In what has to be considered one of the best episodes of Dana White’s new reality show, “Lookin’ For A Fight,” episode three is now online and features some memorable moments.
In addition to the behind-the-scenes look…
https://youtu.be/oY407ELlRjQ
In what has to be considered one of the best episodes of Dana White’s new reality show, “Lookin’ For A Fight,” episode three is now online and features some memorable moments.
In addition to the behind-the-scenes look at Mickey Gall’s UFC debut and subsequent staredown with CM Punk, UFC President Dana White gets himself a brand new ring tone. For the story behind that, well, you’ll just have to watch!
Featured above is the complete third episode of the UFC President’s new reality show, which co-stars Matt Serra and Nick “The Tooth.” The official description for the episode reads as follows:
“Dana, Matt and Nick meetup in Las Vegas where they promptly get tased by former members of a SWAT team. Then they head to Kansas to do some farming, herd wild bison and to check out a fight. The guys then head back to Vegas so that Matt can ride shotgun in a trophy truck race and they can all meet illusionist Criss Angel. The trip ends with them all checking out the UFC debut of Mickey Gall.”
The UFC welterweight division has been one of the most consistent classes in mixed martial arts (MMA) over the past 10 years, if not the best. As a middle ground for athleticism, speed, versatility, and finishing power, the 170-pound weight class has offered some of the most exciting championship tilts in promotional history. Not to mention
The UFC welterweight division has been one of the most consistent classes in mixed martial arts (MMA) over the past 10 years, if not the best.
As a middle ground for athleticism, speed, versatility, and finishing power, the 170-pound weight class has offered some of the most exciting championship tilts in promotional history. Not to mention legendary fighters such as Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes, and B.J. Penn.
But as today’s sport continues to evolve, so does the welterweight appeal. From a tumultuous Robbie Lawler to striking aficionado Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, from a resurgent Carlos Condit to an overpowering Tyron Woodley, it’s starting to look like the division will produce even more title fight fireworks in the near future.
However, in order to appreciate what we might see from the current group of core contenders, we must first look back on the timeless battles of the past. Ones that created Octagon gods, crippled legends, and celebrated perfected violence.
Here are the eight best welterweight championship fights in UFC history.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has seen a rather large, overarching upheaval in recent times, and indeed it has not been overstated. Every champion at the start of 2014 except dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is now gone, with a new crop of talented – and perhaps unexpected – new titleholders set to usher in
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has seen a rather large, overarching upheaval in recent times, and indeed it has not been overstated.
Every champion at the start of 2014 except dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is now gone, with a new crop of talented – and perhaps unexpected – new titleholders set to usher in a new and prosperous era for the promotion.
While that’s obviously great news for the UFC as a business (especially since one of the new champions is Conor McGregor), it also begs to question as to whether or not these supposedly dominant champions that were, in certain cases, built up to almost unattainable levels in UFC promos, were actually far from the indestructible machines they may have appeared to be at that time.
There’ve been a number of UFC champions who, while no doubt wholly talented and effective fighters in their own right, just didn’t quite deliver the goods as champion due to one reason or another. Let’s take a look back at the most overrated champions in UFC history.
(Oh, this? Just the face of a man who knows he’s about to be chewed out by the Wheaties people. via Getty.)
By Scott Johnson
UFC 185 was a very interesting anomaly in the world of MMA, in which two incumbent champions were dethroned by the challengers who were considered underdogs going into the fight. Carla Esparza was only considered a slight favorite heading into her fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk so the surprise there was minimal, but there weren’t many people expecting to see Rafael Dos Anjos topple Pretty Tony Pettis. Hell, most of us were already looking forward to Pettis vs. Nurmagomedov, but the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and now the UFC Lightweight division has a new champion in its mix.
In the spirit of these events, I’ve compiled what I consider to be the top five upsets in UFC championship history. I have no doubts that there will be a difference in opinion as to which fights belong here or which order they should be in, but in the words of the great Oskar Schindler, “Fuck you, it’s my list and I’ll put who I want on it.”
(Oh, this? Just the face of a man who knows he’s about to be chewed out by the Wheaties people. via Getty.)
