UFC

[Justin Bieber]

Saw that, think it was a bit premature as agree with you, certainly was defending himself well and wasn't taking too much damage. Was certainly rocked and in trouble, but would have let it go a bit longer. Doubt he was thinking to scream out incase it wasn't heard, so tried that thumbs up but to no avail.

Have to say though, even with all that, he didn't complain and took that stoppage as it was. Said he'll get back to fighting his way back to a shot so got to admire him for that. Just sad it was taken away from him so fast after smashing that 2013 away.

Aldo was able to hold off Lamas but knew Lamas was a tough guy. Took those leg kicks and everything and kept on coming! Could even get a superfight of Aldo Vs Pettis soon!!!! Except, Aldo would have to vacate his FW belt to get that LW shot.

[DazBurg]

jeez HB having watched the first 3 episodes of TUF (waiting for episode 4)
reckon your bro would be spewing being so close and then the aussies being beaten convincingly

[CrowsFan]

Hmm haven't actually watched the season. Yeah I'm sure he would be spewing. Because he wasn't on the show he ended up breaking his collarbone and required surgery around christmas time. Currently healing, but he is entered in to an 8 man tournament to fight for the Middleweight championship for the Brace organisation. First fight is in May (I think).

Funny thing was Brace announced the tournament and asked people to submit their resumes if they wanted to apply, then a few days later before he applied he received an email from them asking if he would like to enter. So he was basically hand picked for it :)

[DazBurg]

Hmm haven't actually watched the season. Yeah I'm sure he would be spewing. Because he wasn't on the show he ended up breaking his collarbone and required surgery around christmas time. Currently healing, but he is entered in to an 8 man tournament to fight for the Middleweight championship for the Brace organisation. First fight is in May (I think).

Funny thing was Brace announced the tournament and asked people to submit their resumes if they wanted to apply, then a few days later before he applied he received an email from them asking if he would like to enter. So he was basically hand picked for it :)

nasty with the injury
so his close to being back to full strength after the collarbone then?

fantastic to hear he was pretty much handpicked
good luck to him hope he smashes them all  ;)

[CrowsFan]

Hmm haven't actually watched the season. Yeah I'm sure he would be spewing. Because he wasn't on the show he ended up breaking his collarbone and required surgery around christmas time. Currently healing, but he is entered in to an 8 man tournament to fight for the Middleweight championship for the Brace organisation. First fight is in May (I think).

Funny thing was Brace announced the tournament and asked people to submit their resumes if they wanted to apply, then a few days later before he applied he received an email from them asking if he would like to enter. So he was basically hand picked for it :)

nasty with the injury
so his close to being back to full strength after the collarbone then?

fantastic to hear he was pretty much handpicked
good luck to him hope he smashes them all  ;)

Haven't heard from him in a while, so assuming it's all going fine. Got a metal rod screwed on to the collar bone, so should be pretty tough :)
I think they said he could start full training 6 weeks after the surgery, so should be close to a full return to training. When I was home over summer I went to the gym and did some personal training with him even though he only had one arm. Pictures don't do him justice, he is a big boy when you see him in person! :o

[Grazz]

Good to hear HB.

[j959]

UFC 170 recap
(and opinion)

Stephen Thompson vs Rob Whittaker
Hadn't seen 'Aussie' Rob (NZ born) Whittaker fight before and he wasn't bad but he just came up against a striker with some range and precision. Whittaker was tagging Thompson with his jab but it was tough to close the distance with Thompson's long-leg kicks (kick-boxing background? definitely martial arts base).

Whittaker had trouble closing the distance because of this and he got a straight right which put him down and when he went to come up got hit again and grabbed Thompson's leg trying to recover but he wasn't able to defend enough before Herb Dean called towards the latter half of the 1st rd.

Analysis: Whittaker has the power, but he needs to train to stay in the pocket more if he wants to trade with better strikers with more length (and precision)

[Justin Bieber]

Tough break for Rob HB :(. Glad to hear he's got his next match lined up for him in that Tourney! Winning it would certainly help out getting a bigger name 8).

Yeah, Whittaker is still young and learning. Has some wrestling ability but chooses to stand and use his jab with his past few opponents. Shouldn't have stood with Thompson with his kickboxing skills :-X. Probably just needs to work on his gameplans a bit more rather than standing with everybody!

UFC 170 wasn't too bad from some of the prelims I saw. All went to decision though but some nice fights I liked there. Davis Vs Eye was a very close fight with two of the top women in the division. Also saw the potential #1 contender for the Bantamweight title in Assuncao (however you spell it :P ) dominate his opponent!

[j959]

ha, ha!

i had recaps for the other main card fights too!
thought i'd posted them but must of gotten lost somewhere in the interwebs ether??  ;)

yeah, Assuncao (also don't know how to spell) will hopefully be a good match for Barao ...

[j959]

UFC 171 - quick recap:

Got to the pub late and missed Lombard vs Shields ...  :'(
Was 'reliably' informed that Lombard dominated Shields and looked almost 'beastly'.

