Issue 116
July 2014
Is there something in the water? The best knockouts keep on coming in Judges’ Verdict.
BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Jon Jones, UFC 172
Whether you love Jon Jones’ fighting and dismiss his misdemeanors, or dismiss his abilities and love to hate his antics will probably dictate whether you admit the UFC light heavyweight champion’s dismantling of big-punching Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 in April was a thing of beauty.
The guy’s at his most magnetic when pulling off moves you don’t see on the biggest stage of MMA competition, and scoring on strikes that shouldn’t work; which was much of his five-round decision win over Teixeira.
Take that straight-armbar-meets-shoulder-crank-from-an-overhook in round one. And didn’t he do a bow before a lead left hook in the third round? From more or less beginning to end Jones was boss by the most unorthodox of methods. But, he was also a bit of a naughty chap by the same token.
The stiff-arm with open fingers (like how he did against ‘Rampage’ Jackson), and intentionally placing his palm on Glover’s forehead, was effective but wasn’t quite as beautiful as the rest of his work. Legitimate technique though it is it’s unlikely the potential for Glover accidentally jamming his eye onto one of Jones’ fingers was lost on the champ.
Meanwhile, his imperious performance wasn’t lost on the judges: all three gave him every round. Bones knows.
HORSE PLAY
Fabricio Werdum, UFC on Fox 11
It’s not often you see a UFC fighter trolling (deliberately annoying someone for the fun of it) their competitor in the Octagon, but heavyweight Fabricio Werdum did it all night long to Travis Browne at UFC on Fox 11. After enduring a shaky first round, the momentum and share of the damage swung convincingly toward Werdum (whose nickname, ‘Vai Cavalo’, literally means ‘Go Horse’). In the process of outstriking an increasingly tired, and injured, Browne the Brazilian mocked ‘Hapa’s movements, talked trash as he unleashed attacks and after landing a combo on Browne when the Hawaiian looked up at the round clock he later pointed to it to tempt him to look again. And all en route to a dominant five-round decision. Imagine if he could pull off that kind of performance against champion Cain Velasquez.
BEST SUBMISSION
Luke Rockhold, UFC 172
Why lock in one submission when you can have two? Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold wowed the Baltimore crowd at UFC 172 when Tim Boetsch tapped to the American Kickboxing Academy man’s kimura while stuck in his inverted triangle.
Which is where he’d been since the 26th second of the first round. ‘The Barbarian’ tried to battle through the hold but eventually found his right arm tangled in Rockhold’s figure-four grip and by 2:08 he was submitting to the hold.
All this less than four years after Boetsch tapped to an odd, one-arm kimura from Phil Davis? If it wasn’t for bad submission luck, Tim Boetsch mightn’t have any luck at all.
MAD MATT
Matt Brown, UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva
It was around the time Matt Brown attempted his fourth submission of a see-saw battle with Erick Silva that we knew we were watching something special. Not that there weren’t enough signposts before.
Fighting in front of his home-state crowd in Cincinnati, Ohio, in May, Brown took the fight to his Brazilian rival only to get dropped with the second of two body kicks, then made to fend off a rear naked choke for half of the first.
Back on the feet, Brown spent the remaining few minutes rocking Silva by the fence and dumping him on the canvas with trips.
As if that round of the year stuff wasn’t enough, the welterweights piled it on thick again in the second. With more Brown rocking and Silva body shots ahead of a mad sequence where ‘The Immortal’ went from a crucifix, to an inverted triangle kimura, then a D’Arce choke, then an armbar, then a triangle. Even more strikes against the cage finally did the job in the third. Madness.
BIGGEST RIGHT HAND
Johnny Eduardo, UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva
It always looked like either Eddie Wineland or Johnny Eduardo was going to find themselves on the stiff end of a strike stoppage, judging by their sheer combined hand speed alone at UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva in May.
And it was anyone’s game on the prelims, until Eduardo made Wineland look like he was doing the limbo in the final minute of the first round off of a clipping right.
The lanky bantamweight delivered a punishing follow-up point-blank right hook that whipped the equally lanky Wineland’s head sharply.
And despite most certainly dropping to the floor quicker than a drunkard looking for a $10 bill, Wineland was somehow still aware and looking to defend himself when referee Herb Dean (rightfully) stepped in. Bantamweight is the new heavyweight.
MOST DEFINITIVE KNOCKOUT
Danny Castillo, UFC 172
If Danny Castillo’s KO overhand right from UFC 172 were a punctuation mark it would be a full stop. He abruptly knocked Charlie Brenneman out cold at the start of the second round in Baltimore. Bending at the knees, the Team Alpha Male lightweight launched his right hand practically from the floor then swung it over his shoulder and landed it dead on Brenneman’s chin. The now-unconscious ‘Spaniard’, who’d won the first round, hit the deck at his earliest convenience. Completely KO’d, Brenneman probably has a starring role on every UFC knockout compilation from now until forever.
I BELIEVE I CAN FLY
Chris Beal, UFC 172
UFC bantamweight Chris Beal believes he can fly. The Ultimate Fighter alumnus probably believes he can touch the sky. We wouldn’t be surprised if he thought about it every night and day. You know, just spreading his wings and flying away. At UFC 172 he believed he could soar, and then we saw him walking through that open Octagon door. Why? Because he’d just scored a stunning, flying knee knockout win. With Patrick Williams against the fence in round two, Beal leaped high into the air, a bit like a winged Michael Jordan, and cracked Williams’ jaw with his right knee at the peak of his ascent. By the time he dropped back to earth, Herb Dean was already running over to call it off, what with Williams being out on his back. Sky’s the limit?
MOST UNEXPECTED ENDING
KJ Noons, The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale
Sure ex boxer KJ Noons and striking specialist Sam Stout have the ability to knock other fellows unconscious, it’s just that Noons hadn’t done it since 2010 and Stout’s last time was 2011. After that, 12 of their combined 13 fights were decisions. So imagine our surprise when Noons completely lamped Stout with a right hand less than 30 seconds into their catchweight UFC 172 fight. Three more on the ground finished the job and a severely dazed Stout ended up grappling with and guillotining the ref. Who’d have thunk it?
