It’s a whole new season and Conor McGregor is the reason, as he and Urijah Faber go toe to toe as coaching foes on The Ultimate Fighter. They won’t duke it out after the season is done, but there’s still pride on the line, not to mention Conor’s reputation as the newest badass on the block. Join us each episode for “The Notorious Quote of the Week” as Conor puts his mouth where UFC’s money is! We’ll also spice things up with some predictions for week two about who could go all the way this season – two “Fighters to Watch” for each recap.
*****
There’s no Notorious Quote of the Week or Fighters to Watch this week. They crammed two fights into this episode so there really wasn’t enough time to glean anything worthwhile from the filler material.
Weigh-ins for Artem Lobov and James Jenkins open the show. Both fighters make weight. Faber predicts the entire fight will be a stand-up war and “a bloody mess.” Jenkins wants to “prove his worth and let it all hang out.” Lobov says he has the same game plan every single fight: “Hit him as hard as I can, as much as I can.”
Lightweights: Artem Lobov (Europe) vs. James Jenkins (USA)
Lobov is in the gray trunks and Jenkins the blue. Jenkins is 8-1 and Lobov is 11-10-1. That means Lobov is more experienced and more vulnerable at the same time. Both fighters get a warning for extended fingers 55 seconds in. Jenkins is trying to push Lobov into the fence and work him over, but that’s easier said than done. Lobov keeps his hands low and slams them into his face when Jenkins isn’t expecting it. He starts bleeding pretty badly and time is called at 2:44 to check the cuts. Jenkins says he’s okay to continue but Lobov keeps creaming him with the left. Lobov lands the kill shot right and pounds it out for a stoppage at4:05. Lobov looks at Dana White: “Did I promise you a good fight? A Russian Irishman always keeps his word!”
Team McGregor takes a 4-3 lead and we quickly move to the next fight announcement. David Teymur (McGregor) vs. Johnny Nunez (Faber) is up next. We don’t even see the weigh-in so we can assume both men made weight.
Lightweight: David Teymur (Europe) vs. Johnny Nunez (USA)
For unknown reasons, Conor McGregor doesn’t show up for his team for this fight, and Dana White says that after 15 minutes of waiting they had to go ahead.
Teymur is in the gray and Nunez is in the blue. Nunez dives hard for a takedown at 1:03 but it’s not there. Nunez is warned about shots to the groin, gets thrown by Teymur, Teymur starts pouring it on on the ground and the ref warns Nunez to fight back. Nunez stands back up after another warning with three minutes left in the round. Teymur is warned multiple times not to grab the fence, the fighters reset, and Nunez rocks Teymur with a shot and dives on top. Now when Teymur gets up, Nunez is getting the takedowns right away. He gets full mount with a minute left. Teymur gets half guard back as Nunez tries to posture up for elbows. A wild first round that could have gone either way.
Case partially completes a takedown at 1:18 of R2 but Teymur scrambles his way to the fence. The ref warns him about kneeing a grounded opponent as Teymur gets back up. Nunez gets another takedown at 1:56. Teymur is warned about shots to the back of the head. Teymur struggles to get off his back and can’t. At the three minute mark you can see his mouth wide open, breathing real hard, sucking wind. Nunez does get a warning to stay busy. Teymur gets up at 4:13. He lands a few good body kicks in the final 20 seconds but I’ve got Nunez winning the round clearly. The first round might have gone to Teymur with the judges though… AND IT DOES. R3 after commercial!
McGregor shows up just in time for the third round. Teymur gets on Nunez right away and he covers up on the ground for the first thirty seconds as the ref warns him to fight back. Nunez gets up at 1:09. The fact Teymur couldn’t pound him out shows just how tired he is. Actually they’re both gassed. The ref resets them at the center for inactivity at 2:07. Teymur lands a shot, Nunez dives for the legs, and time is slipping away for Nunez. He eats a kick to the head after they both stand up. Another warning to work as they wind up agains the fence.
