Weight specialist Giordano says UFC’s IV ban means ‘fighters fighting at 100%’

At UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Romero, back on June 27th, Eddie Gordon entered the Octagon looking shredded. Well, he got on the scales looking shredded too, but it was a more stark contrast on fight night, where Gordon looked ever bit the lean fighter he had on the scales the day before. A far cry from the man that appeared gassed out in three minutes, when he fought Chris Dempsey back in April.

While Gordon was technically outmatched against Antonio Carlos Jr., for the first time in the UFC he didn’t look like he was constantly sucking air and tiring badly. He looked in shape. The UFC commentary team even talked about the change, saying Gordon had hooked up with weight management specialist Lou Giordano. The owner of Nüe-Trition Supplements, Giordano sat down with Bloody Elbow to talk not only about his work with Gordon, but about a major shift in the MMA landscape that he and others in his field are in a unique position to comment on, IV bans.

The USADA in partnership with the UFC recently made known its plans (in accordance with WADA guidelines) to ban IV use for UFC fighters as a method of re-hydrating after their weight cuts. The intent of the ban has been targeted at the use of IVs as a masking/diluting agent that makes it more difficult to detect PEDs in the blood stream. Many, however, feel that the ban will have a more dramatic effect on weight classes and fighters’ weight cutting procedures. Some have even gone as far as to lambaste the decision as one that has a high potential to harm fighters for relatively little effect on PED use. That’s not Giordano’s stance however, as he explained to me:

At what point did you start to see that IV use had become as prevalent as it appears to be now?

I would say, probably the last few months, to be honest. Obviously, I’ve been talking to Eddie [Gordon] for quite some time and he had mentioned that, yeah, one of his friends was cutting weight and they had to use some IV and I was like, “Really, IV!?” I was kind of taken aback by it a little bit. I didn’t necessarily… Because I’ve never, you know, I don’t agree with cutting weight. I don’t cut weight, I manage it. I was kind of taken aback by it. And then once it started getting all the publicity that it’s getting now, I started to do some research and realized that, hey, a lot of people have been using this for quite some time.

It sounds like you’re very much against IV use for re-hydrating, why?

I’m against it for many reasons, and a few of the important ones are: It actually promotes weight cutting. I’m against weight cutting. I’ve done it, I’ve been wrestling since I’m 10. I’ve cut weight, I’ve spit in cups, and I’ve done all the crazy things. So, I’m totally against weight cutting. So, on one hand it promotes weight cutting, it promotes fighters to say, “Hey, it doesn’t matter how dehydrated you are. It doesn’t matter how weak and how tired you are, and how depleted your body is, you muscles and everything. All that matters is, you step on that scale, you make that weight, and then don’t worry about it, we’re going to put a needle in your arm and we’re going to fuel you right back up.” And it promotes that.

I’m strongly against that, number 1. And number 2, in some ways I don’t think it levels the playing ground. It’s almost like performance enhancing drugs. There was a time when I was going through some medical issues a few years back and one of the things I needed to do was actually IV treatment. The exact same thing, just basic vitamins and minerals. And I could tell you that when I would go and I would get all these vitamins, injected directly into my blood stream, I legitimately felt like I could run through walls. It was amazing, the energy that I had. So listen, I’m not calling them steroids, I’m not saying it’s steroids. But, on one hand, when you’re so depleted and you’re putting all that into your body, in my opinion I think it’s kind of an unfair advantage, actually.

Do you think that stopping fighters from using IVs will change the landscape of the UFC’s divisions?

“With Eddie specifically, we didn’t cut weight. We didn’t cut a pound.”

I don’t think it will change the divisions. I think, actually, it will help them. Because again, with Eddie specifically, we didn’t cut weight. We didn’t cut a pound. We actually, we had a meal at 11:30 PM the night before weigh ins, we had a full breakfast, we had a full lunch, and then a shake before he stepped on the scale. And he was fully hydrated. He was actually holding more water than I was, because we have a scale that was checking how hydrated he was. And it was kind of comical that he was more hydrated than me, being that he’s been training and supposed to be cutting all this weight. So, what I think it’ll end up doing is, I think you’ll start to see fighters fighting at 100% of their potential.

And what I mean by that is, if you don’t cut weight, if you adjust and manage it and you don’t cut weight, you don’t deplete your body of anything, when you go to step into that Octagon, you’re going to be at 100%. It’s almost like in the practice room. You hear and see it all the time, guys look phenomenal in practice, cardio for days. So then, why is it that when they go into the cage they run out of energy? Well it’s, try driving your car with no gas in it, see how far you get. It’s the same concept.

You’ve talked about Eddie Gordon, who you helped make 185 for his fight against Antonio Carlos Jr. It looked like his opponent was way bigger than him. If that wasn’t a problem, what went wrong?

The calm before the storm. Nothing is more terrifying than controlled chaos!! I did all I could and gave all I could. Got nothing left. It’s like watching my brother go to war in a cage and all I can do is watch. If anyone uses the word “client” when talking about @truckmma_ufc I will be very quick to correct them, “BROTHER”!!! LETS GO TRUCK!!!!!!

A photo posted by Fitness Education (@lou_trition) on Jun 27, 2015 at 4:03pm PDT

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Lou Giordano and Eddie Gordon, before his fight with Antonio Carlos Jr.