By Scott Johnson
UFC 185 was a very interesting anomaly in the world of MMA, in which two incumbent champions were dethroned by the challengers who were considered underdogs going into the fight. Carla Esparza was only considered a slight favorite heading into her fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk so the surprise there was minimal, but there weren’t many people expecting to see Rafael Dos Anjos topple Pretty Tony Pettis. Hell, most of us were already looking forward to Pettis vs. Nurmagomedov, but the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and now the UFC Lightweight division has a new champion in its mix.
In the spirit of these events, I’ve compiled what I consider to be the top five upsets in UFC championship history. I have no doubts that there will be a difference in opinion as to which fights belong here or which order they should be in, but in the words of the great Oskar Schindler, “Fuck you, it’s my list and I’ll put who I want on it.”
#5 – Evan Tanner vs. David Terrell — UFC 51
In 2002, the UFC Middleweight championship had been vacated by Murilo Bustamante after he made the jump to PRIDE Fighting Championships. It sat defunct for over two years before the decision was made to reestablish a new champion via a match between Evan Tanner and David Terrell at UFC 51. While Tanner was no slouch and heading into the fight with a three win streak over Phil Baroni (2x) and current Welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, it was the young upstart Terrell (who had recently knocked out Matt Lindland before it was cool) who was considered the favorite.
Terrell looked to solidify that opinion early in the match, securing a tight guillotine choke on Tanner that looked as if it could end things before they ever started. However, the gritty Tanner would not be stopped and escaped the choke, a move which seemed to mentally break Terrell. The young prospect looked almost helpless against Tanner, who dominated the rest of the round by delivering heavy elbows and punches on the ground until the match was stopped just before the first round ended.
Sadly, Tanner would never defend his belt, as Rich Franklin would defeat him via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) in the 4th round of their rematch at UFC 53. Franklin, as we all well know, would go on to become the longest reigning middleweight champion in UFC history, and would semi-retire in 2014 with a perfect professional record in the octagon. What? YOU HAVE YOUR HISTORY AND I HAVE MINE!!!
At the time of this fight, Randy Couture had already made a huge mark in the UFC, having won the UFC Heavyweight championship twice with victories over Maurice Smith and Kevin Randleman. In his last fight, he dropped the title to Josh Barnett, who would have his title relinquished for ridin’ dirty on anabolic steroids. A match for the now vacant Heavyweight title was set between the former champion and Ricco Rodriguez, a young up and comer who had racked up an impressive win streak over fighters like Pete Williams, Jeff Monson and Andrei Arlovski. Yet few expected that Rodriguez would be capable of defeating Captain America.
For the first three rounds of the fight, Couture controlled the action and appeared well on his way to securing his third Heavyweight title. However, the momentum of the fight would change completely in the championship rounds. A tired and sluggish Couture would barely survive the fourth round, and enter the fifth looking like a man already defeated. Rodriguez, having not yet descended into a cocaine and Taco Bell nightmare from which he would never return, took full advantage of his opponent’s inferior gas tank, securing a takedown and delivering a massive elbow that would break Couture’s orbital bone and force him to submit.
BJ Penn entered this fight as the most dominant Lightweight in UFC history. His last loss in the division was to Jens Pulver back in 2002 and he had held the title for just over two years at this point. After an unsuccessful bid at the welterweight championship, Penn defended his title against Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez in utterly dominant performances before being matched up against Frankie Edgar. Edgar had made a name for himself with his epic fight against Tyson Griffin back at UFC 67 and had managed to rack up a series of wins against top level fighters like Hermes Franca and former champ Sean Sherk. Still, the odds were stacked against Edgar as he was facing arguably the best Lightweight champion in UFC history in a division where he was considered by many to be undersized.
Once the bell rang, however, Edgar began slowly erasing any doubts about his chances. “The Answer” stood toe to toe with Penn for five solid rounds in a grueling back and forth encounter that surprised many of the onlookers who expected to see another domination by Penn. The fight was so closely contested that the audience was on the edge of their seats as they announced the judge’s scores, all three of whom saw the fight in Edgar’s favor. Edgar would defeat Penn in their next two fights proving that while this fight was considered a major upset, it certainly was no fluke.
