of top pro-athletes wouldn’t be all that interested in living under someone elses thumb when they’re not in camp. Roufus spoke to MMAJunkie about Chico Camus’ recent split with his gym and the reasoning behind it.

“Honestly, I’m so happy he did well [at UFC on FOX 10],” Roufus told MMAjunkie. “I like Chico personally. It’s just a matter of code of conduct and keeping a training schedule at our academy. We have a pretty strict level of training at our academy. By default, with him being in the UFC, he’s a leader whether he wants to be or not for all the young athletes on the team. Everybody on the team wants to be where he’s at, and there’s a certain level of training that I expect from people. It’s nothing personal.”
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“I’ve been trying for a while,” Roufus said. “You try every route. You’re the bad guy, the good guy, the best friend. … I think the world of Chico. He’s a great kid. But you can only ask someone and beg them so many times. This is not the first time. It’s been many times. I know people will say, ‘The guy’s winning fights,’ but part of the special relationship the athletes have at our academy is because we are a true team. Everyone is helping everyone else win fights. We don’t have guys who just drop in and train when they have a fight.”

For Camus’ part it sounds like the loss of his main camp had a bad effect on him as he stated that it was “the least sparring I’ve ever done and the least jiu-jitsu I’ve ever done for a fight.” Whatever his camp ended up looking like it didn’t prevent a dominant performance at UFC on Fox 10. However, I imagine that he’ll want to find more full time training soon. Camus sounds interested in returning to Roufusport if possible, but Duke, for his part, seems less enthused by the idea.

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Pat Barry announces his retirement from MMA

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Interview, UFC News

The UFC just lost one of it’s longest tenured heavyweights. Pat Barry released a statement through his agent on Facebook to announce his retirement on Tuesday. Barry has had 12 fights in his six year UFC career, stretching back to a one round TKO of Dan Evanson in 2008.

After long discussions with our client Pat Barry over the recent weeks, he has come to the decision that he will be taking an indefinite leave from competing in MMA. The UFC and Zuffa have been very gracious in releasing him from his contract and Pat is very grateful for everything they have done for him and his career.

“Over the past few fights I’ve just had this sinking feeling in my stomach whenever I have stepped into the Octagon and I realize, I DONT WANT TO WRESTLE. Not saying I will never do MMA again, but right now I just want to hit people. MMA and the UFC have been great to me and I will always support the company and the sport. I want to thank all my fans, sponsors and haters for being with me on this journey and I look forward to what future holds.” – HD!

“Pat and I have talked about this for a while now and with recent changes in the landscape of combat sports, he wants to explore some options and try to get back to his roots. He’s going to take a little time to clear his head and then we will explore our options. We will keep you posted on things as they develop.” – Brian Butler

From the sounds of it, Barry may go back to kickboxing, where  he had a fairly successful 18-6-1 record before leaving the sport. It’s a little refreshing to hear him say that the biggest reason he’s leaving the sport is that he’s tired of wrestling and grappling. It’s a bit of an archaic view, but it fits with everything he’s represented in the cage. He’ll be leaving MMA with a 8-7 record. It’s probably the best time for him to step away as his recent performances have been less and less filled with the entertainment value for which he was once known. What do you think, could a move to kickboxing re-ignite his spark for combat sports?

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Former UFC light heavyweight Keith Jardine takes down a mail thief

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Confidential, Videos

When former UFC fighter Keith Jardine saw a man outside his house grab the mail out of his mail box, dump it in his car and drive off he took action. He jumped in his monstrous truck and gunned off after the the man. Once he caught up with him a simple threatening gesture was all it took to settle the matter. While the man, Richard Davenport, claimed he was picking up mail for a friend and grabbed Jardine’s in error, police found mail from several other houses in his vehicle. Jardine went over the exchange for reporters:

Some guy gets out, goes in my mail box, grabs all my mail, throws it in his car, and then speeds off. I just find my keys, I run out of the house, I jump in my Bronco, and I chase down the street after him.

It’s always nice to know that some of this MMA stuff really works on the street. Be sure to stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news, notes, updates, as well as technical breakdowns and dissections leading up to UFC 169 this Saturday, February 1st.

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Dana White looking toward Jose Aldo vs. Anthony Pettis for ‘superfight’ if Aldo wins at UFC 169

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Interview, UFC News

The moment Anthony Pettis climbed in to the title picture he’s been trying to make a fight with Jose Aldo happen. As the number one contender he dropped down to featherweight to get that fight, but an injury and an eventual need for a lightweight title replacement derailed it. After winning the belt he didn’t hesitate to offer up the fight he’d like next, and, no surprise it was Jose Aldo. Apparently Pettis’ campaigning, as well as Aldo’s long term dominance, are starting to work their way into Dana White’s mind as he spoke of Fox Sports 1 on Monday about the possibility that Aldo may have cleaned out the contenders at 145 (transcript via MMA Mania):

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Judo Chop: The Nova Uniao Arm Triangle

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UFC 169 features two of MMA’s great champions in Jose Aldo and Renan Barao, who both hail from the Nova Uniao fight camp. T.P. Grant takes a look at that camp’s favorite submission.