You know, first of all, he was three inches taller and had a 5 inch reach, so that guy was definitely a lot bigger. So you can say that even about this recent fight, Conor and Mendes. They were the same weight, Conor just had a lot of inches and reach on him. As far as the fight went down, I really don’t know, because I was with Eddie that whole week and I could tell you that he looked fantastic, the way he was moving, his power, his punching… You know, we even wrestled a little bit and his strength and everything… I really can’t answer that question as far as him as a fighter in that instance. But, I do know that the first thing I asked him after that fight was, “Were you tired? Did you feel weak?” And he said, “Absolutely not. Not at all. I did not feel weak or tired at all.”

So you don’t believe that Carlos Jr. got any benefit from cutting weight where Eddie didn’t?

Again, cutting that weight doesn’t… When you refuel, it doesn’t make you taller, it doesn’t make your arms grow too much. I mean, at the weigh in, I was right there and other than Carlos Jr. being, again, three inches taller than Eddie and having that reach, I mean muscle mass-wise they were pretty right on point with each other. Again, he’s a three inch taller guy, so it’s going to look like he’s bigger.

It sounds like you’re saying that banning IVs really won’t level the playing field in terms of big fighters in divisions then.

“A fighter should not know what to eat or drink. A fighter’s job is to fight.”

Right. Well I mean at that point, like I said, I mean you might as well make a height class as well as weight class. But, in the beginning you will absolutely see fighters having to go up in weight classes. But, what it will also do is force fighters to seek professional help as far as weight management, as far as strength and conditioning, to be done the correct way. So that you don’t have to cut weight and you don’t have to rely on things like IV treatment. That’s why I’m adamant about it, is because, yes, in the beginning you will have a ton of fighters… I mean, I can give you a list of people that I spoke to. When I start working with a client like Eddie even, “Let me see what you’re eating and drinking during your fight camp.” And a fighter should not know what to eat or drink. A fighter’s job is to fight. So, I really feel bad for the fighters actually. I have a lot of empathy for them, because they’re the ones suffering the most. Because they rely on their coaches to get them ready, they rely on their nutrition experts or weight management, strength and conditioning coaches to make sure that their weight and everything is on point.

And I just think there’s a lot of bad advice given in just the health and fitness industry as a whole, that it’s going to force fighters to seek really professional help to get it down right. And when they do… Again, when you’re 100%, when you don’t cut weight, ask any wrestler or ask any fighter, when they don’t cut weight, how do you feel? “Fantastic.” When you cut weight, how do you feel? “Terrible” There is a way to do it without cutting weight. And I just think you’ll see a lot more exciting fights, because guys will be in there at 100%.

For me, it’s a misconception in my opinion, that, okay, the fighter has an advantage that walks around bigger. And then when they cut all that weight and then they’re going to eat all that food and gain all that weight, they’re going to step in heavier and have an advantage. Actually it’s basic physics that more mass equals slower speed. So if you in fact step on that scale at 185 and then bulk back up to, like, 215 lbs, it’s physics, you’re going to be slower. It’s just… If you ran from one side of the room to the other and then I put 30 lbs on your back and then you ran from one side of the room to the other, your time’s going to be slower. It’s just basic physics.

So, what ends up happening is, you dehydrate yourself to try to re-hydrate in a 24 hour period. You’re not putting on muscle mass, you can’t put on muscle mass in less than 24 hours. You’re just carrying a bunch more water. So, it really isn’t an advantage to be the bigger guy walking around. Look at GSP, he never walked around 30/40 lbs over his weight class. And I think he did pretty good. And even myself, when I wrestled in my younger days, in high school I wrestled 171. I don’t think I ever wrestled one match at that weight. I always had to wrestle up in weight because we never had wrestlers. So, I’d wrestle 189, 215 and I would only weigh 175 lbs. But, I was 25-5 and had 19 pins against these kids. Skill is skill, you know what I mean? I think weight does play a factor, but if you put somebody like Robbie Lawler in the cage against somebody who’s 230 lbs with no real skill, I’m pretty sure Robbie Lawler is going to knock him out, even though he’s 60 lbs lighter, you know?

When you started working with Eddie what were the biggest things you had to change?

Two drastic things, I would say. I would say number one, I had to get him to understand that again, we do not cut weight. We are going to manage your weight. And two, it was his perception on the whole thing. You know, perception is really the key to life. You change your perception, you can change everything. The event doesn’t have to change, but change how you perceive it and you’ll get a completely different result. I had to change his perception on food, calories, energy, fuel. One of my favorite quotes that I love saying is, “Food is not comfort for the mind, it’s fuel for the body.” And that’s how you have to look at it. So, I had to convince him that we need to change his perception first. And once we did that, everything else was pretty easy.

“He was not allowed to eat or drink anything unless I saw a picture of it first.”

But, as far as the pictures were concerned, the main reason I had to do that, because, like what you just said was, it kind of makes it hard for the person to cheat. Actually, you know, if I say to you, “Hey send me a picture of what you’re eating,” it’s easy to take a picture of good food, but then eat something else. But, because I wasn’t… I live almost an 1hr 45min from Eddie, so we spent 8 weeks communicating via text message and phone calls and emails. So, he was not allowed to eat or drink anything unless I saw a picture of it first, up until fight camp. And then, obviously, I was with him that entire week, and literally, I did everything except actually chew his food for him, because I was able to be there and do it, vs. “you gotta send me a picture.” I had to hold him accountable somehow, not being with him and being that far away.

Do you know if they can test for fighters using IVs? I’ve heard some people say yes, others say that they’d have to catch you in the act.

