Issue 130
July 2015
A last-second stunner leads the charge for the best of this month’s MMA action.
Buzzer beater
Demetrious Johnson, UFC 186
The main event of UFC Fight Night 57 must have lit a fire under ‘Mighty Mouse’. You see, that was the fight in which Frankie Edgar stole Demetrious Johnson’s record for the latest stoppage in the promotion’s history. Five months later and the king of the flyweight division was on a mission to reclaim his record… And defend his title, of course.
His opponent was no creampuff. Naturally, Johnson had to occupy the first few rounds by casually tenderizing Kyoji Horiguchi to the point where he’d be begging for his misery to end. Finally, after 24 minutes and 59 seconds of face punching, kicking and takedowns, coach Matt Hume called for DJ to bring the curtain down as the timekeeper reached for the claxon.
“I was being lazy and Matt was like, ‘Armbar! Armbar!’ So I was like ‘F**k, better do what he says or I’m going to get yelled at.’” He must have had one eye on UFC history too.
Sweet Vick-tory
James Vick, UFC Fight Night 65
James Vick clearly didn’t pick up a copy of the last issue of Fighters Only as he traveled to Australia. If he had, he wouldn’t have suffered from what looked like some pretty serious jet lag at the start of his tussle with Jake Matthews that opened the main card.
It took the TUF 15 semi-finalist four minutes and 41 seconds to find his groove, as he chased his opponent around the Octagon. He was beaten to the punch and even slammed onto his back, which left him well and truly down under ‘The Celtic Kid’.
It took an accidental eye poke and a brief respite for Vick to finally acclimatize to his surroundings. Seconds later, ‘The Texecutioner’ landed a flying knee, which set up a fight-finishing guillotine choke that silenced the rambunctious Aussie crowd.
Wallaby Walloping
Robert Whittaker, UFC Fight Night 65
From Rory MacDonald’s awkward yet amusing attempt at slamming his fists on his chest like an excited gorilla, to ‘Jacare’ Souza’s alligator inspired dance moves, we’ve seen a lot of animal impersonations over the years at Judges’ Verdict. And now we can add Robert Whittaker’s take on kangaroo kickboxing to the list.
The 24-year-old Sydney resident bounced around the Octagon during his fight with Brad Tavares in Adelaide, launching venomous kicks at the Hawaiian as if he was a rabid dingo trying to steal his tucker.
While ultimately Tavares was able to avoid ‘The Reaper’s dangerous front kicks, he didn’t do so well against Whittaker’s vicious left hook and follow-up ground ‘n’ pound, which had him counting the stars on the Aussie flag before he could even say ‘g’day mate’. Just 44 seconds and done... Strewth!
Remember the name
Thomas Almeida, UFC 186
Sculpted on the savage mats of the Chute Boxe Academy, Thomas Almeida is one grizzly dude. And he proved just how gnarly he is when he ripped through Yves Jabouin to earn a first-round TKO that brought back memories of the gym’s ferocious heyday.
Like a crocodile, the 19-0 finisher waited patiently before unleashing a quick-fire blitzkrieg to notch his 14th career knockout. The 23-year-old was highlighted as one of FO’s ones to watch in our prospects list a few years back and he’s living up to his potential. He’s also doubled down on performance bonuses in his two Octagon appearances to date, which should equal a nice deposit on a beachfront Brazilian crib.
Co-promotion commotion
Alexandre Pantoja, RFA vs. Legacy FC
You’ll have to excuse Alexandre Pantoja if he seemed a little bit shocked by his submission victory over Damacio Page at Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy FC’s inaugural co-promotion mixer. After all, the 25-year-old probably didn’t know what day it was after he was pummeled and dropped throughout the first two rounds.
Although it was unlikely the Nova Uniao product had all his bearings with him at the time, that didn’t stop the Brazilian from running on instinct and throwing up a Hail Mary triangle choke near the end of the second frame which spectacularly put Page to sleep en route to winning the 125lb superfight championship.
Biggest beatdown
Stipe Miocic, UFC Fight Night 65
It’s hard to pick out what was more impressive: the relentless battering Stipe Miocic put on Mark Hunt during the UFC Adelaide main event or ‘The Super Samoan’s ability to take whatever his opponent dished out.
Considering we’re well aware how durable Hunt’s chin is, we’ll go with the former, because no one could’ve predicted Miocic would land 361 strikes in a four-and-a-half round beatdown that would prove to be the breakthrough moment in the Croatian-American’s career.
Miocic’s performance was so impressive, in fact, Australian politician and MMA adversary Denis Napthine singled out the bout as the reason why the sport should be banned in the country. Of course, Napthine comes across as a bit of an old spoilsport, but it’s unlikely Miocic cares about what he thinks because as the saying goes, ‘If you don’t have haters, you’re doing something wrong.’
You’re the best, around
Luke Rockhold, UFC on Fox 15
For eight years, Lyoto Machida has been the undisputed karate kid of the UFC. But at its April showing on Fox, Luke Rockhold was out to become MMA’s modern-day Daniel-san.
The Orange County’s star of surf, skate and strikes bounced to the Octagon to the theme song of the 1984 movie classic, You’re the Best, in the style of a Ralph Macchio for the current millennium. But Rockhold didn’t exactly look like the fresh-faced child star of the ‘80s. He looked like a killer.
He came to the Prudential Center in New Jersey to star in his own Karate Kid reboot, only the classic family-friendly underdog story was to be replaced with an 18-certificate snuff film, in which Daniel exacts retribution on the Cobra Kai gang (Black House) by beating poor Johnny Lawrence (Machida) to within an inch of his life. Paint the fence? Rockhold painted Machida’s face – with his own blood – and choked the air from his lungs.
Eye of the tiger
Ben Askren vs. Luis Santos, One Championship 26
Mixed martial artists have to be tough. They’re expected to fight through adversity and win by any means possible. But perhaps referee Olivier Coste expected a bit too much when he ordered Luis Santos to fight after Ben Askren inserted his thumb into his eye.
In a fine example of unorthodox MMA officiating, Coste mistook ‘Funky’s digit for his shoulder and ordered the fighters to continue their contest. Fortunately, a quick video replay reminded the ref that the human shoulder isn’t connected to the hand, and he saw the error of his ways.
Unfortunately for ‘Sapo’, he’d suffered a corneal abrasion and was in no condition to fight, even after a five-minute time out. At least he got to look like a cool pirate for the next three weeks, as doctors ordered him to wear an eye patch to protect his poked peeper.
