Category Archives: UFC

Breaking Down the UFC 207 Kāri Main: Arokite me nga Matapae

 

By: Rich Bergeron

UFC 207 marks the long-awaited return ofRowdy” Ronda Rousey (12-1) to an Octagon she once dominated as the women’s bantamweight champion. The title taken from Rousey in dramatic fashion by Holly Holm is now around the capable waist of Amanda Nunes (13-4). Rousey will have a chance to rip it off and put it back around her own hips on December 30th.

Rousey’s been out of the cage for over a year, and she already confirmed recently that her career in mixed martial arts is coming to a close. Nunes is young, hungry and intimidating as the underdog (+150) looking to hold on to her belt against the legendary Judoka and MMA juggernaut. Rousey comes in as the favorite at -185.

For more odds and betting information visit 12BET.

There are more questions than answers going into this blockbuster event. Will Rousey shake off the ring rust and return to glory? Is she already one step toward retirement? Can Nunes quiet her doubters and continue to degrade the legacy of the first ever UFC women’s bantamweight champion? Ko nga mea katoa e tupu, the first round will be crucial. Both women will be looking to make it a quick night.

Matapae: Rousey comes back with a vengeance and displays much improved striking and kick defense. Nunes battles hard and represents the best Brazil has to offer, but Ronda has too much to lose. She may not have a perfect record to protect anymore, but she does have a perfect reason to win this fight. She also needs to establish her alpha status to shut her own critics up and prove she is back to reclaim her title. Rousey wins by knockout early in the second round.

Another UFC bantamweight title is on the line in the co-main event. Dominic Cruz (22-1) gives Cody Garbrandt (10-0) a crack at the belt in what could be a true slugfest. Though Cody never lost a fight and knocked out nine of his ten career opponents at the professional level, Dominic Cruz (-225) is rolling along on a 13-fight win streak that dates back to March of 2008. Garbrandt (+175) does represent a proverbialpuncher’s chance” i konei, ahakoa. He’s won his last three bouts by TKO or knockout. All of them ended thank’s to Cody’s lighting fast punching power.

Matapae: Considering that Cruz is a tactical, defensive fighter, he will thrive as the fight gets into the deeper rounds. Garbrandt cannot win without a first round knockout as the experience and raw talent Cruz brings to the cage is unique and dynamic. He makes adjustments like no other fighter and uses body and head movement that seems to confound every opponent he’s faced in recent years. Cody will have to catch “Ko te Dominator” to connect with him, and he’ll have just one round to do it. Cruz wins by late round TKO or Unanimous Decision.

A heavyweight clash between Fabricio Werdum (21-6-1) and Cain Velasquez (14-2) is also featured at UFC 207. The fight is a rematch of a UFC 188 war between the two goliaths, which ended with Werdum winning the championship bout by third-round submission (Guillotine choke).

This time around, Velasquez is the favored fighter (-210) while Werdum is a +170 underdog. This is another brawler vs. tactician match-up, and it could go either way. Werdum showed a weak chin against Stipe Miocic, and Cain will be looking for every opportunity to check it.

Matapae: Velasquez dispatches Werdum inside of two rounds. Cain’s striking is superior to Werdum, and he will not make the mistake of letting Werdum take the fight to the ground this time. Velasquez by KO.

Neil Magny (18-5) and Johny Hendricks (17-5) come into the cage for UFC 207 as two of the best welterweights in the league. Both are experiencing some ups and downs in sport lately, ahakoa. Magny had a three fight win streak stopped by Lorenz Larkin in his last bout while Hendricks lost three out of his last four fights. Hendricks is a far cry from his former self and a long way from his championship days. Stephen Thompson wiped the mat with Hendricks en route to a brutal TKO before Kelvin Gastelum stepped into the cage across from the former champ and took home a unanimous decision after three hard fought rounds.

Matapae: Magny is the more durable and dynamic fighter, and Hendricks can’t get close enough to land his best power shots. Magny will stop Hendricksadvances, deny his takedown attempts and submit or stop the former champ before the final bell. Magny by third-round TKO.