I would say this confidently, that I’m pretty sure that they can test for whatever they want to test. There’s probably tests that can tell you what you ate when you were 5 years old. I’m pretty sure that they can test for that, and I do know that they can… Because again, I’ve had some medical issues where I’ve had to get extensive blood work done and all my levels and everything needed to be checked. And one of the things that we would check for is, when I was getting my IV medicine and I would get my blood work done, to see if any of my levels went up or down and how much was I actually holding. And so, I would say yes. I’m not a doctor, but I would definitely say there’s definite ways, if they wanted to test for it, they could.

Any advice on proper re-hydration for fighters that are cutting without an IV?

100%. Don’t cut weight, manage it. And email loutrition@gmail.com and I’ll help you out. Because I don’t want to see that, I don’t want to see it at all.

Do you think there’s any potential fallout from the IV ban that others aren’t seeing or understanding?

Here’s the thing. When they do that, because there’s so many fighters on the roster… And forget about just the UFC, just in general, fighters in other organizations… Because I do work with fighters that are not in the UFC as well, and everything like that. The scary thing is, because again, I feel really bad for the fighters, that it’s going to affect them in a big way. If you don’t do it properly, you can really get hurt, you can really injure yourself, you could injure your brain, you could injure a lot of things. It’s not going to be healthy. But, what I think it will do is that it will wake people up to say, “You know, there has to be another way.” Going up in weight may work for some people, and there’s going to be a lot of fans and a lot of people that may be happy with certain fighters going up in weight… Because, if you ask a fighter, “Here’s the deal, you can either cut weight the way you’re doing it, with no IV bag and risk permanent damage, or you can go up in weight.” Obviously, they’re going to choose to go up in weight.

“I’m that guy in the corner that’s waiving, saying, ‘Whoa whoa, there’s more to this. You don’t have to do it that way.'”

But, what it’s going to do is it’s going to give somebody like me, who in my opinion, I’m the minority when it comes to this. Because of my views and my philosophies, I’m the minority and I’m going to start having a louder and louder voice. And that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing and I’m talking to the people that I’m trying to talk to, because I’m that guy in the corner that’s waiving, saying, “Whoa whoa, there’s more to this. You don’t have to do it that way.” And I’m hoping that more people like myself will be for banning it, because we can educate and teach people the right way. Versus saying, “Well, if you ban it it’s going to be terrible for people.” Well, is it going to be terrible for people, or is it going to be terrible for your business? It’s tough. That’s probably my biggest challenge is just overall bad advice that’s being spread when it comes to strength and conditioning and nutrition.

Think of it like this, you can have a Ferrari, your Ferrari is your strength and conditioning. So, you have a Ferrari, your strength and conditioning is very fast, very good, high efficiency. But, if you’re putting bad fuel in the car and if you’re putting bad oil in the car, the car is not going to run as good as it normally can run. It’s gonna force people to do a lot of things.

It seems like, for the whole announcement has honestly been kind of a system shock for the MMA fighter community.

I think for the wrong reasons. I think because people are building it up to be like, “Oh my god, if they ban IVs fighters are going to die. It’s going to be terrible.” Yes, if you dehydrate yourself and do not hydrate, yes you absolutely will. But, look at the ways people are doing it. Obviously you’re an MMA fan, so I’m sure you were watching the Ultimate Fighter American Top Team vs. The Blackzilians. They had to send a guy home because he was water loading, which I think is terrible, and he started having seizures. And luckily for him he didn’t have any permanent brain damage. He ended up fighting on the same card that Eddy fought and he ended up getting knocked out. Not that it had anything to do with it.

But, you have water loading, you have this crazy thing with people sitting in bathtubs with Epsom salt and all this other crazy stuff. It’s just zapping your body, pulling nutrients out in a drastic way. It’s gonna force people to say, “Hey, you know, there are other ways of doing it.” I think it’s like this: The old school MMA, back in the day when it was Karate vs. Kung Fu and Jiu Jitsu vs. Wrestling and somebody finally said, “Hey guys, maybe if we mix the martial arts, you’ll have the perfect weapon, the perfect fighter.” So, I think it’s going to force people to start getting a little more educated in that way, I think. I hope, anyway.

But that’s kind of a back door way to change things. Hoping for larger changes from a minor rule adjustment.

There you go, 100%, that’s exactly what will happen. It’s just like trying to prevent one thing. If people want to do it, they’re going to find a way to do it. So, I think if they ban IVs and people don’t get correctly educated on how to really fuel yourself up and all that stuff, it’s going to create more problems.

The MMA Vivisection – WSOF 22: Palhares vs. Shields picks, odds, & analysis

Alright, if you’re watching one MMA event this weekend, likely it’s not WSOF 22. And that’s too bad, because honestly it’s a pretty good card that just might have the most interesting matchup of the week. In the main event, long time top tier middle and welterweight Jake Shields is taking on WSOF champion and leg lock submission specialist Rousimar Palhares for the 170 lb title. Shields has never lost by submission, Palhares has only gotten 3 non submission wins in 17. Someone’s game is going to have to break.

The co-main event sees two Brazilian Muay Thai Strikers named Moraes face off as bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes defends his belt against young newcomer Sheymon Moraes. And that doesn’t even get us to the two top Dagestani talents on the card, Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Islam Mamedov. All told, a pretty damn solid night of fights from WSOF.

If, for some reason, you can’t get our Ooayla player to work for you, you can watch the whole show over on YouTube. While you’re there, give us a “like” and remember to subscribe to MMANATIONDOTCOM for more Bloody Elbow interviews and analysis.