Teymur gets multiple warnings not to grab the cage. They break with 90 seconds left. Teymur misses with a spinning head kick and Nunez finally gets a takedown at 3:55 right to side control. He takes the back with short time left and transitions to full mount. Both of these guys have come back from seemingly being totally spent and totally out of it. It wasn’t a pretty fight but it was a grueling scrap. Did Nunez do enough late to win R3 and the fight?
All three judges score R3 10-9 for a unanimous decision to David Teymur. Team McGregor takes a 5-3 lead.
The final first round fight is Abner Lloveras from Team McGregor and Jason Gonzalez from Team Faber. Join us next week!
It seemed rather sudden, and there appears to be more to the story of the sudden retirement of UFC heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop on Tuesday.
The UFC announced on Wednesday that Cro Cop has been notified by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of a potential violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and has been provisionally suspended. The UFC released a full statement on their website on Wednesday.
“UFC announced today that a scheduled bout between Mirko Cro Cop and Anthony Hamilton in Seoul, South Korea has been canceled. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has notified both Mirko Cro Cop and UFC that he has been provisionally suspended at this time due to a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation,” the statement read.
“USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Cro Cop. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time in the process.”
Cro Cop was scheduled to fight Hamilton in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 79 on November 28, but then announced he was out of the fight due to a shoulder injury and retiring from the sport. With today’s announcement, Cro Cop becomes the first fighter to be suspended since USADA took over the responsibilities for the UFC’s anti-doping program in July. Cro Cop last competed at UFC Fight Night 64 in April, scoring a TKO win over Gabriel Gonzaga in Krakow, Poland.
The UFC announced they will book Hamilton in a new bout on a card in the near future.
The UFC heads back to Australia this weekend for the third stadium show in company history, headlined by the two most dominant women in the UFC today each defending their championships in front of a potential record-setting crowd. UFC 193 takes place on Saturday night on pay-per-view with the main card airing at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 6:15 PM eastern time before heading on over to FS1 at 8 PM eastern time for more prelim action.
The most dominant woman in MMA today, UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, defends her title in the main event against undefeated challenger, Holly Holm, in a fight that could end up being the toughest test to date for Rousey. In the co-main event, the most dominant woman at 115 pounds, UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, defends her title against Valerie Letourneau, winner of four straight fights. Also on the card is a heavyweight bout between Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva, who meet in a rematch of their epic encounter from December 2013. Let’s take a deeper look into the action and give you five storylines to keep an eye on at UFC 193 on Saturday night.
1. Can Holly Holm be the woman to dethrone Ronda Rousey?
Ronda Rousey has been, arguably, the most dominant champion in UFC history, or at the very least, of the last couple of years. She is undefeated in her career at 12-0, and she has only been out of the first round once in her career. She has scored eight wins in less than a minute, three wins by knockout, and nine wins by submission, with all nine coming by her signature move- the armbar. She has amassed just under 26 minutes of total fight time in her twelve career fights. Everything about her fighting has been dominant. She has become a mainstream star unheard of in the sport, due not just to the attention she has received from being a fighter, but also due to her new-found status in Hollywood. She may not be long for the sport at this rate, but every time she steps foot inside the Octagon, you get the feeling you are about to see something special yet again.
Holly Holm is 9-0 since moving over to MMA from boxing, where she won 19 world titles in her career while putting together a 33-2-3 career record. She also has some professional kickboxing experience. She was impressive early in her MMA career, winning six of her first seven fights by knockout, leading to negotiations with the UFC. It was a long process, but she finally signed in July 2014. Injuries kept her from debuting for a while, but she was coming into the UFC with a lot of hype. She also works with one of the best fight camps in the world, the Greg Jackson camp in New Mexico, and under a lot of great coaches and with some of the best training partners in the world. She has been somewhat underwhelming in her two UFC bouts, scoring solid, yet overall unimpressive, wins over Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau. She was selected as Rousey’s next opponent, likely before she was fully ready, because it was what Rousey wanted. Holm now has the chance to show she is the one that can dethrone the champion.
