Issue 091

August 2012

1

In the seven-year history of The Ultimate Fighter only one woman has made a guest coaching appearance and then appeared in the TUF house. Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey threw the guys around and then showed up at their digs to watch UFC 145. The historic appearance came during episode eight.

250,000

Viewers of the first show from Invicta – one of the world’s only all-female events, which streamed live for free from Kansas City in April – peaked at 250,000. It was quite a success and it’s believed UFC president Dana White sent Invicta FC founder Shannon Knapp flowers prior to the show to wish her luck.

45

Number of minutes Dana White reportedly had to talk with Anderson Silva to convince him to agree to move his fight with Chael Sonnen to Las Vegas. It was planned for UFC 147 in Brazil, but a scheduling conflict with the UN’s Rio+20 conference (and maybe fear for Chael’s safety) forced Zuffa to move the fight to 148 in Vegas.

$1500

All-female Invicta FC’s first card saw a great back-and-forth scrap between Leslie Smith and Kaitlin Young that resulted in a split draw. Each woman took home an additional $1,500 as a ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus.

75

The time in minutes Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez have fought one another in the Strikeforce cage. Their rubber match, at Strikeforce: Barnett vs Cormier, ended in the same fashion as their previous two: a five-round decision after a close back-and-forth scrap. This time, it was Melendez getting the nod. 

$80,000

‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung earned $80,000 in bonuses at UFC on Fuel 3 thanks to his ‘Fight of the Night’ and ‘Submission of the Night.’ His D’arce choke at the end of a spirited boGilbut with Dustin Poirier kept Jung’s streak alive: in his first three UFC fights he is undefeated and has earned at least one ‘…of the Night’ bonus.

18

It was 18 seconds into the fight between welterweights Karl Amoussou and David Rickels at Bellator 69 when the action was stopped due to a broken jockstrap. After a delay where cutman Dean Lassiter went into MacGyver-mode and rigged up a replacement, the fight continued with the Frenchman Amoussou pulling off the split decision to take a spot in the Bellator season six 170lb tournament finals.

20:38

Since unifying the Strikeforce lightweight belt by besting Josh Thomson in their rematch some two and a half years ago, the champ Gilbert Melendez’s average fight time has been a remarkable 20:38. In Gil’s last five fights, four have gone the full five rounds. The only black sheep was a destruction of Tatsuya Kawajiri in just 3:14.

4

UFC middleweight Rousimar Palhares has four leg lock/heel hook subs in 10 UFC fights. That’s why hearts raced when Alan Belcher decided to scramble all over the canvas with him at UFC on Fox: Diaz vs. Miller. But it paid off for Belcher who TKO’d Palhares in round one. 

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF NATE DIAZ

UFC lightweight Nate Diaz might now be touted as the number-one contender thanks to his second-round submission of the tough Jim Miller on Fox in May, but the 209 Stockton bad boy, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, had a hard-knock route to the top.

Makes his MMA debut on the WEC 12 undercard also featuring Chris Lytle and Chael Sonnen. Chokes out Alex Garcia with a triangle in just over 12 minutes.

Fights on a Strikeforce card headlined by Skrap Pack coach Cesar Gracie’s bout with Frank Shamrock. Diaz wins by TKO in the first round.

Diaz fights for the WEC lightweight title in the promotion’s last pre-Zuffa-ownership event opposite veteran Hermes Franca. Nate taps to an armbar in the second round.

After Zuffa’s purchase of the WEC, Nate appears on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter beating Rob Emerson, Corey Hill and Gray Maynard en route to the finale.

At the TUF 5 finale, Diaz survives a rocky first round at the hands of Manny Gamburyan before a Gamburyan shoulder injury in the second round sees Nate crowned season winner.

Picks up submission wins over Junior Assuncao and Alvin Robinson before an April 08 bout with fellow jiu-jitsu wiz Kurt Pellegrino. An exciting bout ultimately sees Diaz secure a second round triangle and gives double middle fingers before the tap.

He and brother Nick are involved in the now-famous, “Don’t be scared homie” in-ring altercation with Nick’s EliteXC rival KJ Noons and his cornermen at EliteXC: Return of the King in Hawaii.

Sees his five-fight win momentum snapped by consecutive decision losses to Clay Guida (UFC 94) and Joe Stevenson (TUF 9 Finale) before a guillotine win over Melvin Guillard.

A somewhat controversial decision loss to Gray Maynard at lightweight prompts a move up to 170lb where Diaz TKO’s Rory Markham in the first round at UFC 111 and chokes Marcus Davis unconscious at UFC 118.

Diaz’s successful welterweight campaign is halted by decision losses to Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. In the latter he is comprehensively manhandled in front of 55,000 Canadians at UFC 129 in Toronto.

A move back to lightweight sees a surge in form as Diaz dominates Japanese veteran Takanori Gomi at UFC 135, before a first-round armbar win, and humbles prospect Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 over a three-round decision.

Squares off with tough Jersey boy Jim Miller on mainstream US TV, guillotining him inside two rounds to get the nod as number-one contender to the UFC lightweight title.