Being best known for being on the wrong end of a Shonie Carter spinning backfist, Matt Serra had recently seen a resurgence of his career by winning The Ultimate Fighter 4 season and earning himself a UFC Welterweight title shot in the process. No one gave the undersized, pasta-loving Long Islander a reasonable shot of defeating the current champion, Georges St. Pierre, who had amassed a 15-1 career record and barely lost a round in his UFC career. GSP looked nothing short of unstoppable, and the -1100 odds being given by many sports books seemed to back this notion.
The opening minutes of the first round went as expected, with GSP controlling the pace and attempting to land kicks to Serra’s head. Serra would not be intimidated and continued to maintain a sharp focus on the champion while GSP seemed to be simply going through the motions and not taking his opponent as seriously as he should be. This lackadaisical attitude cost him just before the three minute mark, as Serra landed a right hand to the champion’s ear. GSP began to lose his balance and would never be able to get it back as Serra, sensing the champ was in danger, swarmed the champion with a swift combination of punches before landing one final shot that floored the champion. It was considered by far to be the most shocking title upset of all time, until…
For 6 ½ years, Anderson Silva had maintained a deathgrip on the UFC Middleweight title. Other than a very close call against Chael Sonnen, there hadn’t been anyone who had been able to break the invincible aura that Silva had cultivated. The idea that Chris Weidman, who had been inactive for almost a year and whose biggest win to date was over Mark Munoz, would be the one to topple the Middleweight king seemed like an impossibility to most UFC fans. Many fighters and coaches were touting his skills and claiming that he was a bad match for the champion, but many chalked that up to the typical UFC fight hype.
The fight started out as a typical performance, with Silva setting his usual “wait and see” pace to measure his opponent. Weidman, taking a page from Sonnen’s book, used his wrestling skills and was able to take down Silva and apply some nice ground and pound before the first round ended. As round two started, Silva began his taunting routine that he had displayed many fights before in an attempt to get into Weidman’s head. However, the challenger would not fall into the same trap that other challengers had and maintained his focus. After a brief exchange, Silva dropped his hands to once again taunt his opponent and it would prove to be a career-defining mistake.
Weidman flattened Silva with a perfectly placed left hook, putting the once thought unbeatable champion to sleep and making history by ending Anderson Silva’s more than half decade winning streak and earning the greatest upset victory in UFC history.
Got a gripe with our list? Of course you do! Let us know in the comments section.
The MMA Road Trip Project covered a lot of miles in 2014, and there were many memorable moments logged along the way.
The 15,000-mile adventure drove across this great country, going coast to coast and stopping at every MMA gym that could be found…
The MMA Road Trip Project covered a lot of miles in 2014, and there were many memorable moments logged along the way.
The 15,000-mile adventure drove across this great country, going coast to coast and stopping at every MMA gym that could be found along the way. While many of those moments were captured in the running journals that accompanied the different legs of the project, there are still gems in the vault that have yet to see the light of day.
One of those particular magical stops occurred when “The Altima Fighter” made a pit stop at Matt Serra‘s gym in Huntington, New York, to see how the former welterweight champion spends his time in retirement. What we found was a very game Serra grooming a large collection of talented fighters and jiu-jitsu practitioners on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Long Island.
To no one’s surprise, Serra’s legendary wit was sharper than ever, and the the world-renowned grappling coach took time away from his students to provide the road trip crew a guided tour of the facility. If you want to find out what “The Terror” keeps in his gym refrigerator and learn what the only picture hanging up in his personal office is, just give the video a look.
Warning: Some of the language in the video is NSFW
Gentlemen, rejoice, because everyone’s favorite ball-bustin’, cold cut connoisseur just landed himself a FOX analyst gig! HeeYEEAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
During last night’s edition of UFC on FOX, it was announced that none other than Long Island’s own Matt Serra (and also Jake Ellenberger) will be serving as a guest analyst for this Saturday’s Fight Night 49: Henderson vs. dos Anjos card. Finally, the era of awkward on-camera fighters stuttering out base-level advice between fights will be over, as the former welterweight champion and TUF 4 alum has become somewhat infamous for his jabberjaw skills. We can only hope now that FOX doesn’t force him to pull in the reigns (or pull out his teeth).