Here’s a link to our SoundCloud and iTunes accounts too, in case you just hate my face.

And the complete WSOF 22 fight card as it stands right now:

NBCSN Main Card

Rousimar Palhares vs. Jake Shields

Marlon Moraes vs. Sheymon Moraes

Jimmy Spicuzza vs. Islam Mamedov

Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Jorge Moreno

Mike Kyle vs. Clifford Starks

Online Prelims

Gil Guardado vs. Pete Martin

Cory Hendricks vs. Julio Hinojosa

Donavon Frelow vs. Carlos Garcia

Jimmy Jones vs. Marco Simmons

Jake Heun vs. Davin Clark

Dodson on Jones: ‘Every sinner has a future’

With his status sizeably diminished following a failed drug test for cocaine metabolites and now the ongoing legal repercussions of a hit and run accident that saw him stripped of his UFC title, people are starting to talk about the behind the scenes version of Jon Jones a little more. Often called “fake,” for the cracks in his clean image (not the least of which included his DUI car crash back in 2012), that image now largely no longer exists.

John Dodson spoke about the changes that that has meant for Jones, during a recent media luncheon. MMAFighting was on the scene to hear what the flyweight title challenger had to say:

“He just wasn’t the perfect angel that everyone thought he was to be. You guys keep on thinking that he’s supposed to be like Hannah Montana, but really he was Miley Cyrus.”
…
“Now he’s starting to realize like, ‘Hey maybe I need to start investing in my teammates’ lives, because if I do then they’ll start investing in mine.”
…
“He had this safe zone and every one of them made sure he was this perfect angel. There’s no such thing as a perfect angel. I don’t think even think Mother Theresa was a saint her whole entire life. Oscar Wilde said that every sinner has a future and every saint has a past.”

The points about Jones surrounding himself with a problematic entourage were ones we’ve heard often as his career began to unravel. Especially at the time of his drug test failure, an expose in Deadspin talked about the continuous negative influences on Jones’ life. It’s interesting then to hear Dodson talk about Jones now reaching out to his teammates more and as he put it, “No longer is he gonna continuously wrap his life around people that he’s gonna have to constantly please all the time.” For the sake of fans looking for the former LHW champ to make a strong return to the UFC, that sounds like a positive sign.

Manuwa replaces Blachowicz against Rumble at UFC 191

Frankly, I’m a little shocked we’re seeing Jimi Manuwa back in the cage again so soon. Just five months ago, Manuwa defeated Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. CroCop 2, in Krakow, Poland. It was a sputtering, lackluster affair that saw neither man really willing to engage, and Manuwa happy to coast out on his physical advantages. But, after the fight fans learned that that had been with good reason, at least on Manuwa’s end. “Poster Boy” revealed after the bout that he had three torn ligaments in his knee, a meniscus, MCL, and ACL.

It explained his less than dazzling showing in Poland, but it also seemed to make his proclamation that he wanted to fight “another two times this year,” seem more like blind optimism than anything else. But, the next step to a three fight 2015 has been taken, as the UFC revealed (via MMAJunkie) that Manuwa has recieved medical clearance and accepted a bout with Anthony Johnson at UFC 191.

Johnson had been scheduled to face Manuwa’s previous opponent, Jan Blachowicz, as both men were coming off a loss, but with Manuwa cleared to fight, the UFC apparently felt that a Manuwa vs. Rumble matchup made a lot more sense (and it does).

Reportedly, Blachowicz will remain on the card and is expected to get a new opponent. UFC 191 takes place on September 5th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card is expected to be headlined by a title fight between flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and contender John Dodson. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more fight card changes, announcements, and coverage.

Watch – Rousey’s UFC 190 scrum: I hope McGregor is ‘as successful as possible’

Apparently Ronda Rousey is out to annihilate all future generations of Bethe Correia at UFC 190, or at least that’s what she told assembled media when asked if she was really going to carry through on her stated desire to teach Bethe a lesson. She was on hand for a scrum following her open workout to answer questions as she gets ready for her sixth title defense this weekend.

Among the things she talked about was how happy she was to get a warm welcome in Brazil:

I was cautiously optimistic. I wouldn’t have been mad if everybody came out here and they booed me. But, I have to admit that it really warms my heart a lot to get such a warm reception from a people that I respect so much.

And how she feels about competing against Conor McGregor to be the UFC’s biggest star:

I never called myself that and I don’t really think it’s a competition, you know? I think we’re really helping each other out. The more successful he is, the more eyes on the sport, and the more eyes on me too. And vice versa. So, I hope that he’s as successful as possible because it benefits us both.

Rousey also revealed a touching tribute to her father’s memory, showing off MY LOVELY FATHER written on the wraps she wore for her open workout. Check out the whole session above.

Watch: Rousey’s open workout for UFC 190

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is gearing up for her sixth title defense in just her 12th pro fight (actually her seventh title defense if you want to be all lineal about it). She’s set to face off against challenger Bethe Correia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at UFC 190 on Saturday, August 1st. Which, for those with severe time management problems, makes this fight week. As such, Rousey is already down in Brazil taking care of fight week business, and one of the major attractions for fans in the days leading up to the fight card is open workouts.

Rousey hit the beach in front of a large crowd of vociferous fans to do her thing and show off a few of the skills she plans on using agianst Correia this weekend. Rousey gave a display of her various throw setups before actually going through various throw to armbar transitions and then putting in a few minutes of solid mitt work.A lot of her game was on display for fans wanting to see just what the champ can do.