Leading off the main card is another fight involving a former champion. T.J. Dillashaw (13-3) battles journeyman JohnHands of StoneLineker (29-7) in a bantamweight fight bound to be a future classic. Lineker brings an intensity, power and accuracy that is simply astonishing to witness. Dillashaw moves around the cage like an Irish stepdancer, dodging attacks like a Mexican bullfighter. Lineker showed in his last bout with John Dodson that he can be a crafty, technical fighter as well.

Matapae: What T.J. lacks is Lineker’s strength: POWER. Lineker will learn to find his range in the second round and start to penetrate Dillashaw’s unorthodox defense. Midway through the third round he will catch T.J. backing up and end the fight on the feet with a brutal series of punches, kicks, knees and elbows against the cage. Lineker by third-round TKO.

Daniel Weichel Interview: FNU aro Sports Whakaatu

December rolls on with another stuffed edition of the FNU Combat Sports Show.

 

We feature an important interview with Bellator MMA Fighter Daniel Weichel at the end of the broadcast. Weichel will be fighting next week at Bellator 169. During the rest of the show we recap past events and discuss the Fighter Organization effort at length. Tom, Tony and Rich cover a variety of scheduled events and results from last week. We detail and preview all the major matches in boxing and mixed martial arts.

 

Rich Interviews Daniel Weichel:

Veazey to Conor McGregor: I’ll fight you now

Baltimore, MD (Hakihea 6, 2016) – There was much talk throughout the boxing world last week when UFC superstar Conor McGregor received a boxing license from the California State Athletic Commission.

McGregor, widely considered the best mixed martial artist in the world, has been clamoring for a superfight with Floyd Mayweather. The bout would be a traditional boxing match. Talk surrounding Mayweather-McGregor received heavy criticism and it’s highly unlikely an athletic commission would sanction a five division world champion with a 49-0 record against an opponent making his debut.

Tikanga, debuting boxers face opponents that only have a few professional bouts.

Enter Joey “Bazooka Joe” Veazey.

Living and fighting out of Maryland, the 18-year-old had a successful amateur career and turned pro with a four round decision victory in October. A big ticket seller in his home state, Veazey is an honor student focused on being a star in and out of the ring. While many other young professional boxers would wait for a high profile fight, Veazey is ready to show McGregor he should stick to his own sport.

“The whole boxing world already knows Conor McGregor doesn’t belong in the same ring as Mayweather. I just had my pro debut and he recently got licensed so on paper, that’s an approvable fight by the athletic commission. If he does face me however, I’d prove to the world that he’s not a boxer and end the hype he’s started. He thinks he can just walk into this sport and face the best? That’s not how it works. If you really want to get in the boxing ring, I’d gladly expose you right now because boxing is no joke!"

Veazey’s next fight is scheduled for January 13 in Maryland and his promoter Jake Smith of Baltimore Boxing has already discussed licensing McGregor with Maryland State Athletic Commission executives.

FNU aro Sports Whakaatu: Miesha’s FU to Dana White, GSP and the Giant Fighters Union, Conor Being Conor and Ward vs. Kovalev recap

This week on the FNU Combat Sports Show we discuss a fantastic month of November as far as fighting goes. We only had two shows last month, so we kick off this week in catch up mode. We discuss Ward vs. Kovalev at length, go off on a few tangents and then get to Tony’s review ofBleed For This.We then go back to MMA for Rich’s commentary on Miesha Tate telling Dana White, “FU, you’re not my boss..after his request that she go to the hospital after her fight with Raquel Pennington. Tate retired earlier in the evening after a stellar career. Rich also gets going about the fighter union front and some new developments with Georges St. Pierre, Ex-Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, Kaina Velasquez, T.J. Dillashaw and other UFC notables breaking new ground in the niche with the founding of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association. We also manage to preview the upcoming weekend’s boxing schedule before the end of the broadcast tonight.