Holm’s two UFC bouts have almost been like walk throughs in anticipation of a chess match with Rousey. Holm moves around a lot on her feet, and she picks her attacks rather nicely. She throws a lot, but doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. She’s methodical in her approach. Rousey is much the same. Rousey doesn’t make mistakes, and she is much better on her feet than she has gotten credit for. She is also a master of gameplans. Holm’s coach, Greg Jackson, is also a gameplan master. Holm has shown good takedown defense, and it is going to need to be on point against Rousey. Both women fight very smart and Holm isn’t going to rush in right after Rousey. This fight may be different than any Rousey fight we have seen to this date, but it is hard to envision the outcome being any different. It’s not a matter of if Rousey will win, but how long will it take. We are in store for another special moment on Saturday, but Holm will be a very tough test for Rousey to pass.
2. Does Valerie Letourneau have a chance against Joanna Jedrzejczyk?
Valerie Letourneau enters UFC 193 on Saturday night challenging Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship. She is doing it on the heels of four straight wins and is coming off a win over Maryna Moroz in August. She has been declared an undeserving challenger by most, but at the same time, they needed someone to challenge Jedrzejczyk, and she was likely the best option available at the time due to injuries and bookings to others. She enters as the biggest underdog in a title fight in history, and a simple $100 bet on her would win you $1,335 if she were to pull off the upset. Quite frankly, she is being counted out before the two women even step foot inside the Octagon. The big question is does she even stand a chance against Jedrzejczyk?
Letourneau has some solid striking and comes from a good camp in the American Top Team camp. The only losses in her career have come to Alexis Davis, Sarah Kaufman and Claudia Gadelha. Two of those have won and fought for titles, and the other, Gadelha, is next in line when she returns from the injured list. Jedrzejczyk is a different beast, though. She is undefeated in ten career fights, and she is likely the best striker in women’s fighting, no matter the weight class. She tees off on opponents, and her dominant win over Jessica Penne in her first title defense in June shows how great her attack is. She has overwhelmed both Penne and Carla Esparza in their title fight, and Gadelha has been the only one to give her a tough fight. Gadelha arugably beat Jedrzejczyk. Letourneau is going to need to be on the offensive and use her reach advantage. She won’t be able to outstrike Jedrzejczyk, so she should mix in some grappling. However, the champion is strong there. This is all set up for a showcase win for Jedrzejczyk, and it’s only a matter of how long it takes the champion to win.
3. Can Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva recapture the magic of their first fight?
Depending on who you ask and when you ask them, Mark Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva were involved in the greatest fight in UFC history when they met each other in December 2013. It was an amazing heavyweight battle that surprisingly went 25 minutes, with over 320 strikes landed between the two of them. They were bloodied and battered, and when all was said and done, the fight ended without a winner. It ended in a draw, in one of those rare occurences where a draw is determined without a point deduction to factor in. It was a magical moment on that December night in Australia, and the two big heavyweights will step back into the Octagon again on Saturday night in Australia looking to recapture the magic of their first encounter. More importantly, after a draw, they, and fans alike, want a definitive winner.
When you are involved in one of the best fights in history, if you try it again with the same components, rarely does it ever live up to the first fight. Both men are different since that war. Hunt is coming off two straight losses, one of which was a brutal beating at the hands of Stipe Miocic. Silva lost his next two fights in bad fashion, but is coming off a big win over Soa Palelei. At this stage in their careers, it is unsure if either man has much left to give to the top contenders. Both still have that power that can make a difference in the heavyweight division, but their days of challenging for titles are likely long gone. That is why this is a perfect moment for a rematch. Hunt has the biggest difference maker in his right hand, but the beating he took at the hands of Miocic may be the beginning of the end for him. Silva’s chin can hardly take a punch these days, as his last five losses have all been first-round knockout losses. They are only going three rounds this time, and I sense a different outcome this time, with a winner truly decided. Who will that be? I like Hunt getting a knockout win.