Myles Jury vs Diego Sanchez
Always a crowd-pleasing fighter, Diego but he has only 1-speed and no plan B - basically Diego started brawling and got some good shots in but Jury then just kept him at bay and picked him apart with the jab, leaving Diego cut and bloodied and getting the decision easily.

Analysis: Diego needs to control his aggression more and use his head but the way he fights is to hype himself up into a frenzy, so maybe he knows no other way?? In any event, this style makes him a crowd favourite and excitement machine.

Tyron Woodley vs Carlos Condit
Woodley looked HUGE! He is a 'big' welterweight and I did think that Condit would get smashed - Woodley was a pretty big underdog but understandable given Condit's experience. Anyway, Condit wasn't in as much trouble as I thought but Woodley's power meant as usual that the fight could have ended quickly at any time.

Exchanges on the feet were pretty even, except for the difference in power with Woodley and on the ground, Woodley was definitely worried about Condit's under-rated BJJ and let him stand up a few times. Then Condit's ankle buckled a bit in an exchange and a little while later in the 2nd round he went to check a kick and in doing so put all his weight on other leg and his knee blew out with the ref quickly stepping in with Condit on the ground writhing in agony.

Multiple replays brought collective groans from the crowd and I couldn't watch it again after the 3rd or so slo-mo replay.  :-X  :-\ ... ouch!

Woodley is now a definite contender for the welterweight title - would have been good to see if the fight went deep into the 3rd round if Woodley's cardio would have stood up. He is a devastating finisher but haven't seen him deep into fights as yet.

Johny Hendricks vs Robbie Lawler
I thought this would be a 'redemption' fight for Hendricks, with him winning the belt he should have been given last time against GSP. Again, I wouldn't say that Hendricks was robbed but the scoring system for MMA needs to be over-hauled as it is too weighted towards wreslters and take-downs which seem to 'score' even if the person does nothing to the opponent on the ground or they stand-up straight away.

Anyway, Lawler looked cool, calm and collected and I thought that Hendricks' experience having already just fought for the title would be noticeable but it wasn't so. Hendricks definitely took the first two rounds but I didn't see any of the power he had brought to the octogon in all his recent fights.

I think he let Lawler back in, and Lawler got comfortable and Lawler definitely got the 3rd & 4th rounds with multiple jabs and overhand lefts to Hendricks' head.  Final round I thought was pretty similar to the 3rd & 4th except Hendricks knew that he needed it to win the belt and he upped his work-rate and got his jab and straight and over-hand lefts going and finally got Lawler to the ground to end the round. Got the unanimous and definitely deserved the title but where was the fighter who I reckon dominated GSP last fight??

Lawler was impressive and certainly is no slouch, but surely there was a come-down in class for Hendricks fighting Lawler over GSP, but that just was not evident.

I think Woodley should get the shot against Hendricks next and then maybe let Lawler have another crack at the winner.

cheers,
j959

[Justin Bieber]

Nice round up once again Jay :).

Heard Lombard pretty much dominated Shields, and had him almost finished that first round. The drop down to WW for him has seen him look alot better than when he was at MW when he entered.

Jury was injured in his first TUF, came back for another and didn't make finals. Undefeated though in actual competition so they gave him a step up here in Diego, even said he was "surprised at how easy he beat him"...

Sad about Condit, think it was the takedown in the 2nd which hurt his knee, then landing on it after being kicked was too much. Hopefully he recovers well, but may be quite the layoff. Massive win for Woodley though :o. As you said J, looked to be controlling Condit that first round but sort of gassed in the 2nd, so a bit of a reprieve that Condit got injured.

Think you're right, Woodley looks next up for Hendricks. Think Lawler may face like Shields or somebody still high up to keep him active. But WW is quite open, still have others like Lombard, Stun Gun, Matt Brown even (was meant to fight Condit end of last year but then had to pull out :( ). I'd love to see Matt Brown in there, although he's pretty much a stand up guy with many of his losses in the past coming from submissions.

For the prelims, the ones I saw were pretty action packed.
Jessica Andrade may be like 2 wins away from a title shot considering the depth of the division.
Dennis Bermudez continues his tear in the FW division after losing his TUF final to Diego Brandao. Very strong wrestler who controlled Hettes and picked him apart on the feet as well until basically Hettes would fall down when he was punched in the 3rd round.
The man who is hyped up alot ever since he beat Uriah Hall, Kelvin Gastelum, beat Rick Story. Pretty big step up in competition for him and he looked good in the first round, got rocked in the 2nd and came back in what was a close contest. He was the favourite going in against Story which I don't know why he was, but future looks bright for him!

[j959]

hey CF, when's your lil bro's next fight again?

i can't look up FB at the moment, but know he posted recently ...

[CrowsFan]

Here ya go :)



Apparently the other guy is also undefeated, but I don't think he's had as many fights.

[j959]

cool!
he recovering ok from the inj?

[Justin Bieber]

Nice, being put in that mini tournament for the title :D. Hopefully Rob can get up and be the one to keep his undefeated streak going!