Part One:

 

Part Two:

“Rauna 7, Operation Knockoutcharity event for Randy Couture’s G.I. Foundation Airing this Sunday night on CBS Sports Network

Kia tukuna tonutia atu
Las Vegas (Whiringa 25, 2016) – Te “Rauna 7, Operation Knockoutamateur mixed-martial-arts and grappling card, presented by Tuff-N-Uff in association with Neon Star Media, will air TONIGHT (Nov. 27), tīmata i 11 p.m. AND / 8 p.m. PT i runga i CBS Sports Whatunga.
The seventh annualOperation Knockout,” held last Saturday evening at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, was created to help Randy Couture’s G.I. Foundation raise funds and awareness for wounded soldiers and their families.
There was something for everyone with nine amateur MMA fights, four of which were for title belts, and six super-fight grappling bouts featuring Bellator’s Ryan Couture, ex-UFC fighter Ulysses Gomez and current UFC fighter Anthony Birchak, former Bellator fighter and active military, Michael Parker, former Lion Fight fighter Fanny Tommasino, and current Combate Americas fighter and former Tuff-N-Uff fighter, Kyra Batara.
Veteran MMA announcers Sean Wheelock, Joey Varner and living legend Couture called all the action live from ringside.
Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation whakarato tautoko e tika ana, me te ratonga mō hoia i taotū me o ratou hapu, he tokomaha o nei hoki ki amputations pāmamae, te pū, weranga me wharanga hau. One-hundred percent of the proceeds are given as Operation Knockout continues to build on its efforts to raise more money and help more wounded soldiers and their families. With help of its generous sponsors and donations, “Operation Knockhad raised more than $170,000 going into this year’s event.
CBS Sports Network is available across the United States through local cable, ataata me ngā ratonga telco me mā amiorangi i runga i DirecTV Channel 221 a te rihi Channel Whatunga 158. Mō ētahi atu pārongo, tae atu ki te rärangi hötaka tonu, me te ki te tiki CBS Sports Whatunga, haere ki te www.cbssportsnetwork.com
KŌRERO:
Twitter: @tuffnuff, @Neonstarmedia, @randy_Couture

FNU aro Sports Whakaatu: UFC 205 & Bellator 164 Previews, Trump’s Win, Jones Suspended and Stripped of Title, Pacquiao vs.. Mayweather Rematch Talks

Tom, Rich and Tony break down the week’s combat sports news, recap last week’s fight cards and look forward to the huge events happening this weekend. UFC 205 features three world title fights while Bellator makes a historic debut in Israel on Friday. Danny Garcia will also take on Samuel Vargas to headline one of Premier Boxing Championshipsfinal blockbuster cards of 2016. We start off the broadcast with some political discourse about the election of Donald Trump as the 45th United States President.

 

 

Whawhai Foaki e Whatunga TUATAHI: Defending Honor, FC tawhito 62 & UFC 205 Pre & Post-Fight Coverage Live

For Immediate Release – November 10, 2016

 

 

 

Toronto, Canada - Whawhai Whatunga, pirimia o te ao 24/7 multi-platform channel dedicated tocomplete coverage of combat sports, presents a pair of action-packed live mixed martial arts events this Friday, Nov. 11, ki KOTAHI Championship: Defending Honor from Singapore at 7:30 a.m. AND a FC tawhito 62: Lovato vs. Coleman from Oklahoma at 10 p.m. AND.

Fight Network will also deliver comprehensive live news coverage for the historic UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor from New York, including the live UFC 205 Teeigh-ins i runga i te Paraire, Nov. 11 i 6 p.m. AND, a special live two-hour UFC 205 Pre-Whakaatu i runga i Rāhoroi, Nov. 12 i 6 p.m. AND, plus a live UFC 205 Post-Whakaatu i āhua 1 a.m. AND, including the live post-fight press conference from Madison Square Garden.