4. Will Uriah Hall continue his surge up the UFC’s middleweight rankings?
Uriah Hall steps into the Octagon for fifth time on Saturday night, and he does so for the second straight time on short notice against a dangerous opponent. Last time it was Gegard Mousasi, and most thought Hall was headed to Japan to collect a paycheck and a beating. In the first round of their bout, it was looking like it was going to be a long night for Hall. However, in the second round, Hall pulled off a highlight-reel finish that he became known for during his time on “The Ultimate Fighter”. A spinning back kick landed to Mousasi’s face, then a flying knee, and before you know it, Hall finished Mousasi in a stunning upset to collect a performance bonus, a huge win, and the number ten ranking in the UFC’s middleweight rankings. It finally looked like Hall was going to start to live up to his potential as he has now won five of his last six fights.
He gets another tough foe on Saturday night as he steps in to fight Robert Whittaker, who has been looking great himself since moving up to 185 pounds. Whittaker is a former TUF winner, but after winning his first two UFC bouts, he dropped his next two. He has since won three straight, including two straight knockout wins after deciding to make the move up from 170 pounds. He has established himself as a formidable threat in the middleweight division, and he has moved to number 14 in the UFC’s middleweight rankings. He has a lot of power in his hands and can finish fights quickly with his punches. He doesn’t have the overall striking prowess of Hall, and when Whittaker faced a similiar striker when he took on Stephen Thompson, it was Thompson finishing Whittaker. Hall has a lot of momentum, and with taking another short notice fight, while it’ll be his third fight in three months, he has a lot of confidence after the win over Mousasi. It’ll likely be a highlight-reel win in either direction, but Hall gets the job done here.
5. What else on the card is there to look out for?
The UFC 193 main card on pay-per-view rounds out with a heavyweight bout between Stefan Struve and Jared Rosholt. It will be Struve’s 16th appearance inside the Octagon, and after a long list of setbacks, he got back into the win column in scoring a decision win at UFC 190 in August over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, which will be notable in history as the last fight in the legendary career for Nogueira. For Rosholt, it will be the first pay-per-view appearance for him as he looks to extend his two-fight win streak and move into the heavyweight rankings. He is 5-1 during his stint in the UFC, but it hasn’t been an overly impressive five wins as four of them have come by decision, and in not-so-pretty fashion. If there is one thing about Struve, it is that he can be finished, as all five of his UFC losses have come by knockout. It is the chance for Rosholt to score an impressive win, or for Struve to pick up his 11th triumph inside the Octagon.
In preliminary card action, each fight will feature a fighter hailing from Australia. It is not the most-stacked preliminary card in terms of name value, but features some solid fighters. One of the big names to watch is Jake Matthews, a 21-year-old lightweight looking to bounce back from the first loss in his career. He has been impressive in his short career, scoring seven of his eight wins by stoppage, but he gets a durable opponent in Akbarh Arreola, who has 22 wins by stoppage. In welterweight action, Kyle Noke looks for his second straight win against Peter Sobotta, holder of a seven-fight win streak. UFC veterans Anthony Perosh and Gian Villante will meet in a light heavyweight bout as both men look to rebound from setbacks in their previous bouts. A fight on the UFC Fight Pass portion to keep an eye on is the night’s opening bout, a flyweight contest between Ben Nguyen and Ryan Benoit. Nguyen has won seven straight fights, while Benoit is coming off an impressive second-round TKO win over Sergio Pettis at UFC 185 in March.
Full UFC 193 Fight Card, Betting Odds and Predictions
MAIN CARD (PPV- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship: (C) Ronda Rousey vs. (#7) Holly Holm Betting Odds: Rousey (-1900), Holm (+1200) Prediction: Rousey by submission in round 1
UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship: (C) Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. (#8) Valerie Letourneau Betting Odds: Jedrzejczyk (-2150), Letourneau (+1300) Prediction: Jedrzejczyk by knockout in round 2
Heavyweights: (#8) Mark Hunt vs. (#11) Antonio Silva Betting Odds: Hunt (-265), Silva (+225) Prediction: Hunt by knockout in round 1
Middleweights: (#10) Uriah Hall vs. (#14) Robert Whittaker Betting Odds: Hall (-130), Whittaker (+110) Prediction: Hall by knockout in round 2
Heavyweights: (#14) Stefan Struve vs. Jared Rosholt Betting Odds: Struve (-125), Rosholt (+105) Prediction: Struve by decision
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)
Lightweights: Jake Matthews vs. Akbarh Arreola Betting Odds: Matthews (-900), Arreola (+600) Prediction: Matthews by submission in round 1
Welterweights: Kyle Noke vs. Peter Sobotta Betting Odds: Noke (+145), Sobotta (-165) Prediction: Noke by decision
Light Heavyweights: Anthony Perosh vs. Gian Villante Betting Odds: Perosh (+325), Villante (-400) Prediction: Villante by knockout in round 1
Flyweights: Richie Vaculik vs. Danny Martinez Betting Odds: Vaculik (-105), Martinez (-115) Prediction: Vaculik by decision
This past weekend saw televised MMA shows from both of the big 2 companies in North America.