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“I agree with you (Aldo’s done everything at featherweight). It’s tough for him to make that weight. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea that when Pettis comes back, for him (Aldo) and Pettis to fight. We were going to do that fight once at Aldo’s weight, it might not be a bad idea for him, should he win this weekend, to possibly move up.”

There’s no arguing that Aldo has been one of the UFC’s most dominant champions, but it’s hard to say that his division feels short on rightful challengers either. Mendes has steadily been working his way back to the belt and seems to be twice the fighter he was in his first meeting with Aldo. Likewise Dustin Poirier and Cub Swanson have been methodically building their title hopes. Any one of these fighters would be a reasonable condidate for a title shot. However, a fight between Jose Aldo and Anthony Pettis is one of the most intriguing and exciting bouts the UFC can make and Pettis badly needs a fresh challenger for his title. Coupled with Jose Aldo’s long stated desire to eventually make his way to 155 lbs, this may be the perfect time to make a big fight happen.

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Rock out with your walkout: The January edition

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Editorial, UFC Event

The golden age of walkouts has come and gone. The raised ramps, the rising platforms coming out of the mist, the fireworks. We’ll never see Crocop walkout to “Wild Boys” on any meaningful stage again, and sure we still have Sandstorm and Gimme Shelter, but it’s not like it was. Wistfulness aside, however, walkouts are still a lot of fun. They are the first forum in which a fight is won or lost. Come out strong with a great song blaring and instantly, you’re a badass. Come out to the Rocky theme for the 4th time on the same card and, well… I certainly won’t be cheering as hard.

The basic format going forward is that I’ll be highlighting the best walkout songs of the month (I’m pre-screening the chaff, which means you get a chance to be incensed) and linking them to you for your enjoyment. At the end of each post I’ll have a poll to pick the best walkout song. Hopefully, at the end of the year I’ll have my act together enough to pull the winners of each month into a grand “Best walkout of the year” post. Of course, if I really missed someone feel free to post it in the comments and I will count the number of recs it gets as votes. And now, the best walkout songs of January.

The early favorite, in my own mind, has to be Luke Rockhold, who blew the doors off his UFC Fight Night main event status with Danzig’s Thirteen. It was unexpected, and totally badass. From that same card Beneil Dariush made a strong play for a classic with Michael Jackson’s Rock with You, as did John Moraga with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Thuggish Ruggish Bone. Garett Whiteley earned some hilarity points with Joe Esposito’s You’re the Best Around, and finally, Sam Sicilia snuck into the running with Johnny Cash’s God’s Gonna Cut you Down. Obviously there were others, but those were the best. Check out the rest here.

UFC on Fox 10 saw Benson Henderson return with his anthem R-Swift’s Awesome God, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he owns it. Likewise Gabriel Gonzaga walked out to an old favorite, Danzig’s Mother. Jeremy Stephens issued a strong entry with Work by Gang Starr as did Alex Caceres with Paul Simon’s One-Trick Poney. As with Whiteley’s Karate Kid reference Yves Jabouin went for awesome with the Mortal Kombat theme from The Immortals. Junior Hernandez walking out to MGK’s Edge of Destruction and Nikita Krylov with Duane Eddy’s Rebel Rouser were both fun entries as well. You can see the other entries here.

Finally, the first show of the month was UFC Fight Night: Saffiedine vs. Lim. There isn’t a handy list for this so I had to go with what I could pick out. Tae Hyun Bang went with his cowboy hat theme and came out to Ennio Morricone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Dave Galera may not have had much of a UFC debut, but he nailed his walkout with Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Kawajiri brought his classic walkout from B-Dash, Water Pow. I’m sure there were other notable entrances on the card, but I couldn’t pick them out.

Also, three notable disqualifications this month. Elias Silverio gets an automatic failing grade for walking out to Wild Boys, and Luiz Dutra likewise for using the Rocky theme. Josh Thomson also got dinged a mess of points for ridiculous pandering when he walked out to the Chicago Bulls theme in Chicago. Now that all the choices have been laid out before you, who do you think had the most memorable walkout of the month?

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Anderson Silva files police report over Twitter beef

Posted on by Zane Simon in Crime, Front Page, MMA Confidential, UFC News

It can’t be helped, but it feels like information is missing when I learn that Anderson Silva is pressing charges against a woman for slandering him on Twitter. Nonetheless, that appears to be where we find ourselves with the former middleweight champion. Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting has the report after speaking with the Chief of Police in Pinhais, Brazil.

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Striking Styles: Thai-style Muay Thai breakdown

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Interested in the different striking styles found in MMA? Then join us for our series “Striking Styles”. Here, part 1 of our 3 part series breaking down the different styles of Muay Thai, as we examine the true Thai style of this striking art.

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“We’re still investigating to get her name, address and phone,” Magalhaes told Globo. “It’s a 40-year-old woman who wrote on the internet, in a social media, several phrases, including ‘Brazil will see the idol and rotten that you are’.”

In an interview with a local radio station, Magalhaes said the woman also called Silva a “s—ty idol.”

Apparently the woman could face up to six months in jail or, more likely, a hefty fine. Either way it seems a pretty hard price to pay for a couple of rude comments. Stay tuned as we’ll be sure to keep you updated.

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