Watch: Thiago Silva reacts to WSOF fight cancellation news

Thiago Silva just hit a roadblock in the continuation of his MMA career outside the UFC. His 2014 court saga saw him jailed and cut from the UFC following a police standoff and allegations that he had threatened his ex-wife with a gun. He was then re-signed and re-cut after the she refused to follow up on charges, but instead released video supporting her accusations when he tried to deny them publicly. Following that long string of events, Silva signed to fight with the World Series of Fighting back in January of 2015. He’s only fought once for the promotion since, losing to last minute replacement Teddy Holder in the first leg of the promotion’s 4-man tournament to crown a LHW champ. That fight took place in Pheonix, Arizona.

Now, returning to Las Vegas for the first time since 2011, Silva finds himself unable to get a license to fight, but it’s nothing to do with past criminal charges against him, as he explained to AXS TV during an interview meant to talk about his upcoming bout. Here’s what Silva had to say when asked about his return to the cage against Mike Kyle at WSOF 22:

No, I’m not fighting anymore.

Yeah, the boxing commission, they don’t want to give me the license. The Nevada commission. You know, because I got suspended, like, three years ago when I fought Brandon Vera, you know? Because of the doping. And I’m supposed to go in court to talk to them. I paid the fine, I paid everything, I did the time. So, they want me to show up in court and to say sorry, and then they want to let me the license. They went for the last minute for the fight to say I’m not going to fight.

In Silva’s place will be former UFC and Bellator fighter Clifford Starks, stepping in on very short notice.

Hindsight – UFC on Fox: Dillashaw vs. Barao 2 in retrospect

That’s what Renan Barao is going to have to cope with in the face of his new post-apocalypse UFC on Fox 16 reality. He got blown up and has now been sent out into the radioactive wasteland to fight off the oncoming hordes. If he tears everything down and tries to rebuild from the ground up it may be more likely that he loses more than he gains. Barao’s basic style of fighting, his skill set, his abilities are solid, they work. They beat most guys, just not the one in front of him on Saturday. Where he goes after this loss will be an interesting sight to see. On the other hand, Barao’s loss took me to 8-4 on the night (7-5 if you want to be a jerk about it).

Disclaimer Time: I don’t gamble, this isn’t a gambling guide, I don’t put that much faith in my fight picks. No matter how much work I put into picking fights, my goal is always to create narrative out of sporting contests and to weigh expectation against results. In that sense, odds are a great way of measuring public expectation and fight picks are a great way of measuring my own. I’m using Odds Shark for the odds on each fight and taking the mode for each fighter. So, on to the fights:

Zak Cummings (-400) vs. Dominique Steele (+325) (I picked Cummings, I was right)

The Expectation: I feel bad for Steele, because not only doesn’t Zak Cummings have a name for him to get over on with a win, but this wasn’t a fight he was ever likely to win. Cummings is a no nonsense fighter hitting his stride in MMA. Steele just isn’t ready for someone with Cummings’ skill, especially not on short notice.

Fallout for Cummings: If I sound bullish on Cummings right now, I’d say I am… a bit. There’s nothing that he does so well that I’m screaming “future title challenger” to myself at home watching him. But, there are enough parts of his game clicking in just the right way that I don’t see why he can’t be a borderline top 15 talent right now. He’s a powerful wrestler, capable grappler, and it looks like he’s finally putting some technique behind what was better than advertised striking. That makes him a tough out for just about anyone.

Fallout for Steele: On the plus side, getting beat by a really solid fighter like Cummings doesn’t mean Steele is done. On the down side, he wasn’t even competitive for a second of this fight. He’s got time to improve, he’s not old, but he’s got a lot of improving to do to be competitive at this level. Hard punchers are going to trouble him a lot in the near future.

Jessamyn Duke (+130) vs. Elizabeth Phillips (-150) (I picked Phillips, I was right)

The Expectation: Phillips has the better training situation under her. And while she may not be otherwise any more promising a physical specimen, the fact that fighters in her camp have generally done a decent job getting fight ready made me a lot more confident that she’d be improved enough to beat Duke here. She was, barely, but it was enough.

Fallout for Duke: Post fight I’ve heard that she and Baszler and even Schneider aren’t actually full time CSW fighters. Whether that’s true or not, Duke especially needs to be taking a hard look at just where her career is going. She doesn’t look like she’s improved a bit over the past three years, where she should be getting better by leaps and bounds. And while it’s safe to say that Bethe Correia and Leslie Smith were a step above her, Phillips wasn’t, and she still lost.

Fallout for Phillips: She’s got her first UFC win under her belt, which will at least keep her around as a warm body in a division that really needs warm bodies. She’s been competitive, win or lose, in every bout, and even if she gassed, her game looked technically much improved here. So hopefully she can keep winning enough fights to not get cut.

Andrew Holbrook (+135) vs. Ramsey Nijem (-155) (I picked Nijem, I shoulda been right)

The Expectation: It’s not to say that Holbrook is a bad fighter to say that I was going to be and still am surprised that Andrew Holbrook beat Ramsey Nijem. Nijem has shown himself to be a generally competent lower tier gatekeeper. You have to hurt him standing to beat him, and for the most part Holbrook couldn’t/didn’t. Nijem still gave up a lot of close subs and bad positions, but he generally won the fight.