The higher profile show was UFC Fight Night 77 from Sao Paulo Brazil on FS 1 Saturday night, which averaged 757,000 for the six-fight main card and 609,000 viewers for the four-fight prelims show, which also aired on FS 1. The show was up against huge sports competition in the form of college football on CBS, ABC, FOX, and ESPN which did numbers varying from 1.5 million all the way up to 11 million — all airing directly against the UFC show. An episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Donald Trump, did that show’s highest ratings in three years and aired against the second half of this show.
The show was down about 17.5% from the year to date average of 917,625 viewers on FS 1. The prelims show was actually up 4.4% from the year to date average of 583,083 viewers for previous Fight Night prelim shows on FS 1.
The five most recent FS 1 Fight Nights prior to Saturday had averaged 821,000 viewers and the most recent prelims shows had averaged 525,800 viewers. This would seem to indicate that the hardcore fan base that will watch any fights is actually increasing but that casual fans weren’t terribly interested in this card.
This was the lowest number for an FS 1 show since the 508,000 viewers on July 18th but that show aired in the afternoon from Scotland. The last time a prime time show did this low was the TUF 21 Finale on July 12th that did 691,000 viewers for a show headlined by Stephen Thompson vs Jake Ellenberger and the final matches of the TUF 21 show (which for the first time ever was not a tournament).
An FS 1 show one year ago this weekend, Fight Night 56, headlined by Ovince St. Preux vs Shogun Rua, did 699,000 viewers with the prelims show (airing on FS 2) doing 176,000 viewers. Again, that seems to line up with the general trend of UFC viewership being up in 2015.
Saturday’s show was headlined by Dan Henderson vs Vitor Belfort, who had fought once before on an FS 1 show also from Brazil and also on the same weekend (Nov 9, 2013). That show did 722,000 viewers, so this was up from that time with a similar level of undercard.
*****
The other show this past weekend was Bellator 145: With a Vengeance, which aired Friday night on Spike TV. This was the final tentpole event of the year for Bellator and did an audience of 814,000 viewers, headlined by featherweight champion Pitbull Friere vs Daniel Straus. Lightweight titleholder Will Brooks vs. Marcin Held and featured fights featuring Bobby Lashley and former lightweight champion Michael Chandler were also on the show.
This number was slightly up from the most recent big special for Bellator, headlined by Tito Ortiz vs. light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary, a four-man light heavyweight tournament, and two Glory kickboxing fights. That September 19th event did 800,000 viewers. The average for the five Bellator tentpole events is now 1,061,400 viewers, so this show was about 23% below that average.
Bellator has averaged 759,286 viewers per show in 2015, so this number was up 7% from that average. This is the first time that Bellator has built one of these shows around main event fighters who were essentially homegrown so in that sense it was more like a regular show. It was also in the traditional Friday night time slot while the three higher rated events took place on a Saturday.
The Bellator per show average is up 8.1% from 2014, which averaged 702,227 viewers.
Bellator’s first tentpole show featured Ortiz vs Stephan Bonnar in a heavily promoted grudge match. That show set a Bellator record of 1,241,000 viewers on Nov 15, 2014, which has since been broken by Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock earlier this year.