To celebrate what will surely be the funniest night in UFC on FOX history, join us after the jump as we look back at some of “The Terra’s” finest moments.
Gentlemen, rejoice, because everyone’s favorite ball-bustin’, cold cut connoisseur just landed himself a FOX analyst gig! HeeYEEAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
During last night’s edition of UFC on FOX, it was announced that none other than Long Island’s own Matt Serra (and also Jake Ellenberger) will be serving as a guest analyst for this Saturday’s Fight Night 49: Henderson vs. dos Anjos card. Finally, the era of awkward on-camera fighters stuttering out base-level advice between fights will be over, as the former welterweight champion and TUF 4 alum has become somewhat infamous for his jabberjaw skills. We can only hope now that FOX doesn’t force him to pull in the reigns (or pull out his teeth).
To celebrate what will surely be the funniest night in UFC on FOX history, join us after the jump as we look back at some of “The Terra’s” finest moments.
In which “The Terra” receives some strange advice from Rich Franklin
Of all the armchair advice I’ve heard Affliction shirt-clad dudebros give out at bars while watching a UFC event (“Bro, Silva needs to go for the figure 4 leg lock!” — actual dialogue from a supposed “brown belt”), nothing even comes close to Rich Franklin’s strategic words to Serra on TUF 4.
Paired against Pete Spratt in his quarterfinal matchup, Serra was looking to take things to the ground as quickly as possible. Franklin, who was the UFC’s middleweight champion at the time, suggested that Matt drop to one knee as soon as he touched gloves, because Spratt then couldn’t “kick him in the head.” How Serra, an undersized welterweight by any standard, could possibly benefit from further adding to his reach disadvantage is anyone’s guess, and Serra simply could not let such an insane piece of advice go without ridicule.
In which “The Terra” continues to berate Rich Franklin’s lemon advice
“And he says, ‘I got the idea from a kid who’s a wrestler, never been taken down. He has no legs, he’s never been taken down.’ I’m like oh, I see, you’re retarded.”
In which “The Terra” mocks the work ethic of Ken Shamrock (or lack thereof)
Matt Hughes might’ve had a good laugh over the “one knee” story, but his reaction to Serra’s verbal destruction of UFC HOFer Ken Shamrock can best be summed up in gif form.
In which “The Terra” channels a poor man’s Andrew Dice Clay
Robert Santa: “You know, did you ever think of doing stand-up?”
From spinach shakes to expressos to General Tsao’s chicken, there is literally no food item that Serra cannot craft a two-minute comedy routine around. He’s basically the Weird Al Yankovic of MMA. Or maybe the Rodney Dangerfield. Or maybe what would happen if those two had sex with a Koopa Troopa and taught the bastard offspring to fight. Yeah, definitely that last one.
In which “The Terra” is an awesome coach
Serving as the trusty sidekick to Ray Longo, Matt Serra’s cornerman work has become the thing of legend since his time on TUF 6. His voice can often be heard cutting through the empty arenas of many of today’s Fight Night cards, and is usually good for a laugh or two when he’s particularly fired up. This all culminated in the night he and Longo told Chris Weidman to “punch a hole” in Anderson Silva’s chest before reacting to Silva’s leg break by saying “Good, fuck him.” Insensitive? Sure. Unnecessary? Most definitely.
Alright, let’s move on…
In which “The Terra” takes down that smug bastard Marc Laimon
Perhaps Serra’s greatest moment: The infamous “Expert swimmer who’s never been in a pool” takedown of Jiu-Jitsu instructor Marc Laimon on TUF 4. I had never heard that specific analogy used before this season, but have used it no less than 1000 times since. Let it be known, Nation, an angry Matt Serra is the sharpest-tongued Matt Serra.
The Rodney Dangerfield-Weird Al-Koopa Troopa of MMA, ladies and gents.
