Issue 109
December 2013
Water and walkouts, pain and perseverance, spins and silence. It’s that time again...
FIGHT OF THE YEAR?
Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson, UFC 165
You tell us, should we just throw out all the other contenders for ‘Fight of the Year’ at the Fighters Only Awards? Or are you good people going to spend sleepless nights considering whether Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez deserves your vote instead? Either way, Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 was perhaps the best UFC 205lb title fight ever. Which is saying something considering that strap of leather and metal has been around in one form or another for 16 years.
On paper, it appeared Gustafsson didn’t have anything Jones couldn’t handle. Sure, the Swede was taller and the possessor of a suitably long reach, but could his light-footed boxing produce enough power to threaten the never-stopped ‘Bones’? And wouldn’t his limited ground game fall prey to Jones’ experienced wrestling and dominant top game? The answers were yes and no.
From bloodying Jones’ eyes and lips, to stuffing all but one of the American’s heralded takedowns and becoming the first man to get ‘Bones’ to the mat in the Octagon, it was exhilarating to watch such an underrated contender prove so troubling to such a well-regarded champion. Should Gustafsson have come away with a new piece of jewelry? According to the judges, the unanimous decision belonged to Jon Jones. But it sure would have blown the roof off Toronto’s Air Canada Centre if it hadn’t.
WORST SPORTSMANSHIP
Rousimar Palhares, UFC Fight Night 29
All the plaudits stocky now-welterweight Rousimar Palhares should have got for his 31-second heel hook submission of Mike Pierce kind of went out the window when he wouldn’t let go after the referee ended the fight. Making his welterweight debut at UFC Fight Night 29 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Palhares had already had one leg lock attempt thwarted by Pierce when he dropped down for another from a single-leg position. Pierce was tapping seconds later, which, as has historically been the case, didn’t deter the Brazilian from maintaining his lock. Even when the referee leaped upon the pair and tried to break the hold, the former 185lb’er took several seconds to relent. It’s not the first time ‘Toquinho’ has done it. This time he missed out on the $50k ‘Submission of the Night’ bonus which went unclaimed on account of no other submissions, and lost his UFC contract. Lesson learned?
MOST UNCOMFORTABLE CAGESIDE MOMENT
Bola Omoyele, Cage Warriors 60
Full marks to Bola Omoyele, The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes veteran, for keeping his fight face on while he was stood outside the Cage Warriors 60 ring for what seemed like forever. Having paced to the cage ready for his London welterweight meeting with fellow TUF vet Aaron Wilkinson, Omoyele was stood for an awkwardly long time at the fighter inspection point, where scrappers are patted down by an official. Turns out Bola had made his walk to the cage without his protective cup. Which, for whatever reason, encouraged the cameraman to show a shot of the London man’s groin, where his un-armored member was eye-burningly visible through his compression shorts. Omoyele finally cupped up (by dropping trou’ cageside), but would lose by second-round TKO. What a low blow.
LIFE STARTS AT 38
Caol Uno, Vale Tudo Japan 3rd
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Someone needs to tell Japanese UFC veteran Caol Uno that 38-year-old men aren’t supposed to be beating fighters 15 years their junior, let alone submitting them with inverted triangles. As you can tell, these are both things the 17-year fighter did, with Team Alpha Male prospect Daniel Romero being his victim. It could have gone the other way when Uno was dropped twice in the opening frame, but he rallied and, with the help of a kick-centric attack, put Romero on the back foot in round two. He finally converted one of his foot sweeps into significant mat time, slipped around into side control then stepped over for the finish. Not bad for an old man.
QUIETEST WIN
Dong Hyun Kim, UFC Fight Night 29
The partisan Brazilian crowd couldn’t have gone silent quicker when Erick Silva, touted as a future national hero and UFC champion, was knocked out cold by Dong Hyun Kim in suburban Sao Paulo. Silva had been looking every bit the explosive young gun until a tiring and bruised Kim plowed a left hook into his chin, causing the Brasileiro to collapse like a house of cards. As an asterisk, Kim had stopped himself being taken down seconds earlier with a fence grab – as if MMA was running low on controversy – but, still, Silva gave up the back control he had entirely of his own volition. Nevertheless, Kim will probably never have a quieter celebration the rest of his career.
SPIN IT
Renan Barao, UFC 165
One can only assume being Brazilian gifts you the ability to finish a fight with a spinning strike. Because in recent memory Edson Barboza, Vitor Belfort, and Junior Dos Santos have all done it; and at UFC 165 interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao scribbled his name on the list too. He and challenger Eddie Wineland were throwing some seriously powerful punches at one another to open their Toronto tussle, and as the second got underway it appeared one of those was about to decide the fight. That was until Barao ripped a spinning back-kick up high which, unusually, caught his foe in the head as Wineland was either bracing and expecting it to the body, or shooting for a takedown. The force of the blast thrust the American to the mat where he looked up glassy-eyed in time for the champ’s right hand. In Wineland’s ensuing scramble for safety, he took enough grounded blows to convince referee Yves Lavigne to call the contest. Spinning is winning.
WATER WATER EVERYWHERE
Cheick Kongo, Bellator 102
And not a drop to drink. Just one day ahead of Bola Omoyele’s awkward pre-fight loiter UFC heavyweight veteran Cheick Kongo got utterly bamboozled before getting in the cage – by a water bottle. As he was being inspected by an official prior to the Bellator 102 main event, Kongo went for a slug of the wet stuff, only to realize after a few seconds the cap was still on. The only way the Frenchman could save face on worldwide TV was to have the receptacle opened and shake his head. Good thing he subsequently kneed opponent Mark Godbeer into an early shower; because you wouldn’t want people to pay more attention to the water shortcomings than the finish now, would you?
WEIRDEST SUBMISSION
Joe Warren, Bellator 101
Former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren’s record might show an armbar win against Nick Kirk, but make no mistake the wrestler applied something altogether different for his first victory of the year. Their opening round at Bellator 101, to gain entry to the bantamweight tournament final, was a fast-paced, free-throwing affair. The second soon ended up on the ground where Warren took an inverted triangle and initially tried for the armbar. When Kirk defended by rolling onto his side, Warren torqued his adversary’s bent elbow for a somewhat interpretive version of an Americana. Who’d ever have thought Warren’s very first submission win would be something the likes of Shinya Aoki would pull out of his fancy-patterned tights?
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