A shoulder injury has forced Mirko Cro Cop out of his UFC Fight Night 79 co-main event slot against Anthony Hamilton. It has also brought an end to the career of Cro Cop.
Cro Cop revealed the injury, and subsequent retirement, on his website, mirkofilipovic.com, early Tuesday. UFC officials have yet to make a formal announcement, and it is currently unknown if a replacement will be sought to fight Hamilton on the November 28 card. That event takes place in Seoul, South Korea and airs on UFC Fight Pass. It is headlined by a five-round welterweight bout between Benson Henderson and Thiago Alves.
“Dear friends, unfortunately I had to cancel the fight in Seoul. In the beginning of the preparation I already hurt my shoulder, so I couldn’t raise a hand. I tried to save a shoulder injury and repair in all possible ways: daily therapy, injections of blood plasma and various cocktails of drugs but didn’t work out. The only cure would be a break of two to three weeks, and that I could not afford in the midst of final preparations. By daily trainings the injury gets worse. Part of the muscle is snapped, the shoulder is filled with a lot of fluids, and the great danger is that tendon ruptures and then go to operation again,” wrote Cro Cop on his website.
Cro Cop has competed in the UFC, PRIDE and K-1 during his combat sports career. He was one of the major stars during the height of PRIDE in Japan, being in numerous high-profile bouts against competitors such as Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Josh Barnett. He made his Octagon debut in 2007, but has gone just 5-6 during three UFC stints. If this is the end of his career, he will end it on a high note after scoring a come-from-behind third-round TKO win over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC Fight Night 64 in April.
The 41-year-old has announced retirements in the past, only to come back to fight again. However, it truly seems like this will be the end of the legendary career of Cro Cop.
“I am aware that I have come to the end of my martial times, but training with pain I want no longer,” Cro Cop said in his statement. He continued, “This is not a temporary decision because I was unhappy due to all of that, but it’s my final decision and it’s best for me. Sooner or later the time comes when a man has to think on the health. I had a really long and great career and I believe I left a deep mark in the martial arts, in a free fight and in K-1 and I have no regrets. Thanks to everyone who followed me and supported me, but for me there remains beautiful memories.”
He finishes his career with a 33-11-2 with 1 NC record in MMA, and a 23-8 record in kickboxing.
Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Tom Lawlor is back today with a shocking amount of stuff to talk about, especially for this show! We’ve got the WWE Title Tournament, Tom’s own Filthy Invitational 2015 tourney for a copy of WWE 2K15, the Smackdown finish and whether it was the worst ever, previews of Retro Raw and Retro Nitro this week, some comedy regarding the RUMBLR app, Bellator and UFC notes for last weekend and this weekend, Shamrock vs. Gracie, RIZIN fights, fun moves Tom has successfully applied to people and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
7 Number of title defenses made by Ronda Rousey since becoming women’s bantamweight champion, which includes one in Strikeforce and six in the UFC
8 Number of wins in less than a minute for Rousey in her professional career, she also had three wins in under a minute in her amateur career
9 Number of wins by armbar scored by Rousey in her career
25:46 Total fight time for Rousey in her 12 career fights
100 Finishing rate percentage for Rousey, who has never gone the distance in a fight
44 Number of professional wins, between boxing, kickboxing and MMA, for Holly Holm in her fighting career
100 Takedown defense percentage rate for Holm in her MMA career
19 Number of title reigns in Holm’s boxing career
7 Current ranking in the women’s bantamweight division for Holm
28 Significant striking accuracy percentage rate for Holm, among the lowest in the division
10 Straight wins to start the MMA career for UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk
126 Significant strikes landed in Jedrzejczyk’s successful title defense against Jessica Penne in June
4.9 Significant strikes landed per minute by Jedrzejczyk
9 Current ranking of Valerie Letourneau in the women’s strawweight division
3.73 Significant strikes absorbed per minute for Letourneau as she heads into the fight against one of the best strikers in the sport in Jedrzejczyk