Fallout for Holbrook: Honestly, considering that he hadn’t faced much competition regionally, Holbrook looked good in his UFC debut, especially on short notice. He’s got some problems with his striking to work on, but he doesn’t look physically outmatched and his grappling is smooth and dangerous. Given enough of the right match-ups and the right camp behind him, he could develop into a fun action talent in the UFC.

Fallout for Nijem: He got robbed, but let’s not pretend that this loss isn’t symptomatic of a fighter who is just not progressing in the right ways over the course of his career. Holbrook has been fighting for four years fewer than Nijem, has never faced legit competition, and had never been past round 2. And he was coming in on short notice. That’s supposed to be a slam dunk, instead it was a close ugly fight and Nijem didn’t get the nod. That’s rough.

Daron Cruickshank (-196) vs. James Krause (+165) (I picked Cruickshank, I was wrong)

The Expectation: The read on James Krause winning this fight was all about whether or not he could submit Daron Cruickshank, and frankly I doubted it. Krause has shown that he doesn’t have the power to put most guys away in the UFC and he’s not a freak wrestler, so he was going to have to catch Daron in something and tap him out. All credit to him for a nifty foot sweep to back mount setup that had Cruickshank tapping in moments.

Fallout for Cruickshank: Right around the point he beat Anthony Njokuani and was competing with KJ Noons, it seemed like Cruickshank had locked up a slot as an action gatekeeper. Someone that would challenge most of his division, losing to the upper tier fighters but beating the lower tier guys. You know, what Joe Lauzon does. But this was a bad loss. Krause isn’t a bad fighter, but even in most of his wins opponents are competitive. Cruickshank seems to have made changes in his game lately, and I’m not sure they aren’t making him less the fighter he was and less successful because of it.

Fallout for Krause: It looked like he was about to get cut, and I’m honestly a little surprised he got the chance he did against Cruickshank, being on the 0-2 skid that he was. But, Krause made the best of it and stayed alive, now the question is: Was this the right opponent on the right day, or is this something he can replicate?

Bryan Caraway (+120) vs. Eddie Wineland (-140) (I picked Caraway, I was right)

The Expectation: While I thought Caraway would win, I didn’t think it would be like this. And frankly, I understood going in, why Wineland was the favorite. At one point in his career, this was his kind of fight to dominate. But, he didn’t even get out-grappled by the more prepared fighter here, he got out-struck by a career wrestle-grappler. Sad day for Eddie.

Fallout for Caraway: He’s not exactly young and his career isn’t exactly fresh, but some how, it seems like Caraway has really been fighting at his peak lately. Going all the way back to 2011, Caraway has only lost two fights, a split decision to Takeya Mizugak and a decision to Raphael Assuncao. That’s pretty good company. I don’t know how much longer this peak will last, but this was Caraway’s best striking performance to date and suggests that he will be a consistent match for top 10 talent.

Fallout for Wineland: And of course, on the flip side of that, Wineland isn’t way older has only been fighting for a couple years longer, but it looks like he’s honestly done as a top 10 talent. He seems to be on that slide where he’s losing to an increasingly lower level of fighter, no longer Joseph Benavidez, Urijah Faber, or Renan Barao, but now Johnny Eduardo and Bryan Caraway. And they’re not close losses. Caraway beat him, standing up, straight forward, no controversy. Wineland can still win a few fights at bantamweight, I’m sure, but they’re probably not going to mean much.

Kenny Robertson (-130) vs. Ben Saunders (+110) (I picked Saunders, IT WAS TRUTH)

The Expectation: I expected that Ben Saunders, calling on the powers of the old gods, would open a portal in time and space and bring down unnameable horrors on Kenny Robertson… But really, I hoped Saunders would win. Robertson had the tools to beat him and this was a tough close fight going in. Did Saunders get a definitive win? No. Am I happy as hell with the result? Yes, yes I am.

Fallout for Robertson: I’m glad he was coming into this bout on a 3 fight win streak, because I like Robertson’s game a lot and think he’s a really fun fighter to watch. This wasn’t a great decision for him but it’s not a huge setback to his momentum either. He showed surprising power, and improved boxing (if not amazing) to go with his funky wrestle/grappling. His cardio fading isn’t a great sign, but I’ll definitely be watching him next time out.

Fallout for Saunders: Unlike Robertson who is just entering the prime of his career, Saunders (even at just a year older) has a lot more wear and tear on him. The time for him to get his name out there and make any sort of run in his division is right now. To that extent, he’s got a three fight win streak going at just the right time. Hopefully he can keep that momentum rolling as far as possible.

Danny Castillo (+120) vs. Jim Miller (-140) (I picked Miller, I was right-ish)

The Expectation: Looking back now, I’m not sure what I really expected when I picked Jim Miller on this one. I think I expected that Castillo wouldn’t be able to out scramble him, even when he got him down and wouldn’t produce enough consistent offense standing to get the points win. How exactly that played out, however was a bit surprising, as Castillo came out with a much more high energy stand up game that it looked like he didn’t know how to use effectively and that was a major reason why he lost.

Fallout for Castillo: I’m really not sure what to make of Castillo’s career at the moment. He’s very likely going to get cut after this loss and that’s a very odd thing for a good athlete from a good camp in the prime of his career. It could be that age has caught him before cage wear could, or that constant attempts to re-tune his game have left him, essentially without one, but whatever the reason, Castillo isn’t winning the fights he should and will probably be fighting regionally from here on out.