Fight Network’s live presentation of KOTAHI Championship: Defending Honor i 7:30 a.m. ET features two world title fights as ONE lightweight champion Shinya Aoki (39-6) defends his title against Eduard Folayang (16-5) o nga Philippines, while ONE featherweight champion Marat Gafurov (14-0) battles former titleholder Narantungalag Jadambaa (12-4) of Mongolia in a highly anticipated rematch. I roto i te tahi atu pāngia e whakaatu nei, featherweights Timofey Nastyukhin (10-2) a Kotetsu Boku (24-11-2) will collide, popular Brazilian prospect Michelle Nicolini (2-1) meets Egypt’s Mona Samir (1-1) i roto i te o te wahine strawweight a'ee, Singaporean Tiffany Teo (3-0) makes her ONE Championship debut against Egyptian Walaa Abas (2-3) in a flyweight matchup, plus former UFC star Roger Huerta (22-9-1, 1NC) attempts to right his ship opposite promotional veteran Adrian kiano i (22-9-2).

I muri mai, i 10 p.m. AND, FC tawhito 62: Lovato vs. Coleman will be headlined by a clash for the Legacy middleweight championship, as undefeated Brazilian jiu-jitsu guru Rafael Lovato Jr. (3-0) faces his toughest career test against big show veteran Cortez Coleman (13-6). Te whakaawhiwhi i te kāri, Mike Maldonado (5-0) e i runga i Justin Rader (4-2) i roto i te a'ee mā, Derrick Adkins(8-2) kanohi Manny Muro (5-2) in a lightweight encounter, Teagan Dooley (4-0) tries to stay perfect against fellow welterweight Braden Smith (5-1), plus undefeated prospects will cross paths when Chris Mullins (3-0) a Emmanuel Rivera (4-0) square off in a featherweight tilt.

Fight Network’s live UFC 205 coverage includes:

– Rāmere, Nov. 11 i 6 p.m. ET – UFC 205 Paunatia-mai

– Rāhoroi, Nov. 12 i 6 p.m. ET – UFC 205 Pre-Whakaatu
– Rātapu, Nov. 13 i 1 a.m. ET – UFC 205 Post-Whakaatu

I tua atu ki te ngā ora katoa, Whawhai Ko te ūnga mō te UFC ihirangi puna Whatunga, motuhake me raupapa, whai wāhi Ko te Ultimate Fighter, UFC tuku, UFC Na, UFC Ultimate Insidera matarohia UFC PPV ngā.

Hoki te rārangi ki tonu i te rärangi päho Fight Whatunga a, tirohia www.fightnetwork.com, followus on Twitter @fightnet, riro i te tahi i runga i Facebook, ka tirotiro i tatou ki runga ki Instagramfightnet.

Sex, Drugs and Rock NRoll Edition of the FNU Combat Sports Show

Tom, Tony and Rich discuss the last two weeks of combat sports news and events. We also preview a busy weekend for boxing. This is the Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll edition as we have stories to discuss in all three categories. We chat about Tyson Fury doing cocaine, Josh Samman’s possible drug overdose death, Donald Trump and Mike Tyson talking about rumors that Trump had an affair with Robin Givens, and some high profile rockers and other celebrities buying into the UFC (Flea, Adam Levine, Anthony Keidis). We also recap UFC 204, headlined by an epic five round battle between Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping. Bisping won the fight, but Henderson did plenty of damage and went into retirement with an effort for the ages. Listen to us break it all down:

Whawhai Foaki e Whatunga TUATAHI: State of Warriors, WSOF 33 & UFC 204 Weigh-ins Live this Friday, Oketopa. 7

Toronto – Fight Network, pirimia o te ao 24/7 multi-platform channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents a stacked day of live mixed martial arts coverage this Friday, Oketopa. 7, timata i 9:30 a.m. AND ki KOTAHI Championship: State of Warriors from Yangon, Myanmar. Shortly after the event concludes, Fight Network presents the live UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson 2 weigh-ins i 1 p.m. ET from Manchester, Ingarangi. To cap off the day, World Series of Fighting invades Kansas City for WSOF 33: Gaethje vs. Dugulubgov, e haamata i 11 p.m. AND.