3 Inches of reach advantage that Letourneau will have over Jedrzejczyk
10 Number of wins and losses in the career of Mark Hunt, and also the number of stoppage losses in Hunt’s career
529 Total number of strikes landed in Hunt’s UFC career
1:54:11 Total Octagon fight time for Hunt, seventh-most in UFC heavyweight history
6:46 Average fight time for Antonio Silva, seventh-lowest in UFC heavyweight history
8 Inches of reach advantage that Silva will have over Hunt
6 Losses by knockout for Silva, whose last five losses have come by knockout
200 Combined number of significant strikes landed by Hunt and Silva in their first bout in December 2013
49 Days between fights, the quickest turnaround of anyone on the card, for Uriah Hall, who scored a knockout win over Gegard Mousasi on September 26
75 Win percentage rate by knockout for Hall, who has scored nine of his 12 wins by knockout
10 Current ranking for Hall in the middleweight rankings after winning five of his last six fights
14 Current ranking for Robert Whittaker in the middleweight rankings after just two fights in the division
4.83 Significant strikes landed per minute by Whittaker in UFC competition
4.29 Significant strikes absorbed per minute by Whittaker as he heads into a fight against a versatile striker in Hall
84 Inches in height and reach of Stefan Struve, the tallest fighter on the UFC roster
19 Submission attempts by Struve in, second-most in UFC heavyweight competition
2.86 Submission attempts per 15 minutes by Struve, most in UFC heavyweight competition (min. 5 fights)
12:46 Average fight time for Jared Rosholt in the UFC, highest in the UFC heavyweight division
9 Number of takedowns landed by Rosholt during his UFC career
125 Wins in NCAA college wrestling competition by Rosholt, which makes him the winningest heavyweight in the history of the Oklahoma State wrestling program
19 Age at which Jake Matthews made his UFC debut in June 2014
87.5 Career finishing rate percentage for Matthews, who has scored seven of his eight wins by stoppage
33 Career fights for Akbarh Arreola, making him the most experienced fighter on the card alongside Stefan Struve
95.6 Career finishing rate percentage for Arreola, who has scored 22 of his 23 wins by stoppage
16 Number of wins by Kyle Noke in his native Australia
3.14 Significant strikes landed per minute by Noke
93.3 Career finishing rate percentage for Peter Sobotta, who has scored 14 of his 15 wins by stoppage
83.3 Percentage of takedowns defended by Sobotta during his UFC career
43 Age of Anthony Perosh, making him the oldest fighter on the UFC 193 card
100 Career finishing rate percentage for Perosh, who has scored all of his 15 wins by stoppage
298 Significant strikes landed by Gian Villante in UFC competition
5.81 Significant strikes absorbed per minute by Villante, among the highest in the UFC light heavyweight division
90 Career finishing rate percentage for Richie Vaculik, who has scored nine of his ten wins by stoppage
5 Wins by rear-naked choke for Vaculik, who has six submission wins in his career
3 Consecutive losses for Danny Martinez, who finds himself in a must-win situation
0 Number of times Martinez has been finished in his career as his seven losses have all been by decision
4 Number of times Dan Kelly competed in the Olympics, representing Australia in judo
5 Inches of reach advantage Steve Montgomery will have over Dan Kelly
2 Consecutive losses for Richard Walsh, who likely finds himself in a win-or-be-cut fight
22 Professional wins for Steve Kennedy, who seeks his first UFC win
80 Takedowns defended percentage rate for James Moontasri during his UFC tenure
8 Days notice for Anton Zafir in making his UFC debut as an injury replacement
7 Consecutive wins for Ben Nguyen, who won his UFC debut in May
100 Career finishing percentage rate for Ryan Benoit, who has scored his eight wins by stoppage (7 by KO/TKO, 1 by submission)
(Editor’s Note: This should have ran earlier last week, but due to an error, it didn’t. Our apologies to Steve!)
It’s a whole new season and Conor McGregor is the reason, as he and Urijah Faber go toe to toe as coaching foes on The Ultimate Fighter. They won’t duke it out after the season is done, but there’s still pride on the line, not to mention Conor’s reputation as the newest badass on the block. Join us each episode for “The Notorious Quote of the Week” as Conor puts his mouth where UFC’s money is! We’ll also spice things up with some predictions for week two about who could go all the way this season – two “Fighters to Watch” for each recap.
The Notorious Quote of the Week: “That was a f—ing beautiful performance against a very solid guy.”
Last week, Julian Erosa got a majority decision to hand control back to the U.S. team, and Urijah Faber chose Thanh Le (USA) vs. Martin Svensson (Europe) for this week’s fight. If Svensson wins he’ll tie the competition 3-all, and if Le wins then the U.S. team will have a commanding 4-2 lead.
Svensson is talking trash on the U.S. fighters and says they all act like clowns and don’t try to go all out in the two rounds that they have. Artem Lobov is even pissed that they sprayed Erosa down with NOS energy drinks to celebrate his victory. “I want to at least be remembered as the guy who didn’t wear a stupid bandana with a penis drawn on it.”
Svensson says Swedish people are only polite until they get in a cage. McGregor says he can exhaust Le and then finish him with a rear naked choke. After rolling with McGregor on the ground, Svensson says there’s little doubt he’s a world champion.
Thanh Le says he’s been doing martial arts since he was five. He works as a personal trainer when he’s not fighting, and he works hard both in and outside the cage so he can afford to go see his son in Nebraska as often as possible. I’ll try not to let that have any positive bias in my view of him. He says he’ll remember to be strategic and not try to go toe-to-toe and punch-for-punch with Svensson. It’s that kind of thinking that makes Svensson a Fighter to Watch.
There’s some serious drinking going on back at the TUF house for the U.S. team – the most we’ve seen for the entire season. At first they decide to go sit poolside and chill, but then Julian Erosa starts talking smack on Chris Gruetzemacher being boring. Gruetzemacher throws water on him, and Erosa keeps running his mouth, and more and more non-water liquids are thrown on him, and eventually they start shoving.
The rest of team U.S. inside the house sees what’s going on by the pool and they run outside to intervene. It winds up with a couple of minutes of footage that are bleeped out. Team McGregor tries to have a good laugh at their expense – saying they’d rather fight each other than fight them.
I’m putting Chris Gruetzemacher on my Fighter to Watch list. Even though he’s already won to advance in theory, Dana White instructed both teams that one winning fighter will be cut. The pressure is on “Gritz” because his team believes he had a boring fight and won’t make the cut – and how he handles himself in situations like this going forward will be key.
Urijah Faber takes is team to the thrift store to buy them some loud over-the-top suits and make them look like Conor McGregor. Tom Gallichio: “The outfits we got are very Conor-esque. They’re very tight, very flashy.”
Weigh-ins: Martin Svensson is 155 even. Thanh Le is 155 too.
Lightweight: Martin Svensson (Europe) vs. Thanh Le (USA)
Le is in the blue and Svensson the gray. Instead of giving you the blow by blow this week, let’s go for round by round analysis. Svensson used takedowns, ground control, and a back mount to dominate the first 3:45 of R1. Le sprawled effectively and got on top to throw some elbows in the last half minute, but it’s unclear if that final flurry was enough to steal the round. In my mind it’s not.
Svensson goes right back to the ground game early in R2, and goes from trying to get the hooks in to winding up in full mount to getting a body lock and working his way toward a submission. Le keeps squirming his way out of danger and even tries to throw up a triangle but Svensson avoids it. Eventually Le just runs out of escapes and taps to the RNC at 3:39. Team McGregor evens it up!
McGregor announces his picks for next week’s fight: Artem Lobov (Europe) vs. James Jenkins (USA). Come back to see what happens next week!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today for two full hours to talk all the news of the weekend — Seth Rollins, the Survivor Series tournament, Bellator and UFC results and upcoming big fights, New Japan Power Struggle and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
We have a packed weekend edition of Wrestling Observer Radio tonight! Tons to discuss including UFC from Brazil with the Dan Henderson vs. Vitor Belfort main event, more on New Year’s Eve in Japan with Fedor Emelianenko, New Japan Power Struggle, Alberto actually gets cleared to do a non-WWE match, Seth Rollins surgery and comeback update and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