Fallout for Miller: He’s not done yet. At the point of this win, Miller is basically still a borderline top 15 talent for the UFC and a top tier gatekeeper. It’s possible (if not probable) that he’s lost a step from his heyday, but he’s a well rounded, aggressive, and tough enough fighter that it seems like he could probably be a strong competitor for quite a while longer if he wants to. I don’t expect him to go on another big run, but there are a lot of good fights out there for him.

Tom Lawlor (+185) vs. Gian Villante (-210) (I picked Villante, I was wrong)

The Expectation: This was supposed to be the fight that really showed fans that Gian Villante could be a consistent top 15 level light heavyweight fighter. He’s been slowly improving, he’s a good athlete, and he’s powerful and big enough to be a tough out in the division… But there are just too many parts missing, too many holes still left in his game. In the midst of a career best performance, fight IQ and chin failed him and he got laid out cold.

Fallout for Lawlor: The flip side of this is, that as a tough guy with a good chin and some wrestling and punching skills, Tom Lawlor can hang out and take a few fights at 205 and hopefully create a little movement in a division that needs all it can get.

Fallout for Villante: Unfortunately this is a massive setback for Villante and a fight, frankly, that he never should have lost. For a long time, fans have forgotten just how raw Villante has been as a prospect. Since coming to the UFC in 2012, he’s lost to OSP and Maldonado, both in weird performances, the latter in a fight he was winning early. But he was at least winning the fights he was supposed to win. Lawlor is a small LHW coming off a long injury, Villante has been around for six years now, this was a fight he was supposed to win, and he lost. That may make him a career stepping stone at 205 if he can’t rebound with a big run.

Takanori Gomi (+255) vs. Joe Lauzon (-300) (I picked Lauzon, I was right)

The Expectation: You love Gomi, I love Gomi. Hell, we all love Takanori Gomi. That didn’t mean he had a snowball’s chance in hell of winning this fight. Even with a good start, things fell apart in a hurry and Gomi looked totally overwhelmed.

Fallout for Gomi: If he wants to keep fighting, who am I to tell him no? He shouldn’t be fighting in the UFC at this point, but I don’t know if his value is so shot that they’d just cut him loose. Either way, this was a bad loss and he needs to be taking big steps back in competition.

Fallout for Lauzon: Much like Miller, Lauzon is still a top 20-ish gatekeeper for the UFC. Give him fights like this and he’ll knock ’em dead, give him a big step up and he’ll probably lose. Still, he’s a hell of a lot of fun to watch when he’s got a fight he can win in front of him.

Edson Barboza (-160) vs. Paul Felder (+140) (I eventually picked Barboza, I cheated)

The Expectation: I went back and forth on this a bunch. On the Vivi, I picked Felder and I felt good about that. But after the show, I started to think more about the kind of fighters that beat Barboza, and the improvements that he’d made, and I realized that Felder wasn’t that guy. As the fight neared, I became more set in that realization that Barboza would take a decision. It was still a damn close fight, and a great one, but Braboza pulled it out.

Fallout for Barboza: He’s a legit top 10 talent in the UFC. He may be almost entirely focused on one aspect of the sport, but he does it well enough that you have to be a real legit talent to beat him. It used to be that anyone who blitzed Barboza had a legit chance at beating him, but as his footwork and work-rate have improved that is less and less the case. Michael Johnson got the job done, but that was a tough fight and Barboza made it difficult every step of the way. Expect more of the same from the Brazilian in the immediate future.

Fallout for Felder: He lost, but he shouldn’t be discouraged. Paul Felder isn’t a top 10 fighter yet. And with only two and a half years as a pro under his belt, there’s no real way he should be. This was his first crack at the top of the mountain and he almost succeeded. Frankly, that makes him still a blue chip lightweight prospect, it’ll just take another year or two for him to make good on that.

Jessica Eye (+170) vs. Miesha Tate (-200) (I picked Eye, I was wrong)

The Expectation: Hope is a dangerous thing in the analysis business. I hoped Jessica Eye would win, even as I knew Tate probably would. Even as I saw the odds in Tate’s favor, I fooled myself into thinking we’d see something different, something great, a new challenger emerge. And for a moment (and to my total shock) we almost did. Eye looked good for most of a round… Right up until she got dropped by the first hard shot she ate. Then she looked bad, really bad.

Fallout for Eye: She’s not a challenger, plain and simple. In a division desperate for anyone that can string a few wins together, she can’t. In part, that’s because she’s been fighting the best on the way to the title, but if she was going to be a legit threat, then that was the best way to show it. She’s still got time to improve and make another run, and a division that will give her every opportunity, but this was supposed to be her big moment and it just didn’t happen at all.

Fallout for Tate: She’s getting a third shot at the belt that nobody is really all that interested in, but Tate honestly deserves all the credit in the world for her recent run of form. I didn’t think she’d beat Liz Carmouche and she did, I didn’t think she’d beat Sara McMann and she did, and I hoped she wouldn’t beat Jessica Eye and she did all while looking better every time out. Tate is improving a lot late in her career. Not enough to slay the dragon, but enough that she deserves legit credit.

Renan Barao (+170) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (-200) (I picked Dillashaw, I was right)

The Expectation: If you’re like me, you expected this fight to go exactly like the first one and for a number of reasons. The biggest among them being footwork. It’s not the outside sweeping jumps that set Dillashaw apart. Barao actually looked like he had a plan for those this time, using a higher output kicking game to corral Dillashaw into smaller avenues of attack. The problem is on the inside, where Dillashaw cuts tight angles as Barao attempts straight line counters to Dillashaw’s entries. Barao still had no answer for that and ended up losing much the same as the first fight because of it.