In the main event of ONE Championship: State of Warriors, the best male strawweight fighter on the planet will be determined when ONE 115-pound kingpin Yoshitaka Naito (11-0) defends his crown against undefeated Filipino challenger Joshua Pacio (12-0). I roto i te tahi atu pāngia e whakaatu nei, “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang (18-9) faces once-beaten Poland Top Team product Michal Pasternak (11-1), Filipino bantamweight sensation Kevin Belingon (13-5) collides with Tajikistan native Muin Gafurov (10-1), plus Australian bantamweight prospect Jordan Lucas (8-1) looks to return to the win column when he battles hardened Russian veteran Yusup Saadulaev (15-4-1, 1NC).

Na, the official weigh-ins for UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson 2 will feature all of Saturday’s competitors tipping the scales at 1 p.m. AND, including UFC middleweight champion and hometown favorite Michael Bisping, kaiwero Dan Henderson, co-main event stars Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi, plus Jimi Manuwa, Ovince Saint Preux, Stefan Struve and Daniel Omielanczuk. The weigh-ins will include live analysis from Fight Network’s Toronto studios and will replay on Saturday, Oketopa. 8 i 7 p.m. ET leading into the live prelims on TSN2.

Also on Saturday, Oketopa. 8, Fight Netwok presents a three-hour special entitled Michael Bisping: Road to Redemption i 12 p.m. AND, which profiles Bisping’s key fights that have led to his eventual rematch with Dan Henderson for the UFC middleweight championship. The special will be followed by UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping 2 i 3 p.m. AND, which takes you back to Bisping’s thrilling championship upset.

The stacked, six-fight main card for the unprecedented three-hour broadcast of WSOF 33: Gaethje vs. Dugulubgov includes a lightweight championship main event between reigning, toa tūturu Justin "Ko e Miramirahia" Gaethje (16-0) a No. 1 nguha Ozzy Dugulubgov (8-2), atu Rawiri Manga (16-3) defends his light heavyweight title against Vinny Magalhaes (15-7) i roto i te hui tahi-matua. Other confirmed bouts include a lightweight tilt between WSOF 25 eight-man tournament winner Brian Foster (25-9) and Brazilian veteran Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (19-6), a featured lightweight contest pitting Jason “The Kansas City Bandit” High (19-5) ki João "Te Beresiria Samurai" Zeferino (20-8), a welterweight matchup between John “Doomsday” Howard (24-12) a Abubakar Nurmagomedov (12-1-1) and kicking off the main card will be a heavyweight showdown between two WSOF newcomers and knockout artists – Shawn “The Savage” Jordan (18-7) a Ashley “Gio” Gooch (10-4).

I tua atu ki te ngā ora katoa, Whawhai Ko te ūnga mō te UFC ihirangi puna Whatunga, motuhake me raupapa, whai wāhi Ko te Ultimate Fighter, UFC tuku, UFC Na, UFC Ultimate Insider a matarohia UFC PPV, WEC a Whakapehapeha ngā.

Hoki te rārangi ki tonu i te rärangi päho Fight Whatunga a, tirohia www.fightnetwork.com, te whai ia tatou i runga i Twitterfightnet, riro i te tahi i runga i Facebook, ka tirotiro i tatou ki runga ki Instagramfightnet.

FNU aro Sports Whakaatu: Fury Faces Boxing Ban, UFC Fighters Speaking Out, Takahanga Arokite ko recaps

Tom, Tony and Rich discuss this week’s most significant fight cards, and major combat sports news. We also recap last weekend’s major combat sports events. We cover Roy Nelson’s kicking of Big John McCarthy, Heavyweight Boxing Champion Tyson Fury telling drug testers to “F” atu, Premier Boxing Champions and their dwindling fight cards, and the recent torrent of UFC fighters willing to voice their displeasure with the organization and the pay scale. Could it be that the Fertitta exodus has fighters less intimidated by the shadow of the family’s former mafia ties? Rich has a little soap box moment on this subject.