Fallout for Barao: It’s insanely tough to say right now. A shift in the title picture at 135 (as unlikely as that looks right now) and he’s right back in line for a shot at the belt. If Cruz were to beat Dillashaw, Barao would be the fight to make. The question is, is the long active career catching up with him, or does Dillashaw just have him pegged. Could be a bit of both. He could be like Machida and be great for years after losing the belt, or like Penn and basically fall off a cliff. Tough to know.

Fallout for Dillashaw: To a greater extent, his status as champion has now been affirmed. He still has the long shadow of Cruz hanging over him, but four years removed from his title reign and already almost a year out from his last bout, fans expecting Cruz to come back and beat Dillashaw are probably delusional. Dillashaw is the champ, beating Cruz would be great for him, but that belt is his and it’s time to move on.

Those are my collected thoughts from this week’s UFC card. As always, so much of what I wrote seems obvious now, but that’s the benefit of hindsight. Stay tuned for next week, when I take on Ronda Rousey and why she should find better things to do than cage fighting.

*This week’s quote from the movie Panic in Year Zero!

Watch: UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia Episode 1

The UFC is down in Brazil gearing up for Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia. It’s the sixth defense of Rousey’s belt, since she was promoted to UFC champion from her Strikeforce title reign back in late 2012. And perhaps, most difficult to believe, it’s only the 12th pro fight in Ronda Rousey’s career. Of course, that still gives her the experience edge over Correia, who started fighting as a pro just over three years ago and will step into the cage for the 10th time on August 1st in Rio de Janeiro.

So, with one of the UFC’s biggest stars gearing up to fight again, the UFC is taking fans behind the scenes for fight week to give them a look at Ronda Rousey and Bethe Correia as the two women get ready for their bout this weekend.

UFC 190 takes place in Rio de Janeiro Brazil on August 1st, here’s a look at the whole card as it stands:

PPV Card

Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia

Maurício Rua vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira

Glaico França vs. Fernando Bruno

Dileno Lopes vs. Reginaldo Vieira

Stefan Struve vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira

Antônio Silva vs. Soa Palelei

Cláudia Gadelha vs. Jessica Aguilar

FS1 Card

Demian Maia vs. Neil Magny

Rafael Cavalcante vs. Patrick Cummins

Warlley Alves vs. Nordine Taleb

Iuri Alcântara vs. Leandro Issa

Fight Pass Card

Vitor Miranda vs. Clint Hester

Hugo Viana vs. Guido Cannetti

Welcome to the UFC, Oluwale Bamgbose

Middleweight prospects are a rare thing. For a division that has built up (even recently) some shining stars, there’s a lot of chaff at the bottom of 185 lbs. When big prospects do emerge, they often have a chance to shoot up the ranks quickly. It’s a division that supports fighters that want to blitz their way to the top, if they can. It’s also a division that sees many fighters rise too far too fast and end up with multiple setback losses. The next fighter looking to turn a hot start into a powerful UFC debut is Oluwale Bamgbose. The Nigerian-American fighter comes to the UFC on the back of an injury to Joe Riggs, and will be fighting Uriah Hall at UFC Nashville on August 8th. The UFC made the signing official, So…

Who is Oluwale Bamgbose?

The 27-year old fighting out of Class One MMA under former Pride Bushido fighter Luis Azeredo (owner of a win over Anderson Silva) comes to the UFC with a 5-0 unbeaten professional record. Oluwale appears to be the first major talent to spring out of C1, having captured the Ring of Combat MW title in just his fourth pro fight, with a win over Devon Morris. Overall, he hasn’t faced any particularly surprising competition, mostly squaring up against similarly green fighters. Outside of MMA, Oluwale started TaeKwonDo at age 17 and is otherwise something of an MMA native. For a better look at his non-fighting life, you should check out Steph Haynes’ interview with him from earlier this year.

What you should expect:

Oluwale looks like a complete powerhouse in the cage. He keeps a low, wide base and dips his body down, leaping forward with fast, powerful combinations. His punching isn’t a marvel of technical ability, but he mixes hooks with straight shots to get around opponents defense and throws all his power into everything. Because of that last point, he really tends to put himself off balance as he’s throwing punches, and patient fighters (or even fighters who can counter him) can catch him overreaching and if not hurt him, cause him to lose his balance and fall to the mat. His ground game looks really raw. He’s tends to try and explode out of bad grappling positions and is mostly a blanket from top control. But, he’s shown some good tendencies for transitional strikes in the clinch or as opponents are getting up. It will be interesting to see what becomes of his kicking game. He throws some hard basic kicks, but mixes in a lot of showier, less effective strikes too. It seems like the kind overall style he couldn’t carry easily for multiple rounds, but to date hasn’t been tested that far.

What this means for his debut:

Against Uriah Hall, I’m not at all sure. Quite frankly a fighter like Bamgbose should be cannon fodder for Hall at this point in Hall’s career. There’s very little structure to his game, he looks like he’s got a low gas tank, and he’s not a way better athlete than Hall (mostly because Hall is an exceptional athlete). But, Bamgbose is aggressive and Hall is very willing to let himself get hit by fighters who won’t give him time and space to set up exactly what he wants to do. It’s a massive step up in competition for Bamgbose, but he’s got an opponent who will probably give him a chance to win.

To get us better acquainted, here’s video of Bamgbose’s January 23rd title fight against Devon Morris: