Tag: Rick Story

Nate Marquardt vs. Tyron Woodley Possible for Vacant Strikeforce Welterweight Title

Nate Marquardt Free CagePotato
(Pictured above: The REAL reason Nate Marquardt got fired.) 

When taking a look at Nate Marquardt‘s Sherdog profile, we were kind of shocked to find that it has only been a little over a year since he last fought. Perhaps it was a result of his repeated delays when signed under the BAMMA banner some 6 months ago, but it feels like it has been a long time since we’ve seen the one-time UFC middleweight title contender in action. Like Gina Carano long.

And go figure, it all began with TRT. Because it always begins with TRT. After going 2-2 in his last four UFC fights, including a most recent UD win over Dan Miller at UFC 128, Marquardt was expected to make his welterweight debut against Rick Story at the main event of UFC Live 4. Things took a turn for the worse, however, when he was pulled from the card at the last minute for elevated testosterone levels. He was subsequently ousted by the UFC and replaced by Charlie Brenneman, who went on to score the upset over Story and completely derail his hype train.

News broke in February that Marquardt had signed with Strikeforce and was expected to face Tyron Woodley. No date was set for his ever-elusive welterweight debut, likely due to the fact that the Strikeforce website developers hadn’t yet learned how to spell Marquardt and couldn’t afford to scan the Word document twice.

Well, ladies and gents, a date has finally been set for the return of “The Great.”

Nate Marquardt Free CagePotato
(Pictured above: The REAL reason Nate Marquardt got fired.) 

When taking a look at Nate Marquardt‘s Sherdog profile, we were kind of shocked to find that it has only been a little over a year since he last fought. Perhaps it was a result of his repeated delays when signed under the BAMMA banner some 6 months ago, but it feels like it has been a long time since we’ve seen the one-time UFC middleweight title contender in action. Like Gina Carano long.

And go figure, it all began with TRT. Because it always begins with TRT. After going 2-2 in his last four UFC fights, including a most recent UD win over Dan Miller at UFC 128, Marquardt was expected to make his welterweight debut against Rick Story at the main event of UFC Live 4. Things took a turn for the worse, however, when he was pulled from the card at the last minute for elevated testosterone levels. He was subsequently ousted by the UFC and replaced by Charlie Brenneman, who went on to score the upset over Story and completely derail his hype train.

News broke in February that Marquardt had signed with Strikeforce and was expected to face Tyron Woodley. No date was set for his ever-elusive welterweight debut, likely due to the fact that the Strikeforce website developers hadn’t yet learned how to spell Marquardt and couldn’t afford to scan the Word document twice.

Well, ladies and gents, a date has finally been set for the return of “The Great.” Though the fight has yet to be confirmed by Strikeforce, it has been reportedly scheduled for the main card of the Heavyweight Tournament Finals match between Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier on May 19th. Also scheduled for this card is the mildly anticipated trilogy match between Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thompson for the lightweight title.

And according to Marquardt, his match against Woodley is going to be for the vacant welterweight title. Not bad for a guy who was among the men DW said would never fight for Zuffa again. Here’s what Marquardt told Inside MMA during a recent interview:

It’s the best outcome I could have imagined, with all this. Like I said. Back with Zuffa. Back in a title fight for my first fight back, it’s amazing. From what I understand, that’s who I’ll be fighting is Tyron Woodley. I also understand it’s gonna be a five round title fight for the 170 pound title. You know, he’s a smart fighter, but at the same time, I have a lot more experience than him. It’s gonna be my fight to dictate where it goes.

Dear God, we hope so. Woodley’s recent performances have been nothing short of Askrenian in terms of excitement, and we would really like to see him forced to resort to something other than his wrestling base.

The tentatively titled Strikeforce 40 goes down from the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California on May 19th.

So who do you like for this one, Potato Nation?

-J. Jones

Four Welterweight Bouts Added to UFC on FX 4 Card in June


(Yeah Dan, we’re stoked for the new Cung Le/Jean-Claude Van Damme movie too!) 

It looks like Demian Maia won’t be the only one making his welterweight debut in the near future.

Featuring a main event clash between top lightweight contenders Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, the UFC on FX 4 card is really starting to take shape, adding four more fights in the welterweight division last night. It seems a little odd that this plethora of fights have been added when the UFC on FX 3 card, which goes down two weeks earlier, has confirmed only two fights thus far. Then again, if we were in charge of matchmaking, Pat Barry would fight every weekend and Rousey/Caraway would already be booked.

But back to the welterweights. Yes, it appears that our buddy Dan Miller will be back in action at UFC on FX 4, and in fact will be making his welterweight debut when he takes on Ricardo Funch. Miller has not fought since his clusterfuck of a fight against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 134 that saw Palhares leap onto the cage in premature celebration, only to be talked off the proverbial tower by Herb Dean. Upon re-entering the octagon, Palhares was almost immediately KO’d by Miller, but managed to gather the few remaining marbles in his brain to pull out a unanimous decision victory. The loss was Miller’s second in a row and fifth of his last seven. But given Miller’s tendency to put on exciting fights, we don’t imagine a loss here will cost him his job. The same cannot be said for Funch, however, who has dropped all three of his UFC appearances to Johny Hendricks, Claude Patrick, and Mike Pyle.

Also set for the fourth FX card will be a welterweight tilt between submission specialist T.J. Waldburger and manscaping aficionado Brian Ebersole. Waldburger has scored a pair of brilliant back-to-back victories in his last two UFC appearances, leaping into a triangle against Mike Stumpf in September before notching a lightning quick armbar of Jake Hecht at UFC on FX 2: Kampmann vs. Alves earlier this month. He will be facing a tough test in Ebersole, who is riding a 10 fight win streak including three straight in the UFC over Chris Lytle, Dennis Hallman‘s balls, and Claude Patrick.

Nothing against Waldburger, but we’re kind of pulling for Ebersole in light of recent events.

And in other UFC on FX 4 news…


(Yeah Dan, we’re stoked for the new Cung Le/Jean-Claude Van Damme movie too!) 

It looks like Demian Maia won’t be the only one making his welterweight debut in the near future.

Featuring a main event clash between top lightweight contenders Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, the UFC on FX 4 card is really starting to take shape, adding four more fights in the welterweight division last night. It seems a little odd that this plethora of fights have been added when the UFC on FX 3 card, which goes down two weeks earlier, has confirmed only two fights thus far. Then again, if we were in charge of matchmaking, Pat Barry would fight every weekend and Rousey/Caraway would already be booked.

But back to the welterweights. Yes, it appears that our buddy Dan Miller will be back in action at UFC on FX 4, and in fact will be making his welterweight debut when he takes on Ricardo Funch. Miller has not fought since his clusterfuck of a fight against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 134 that saw Palhares leap onto the cage in premature celebration, only to be talked off the proverbial tower by Herb Dean. Upon re-entering the octagon, Palhares was almost immediately KO’d by Miller, but managed to gather the few remaining marbles in his brain to pull out a unanimous decision victory. The loss was Miller’s second in a row and fifth of his last seven. But given Miller’s tendency to put on exciting fights, we don’t imagine a loss here will cost him his job. The same cannot be said for Funch, however, who has dropped all three of his UFC appearances to Johny Hendricks, Claude Patrick, and Mike Pyle.

Also set for the fourth FX card will be a welterweight tilt between submission specialist T.J. Waldburger and manscaping aficionado Brian Ebersole. Waldburger has scored a pair of brilliant back-to-back victories in his last two UFC appearances, leaping into a triangle against Mike Stumpf in September before notching a lightning quick armbar of Jake Hecht at UFC on FX 2: Kampmann vs. Alves earlier this month. He will be facing a tough test in Ebersole, who is riding a 10 fight win streak including three straight in the UFC over Chris Lytle, Dennis Hallman‘s balls, and Claude Patrick.

Nothing against Waldburger, but we’re kind of pulling for Ebersole in light of recent events.

Two welterweight wrestlers will be looking to rebound from losses when Rick Story takes on Rich Attonito. Story, who rebounded from a UFC debut loss to John Hathaway at UFC 99 by going on a six fight win streak, has dropped two straight to Charlie Brenneman and Martin Kampmann at UFC Live 4 and UFC 139, respectively. Attonito, on the other hand, has gone 1-2 in his last three, sandwiching a win over Daniel Roberts in between losses to Jake Hecht and Dave Branch.

And finally, after emerging victorious from a three round slobber-knocker against Henry Martinez, a win that snapped a two fight losing streak, it looks like Matt “Deep Waters” Riddle will be looking to make it two in a row against Nova Uniao product and Shooto veteran Luis Ramos. You might not remember Ramos’ only UFC appearance–a first round TKO loss to Brazilian prospect Erick Silva at UFC 134–as it was over before it started, ending in just 40 seconds. Riddle has fought all nine of his professional fights under the Zuffa banner, but nearly all of his six wins have come against fighters no longer with the promotion, so it looks like he’s a lock for this one. Sorry, Luis.

UFC on FX 4 goes down from the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 22nd.

Who ya got for these, Potato Nation?

-J. Jones

Hump Day Headlines with Stephanie Ann Cook

UFC Middleweight, Dan Miller asks for MMA community and fans donations to aid with his baby’s kidney transplant and care. Coming off recent loss at UFC 139, Rick Story signs four-fight deal with UFC. Phil.

UFC Middleweight, Dan Miller asks for MMA community and fans donations to aid with his baby’s kidney transplant and care.

Coming off recent loss at UFC 139, Rick Story signs four-fight deal with UFC.

Phil Davis welcomes fight with Rashad Evans.

Bellator and former UFC Middleweight fighter, Maiquel Falcao suffers heart attack, hospitalized.

Fedor Emelianenko‘s manager offers co-promotion fight with M-1 Global and UFC, asks for Fedor to fight Cain Velasquez. Dana White tweets “Hell no!”

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, Season 1 will hold tryouts in early December.

MMA Stock Market™ — ‘UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson’ Edition


(In a way, we were all the “Screaming PRIDE Lady” that night. / Photo courtesy of Esther Lin, MMA Fighting)

By Jason Moles

The suits on Wall Street keep whispering about a ‘Halloween indicator‘ and how now is not a time to sell; rather we should sit back and let our riches mount. Call it what you will, but millions watched UFC on FOX and UFC 139 and concluded the same thing: Most fighter’s stocks are rising steadily. Even if you’re not sure which is the true Fight of the Year from this weekend — Dan Henderson vs. Marucio Rua or Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler — you’ll know how to safeguard your hypothetical MMA portfolio’s worth after playing another round of ‘Buy, Sell, Hold’.

Stephan Bonnar: Buy

It’s hard to believe that any TUF veteran could take nearly a year off from the sport and return with the engine firing on all cylinders, but Stephan Bonnar did just that. The BJJ schooling he dished out was almost as surprising as his apology to Josh Koscheck for making those damn shirts. Even that wasn’t the most unexpected thing to happen; one judge gave the ‘American Psycho’ a 30-25 victory. Grab hold of any unclaimed stock before he starts getting big fights and Dana declares him “in the mix.”


(In a way, we were all the “Screaming PRIDE Lady” that night. / Photo courtesy of Esther Lin, MMA Fighting)

By Jason Moles

The suits on Wall Street keep whispering about a ‘Halloween indicator‘ and how now is not a time to sell; rather we should sit back and let our riches mount. Call it what you will, but millions watched UFC on FOX and UFC 139 and concluded the same thing: Most fighter’s stocks are rising steadily. Even if you’re not sure which is the true Fight of the Year from this weekend — Dan Henderson vs. Marucio Rua or Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler — you’ll know how to safeguard your hypothetical MMA portfolio’s worth after playing another round of ‘Buy, Sell, Hold’.

Stephan Bonnar: Buy

It’s hard to believe that any TUF veteran could take nearly a year off from the sport and return with the engine firing on all cylinders, but Stephan Bonnar did just that. The BJJ schooling he dished out was almost as surprising as his apology to Josh Koscheck for making those damn shirts. Even that wasn’t the most unexpected thing to happen; one judge gave the ‘American Psycho’ a 30-25 victory. Grab hold of any unclaimed stock before he starts getting big fights and Dana declares him “in the mix.”

Kyle Kingsbury: Sell it like a dog with fleas

When Kyle Kingsbury comes to mind, so does the letter ‘O’ – as in Outclassed, Outworked, and Oxymoron. Not once did this guy look like he belonged in the Octagon despite his four-fight win streak since losing his UFC debut against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor at the Ultimate Fighter 8 finale. Do not let critics scare you into keeping an underperforming stock by calling you a prisoner of the moment. After all, this is mixed martial arts where you’re only as good as your last fight.

Martin Kampmann – Buy

While some would argue that Martin Kampmann should be riding a five-fight win streak right now — with his previous decision losses to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez falling somewhere between “questionable” and “straight bullshit” — the truth is that the Hitman was one pitch away from being struck out. Just like baseball, MMA has its own set of unwritten rules, one of which is ‘three losses and you’re cut’, unless you’re Dan Hardy. Thankfully for the Danish fighter, he decoded the opponent’s signals, managed to hit a solid line drive, and made it on base. Keep your eye on this guy; big things are on the horizon.

Rick Story – Hold, Please

There are still a few chapters yet to be written about Rick Story‘s mixed martial arts career. What seemed at first to be a low comedy is now looking more like a familiar tragedy. The hype train derailed after Story was dominated by late replacement Charlie Brenneman at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry. Being fully aware that Story took that fight a little less than a month after defeating Thiago Alves, I still don’t like this investment at the moment because everything has to go right to make the stock go to the next level, and that’s a very tough call in this particular environment. Maybe he should listen to Joe Rogan going forward; at least he could tell Rick that giving up your back in the third round is not the wisest decision.

Urijah Faber – Buy it like they’re giving it away from free

Dominic Cruz will defend his Bantamweight title against “The California Kid” in a rubber match after Urijah Faber took out top contender Brian Bowles via submission. If it seems like we’re experiencing deja vu it’s because these two took Fight of the Night honors this past summer at UFC 132, a mere four months ago. Faber methodically picked his opponent apart and managed not to break his hands in the process. Kudos are in order. It won’t matter if he beats Cruz this time around just as it won’t matter if he never wins a belt in the UFC. People love this guy and so should you. TCKUF is MMA’s version of MEG.

Brian Bowles – Dump it like a Kardashian

Brian Bowles‘ calm acceptance of not being “one of the cool kids” is like me being okay with not being nominated for Journalist of the Year in the sense that any other reaction is complete nonsense and no amount of objection to the contrary would do a damn bit of good. The fear of breaking his hands again alone is enough to make the former champion hesitant and uncomfortable fighting the same style that lead to him headlining fight cards. I doubt he will ever be a legitimate contender again; for this reason I’m dumping all BB stock I own and suggest you do likewise.

Cung Le – Hold

I find it difficult to fault the Hollywood action star/three-time Wushu World Championships bronze medalist/2007 Kung Fu Artist of the Year/Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion/lover of many slashes for coming up short in his UFC debut. Those pesky Octagon jitters are real, knowmsayin? Questionable stoppage or not, Cung Le was not going to win that fight. It just wasn’t meant to be, which leads me to the rest of the fighters on the UFC 139 PPV…

Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Shogun Rua – Buy, Buy, Buy

Three former champions from PRIDE, Strikeforce, and UFC, all of whom are future Hall of Famers, looked defeat in the eyes and declared that they would not go down without a fight. “The Axe Murderer” got clipped, went down, and came back to welcome the aforementioned Cung Le to the big show the proper way — by punching and kneeing him into a bloody pulp. There’s a certain country in the Pacific Ocean that is just dying to see Wanderlei Silva return to the Land of the Rising Sun that will undoubtedly yield massive short term dividends.

Immediately after, Dan Henderson and Maurico “Shogun” Rua battled it out in what Dana White says is one of the top three fights in MMA history. Despite the initial reaction of the masses after seeing undefeated Michael Chandler choke out Eddie Alvarez for the Bellator lightweight championship, Hendo vs. Shogun is quite possibly the single best fight anyone has ever had the privilege of watching. Both men were rocked, bloodied, and generally pretty banged up entering the final round, one that never would have happened if Josh Rosenthal had his way. Henderson may have got the ‘W’, but both are winners in the eyes of the fans, even if some insist the fight should have been ruled a draw requiring an immediate rematch.

Load up on these fighters’ stock if you want to avoid being beaten with a stick — or worse! Until next time….

UFC 139 Aftermath: Party Like it’s 2007


Party Like a Rockstar also came out in 2007. Your mind = Blown. Props: Fox Sports

I’m willing to bet that more than a few sports writers have pointed out that four years ago, Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua would have been just as worthy of main event status as it was last night at UFC 139. That four years later, we’re still willing to pay to watch guys like Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, Urijah Faber, Stephan Bonnar and Miguel Torres. That last night’s event appropriately enough took place in Strikeforce’s old stomping grounds in San Jose. For that matter, I’m pretty sure you heard all of that stuff at some point from Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan last night.

I tried to avoid those clichéd observations, but they’re too appropriate to ignore. As fans of mixed martial arts, we’ve been waiting at least four years for a fight between Pride legends Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to come together. Yet for as long as we’ve wanted to see this fight, what we were given last night was worth every second of the wait.


Party Like a Rockstar also came out in 2007. Your mind = Blown. Props: Fox Sports

I’m willing to bet that more than a few sports writers have pointed out that four years ago, Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua would have been just as worthy of main event status as it was last night at UFC 139. That four years later, we’re still willing to pay to watch guys like Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, Urijah Faber, Stephan Bonnar and Miguel Torres. That last night’s event appropriately enough took place in Strikeforce’s old stomping grounds in San Jose. For that matter, I’m pretty sure you heard all of that stuff at some point from Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan last night.

I tried to avoid those clichéd observations, but they’re too appropriate to ignore. As fans of mixed martial arts, we’ve been waiting at least four years for a fight between Pride legends Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to come together. Yet for as long as we’ve wanted to see this fight, what we were given last night was worth every second of the wait.

If you didn’t get to see it, please accept my condolences. There is no way to adequately sum up the five round, back and forth battle between Henderson and Shogun without watching the fight. In the end, Dan Henderson triumphantly returned to the UFC with a hard fought unanimous decision victory over Shogun that demonstrated why five round non-title main events could not have come at a better time.

The only thing left to say about last night’s main event is that Josh Rosenthal deserves much respect for allowing the fight to continue. There were multiple points- especially in the third round- where a lesser referee would have stopped the fight. Being a referee in MMA is a lot like being a punter in football: No one knows who you are until you mess up. Thankfully, Josh Rosenthal called the bout well, and fans were treated to what Dana White is calling one of the top three fights of all time. The $70k that both men took home for Fight of the Night was just the icing on the cake.

The evening’s co-main event got off to a depressing start, with “The Axe Murderer” getting caught early in the first round, and then appearing gunshy against Cung Le’s unorthodox attack. Yet as the fight went on, Silva managed to find his rhythm against Le, and began to push the pace against the former Strikeforce middleweight champion.

I’ll say this much about the “controversial” stoppage: You’re right, perhaps Cung Le was attempting to take down Wanderlei Silva. But after Le took multiple knees directly to his head, got dropped by a punch and then ate hammerfists from The Axe Murderer, can you really blame anyone who thought the whole scene looked more “clinging onto Wanderlei’s leg for dear life” than “in total control and attempting a takedown”? If you answered yes to that hypothetical question, take a good look at Cung Le moments after the stoppage. Let what you’re seeing really sink in.

For the record, Wanderlei Silva and Cung Le were also both awarded $70k for FOTN honors. It’s strange to see this fight on the same level as Henderson vs. Shogun. But when you arguably have the best fight in the history of the sport on the card, perhaps it’s best to give out two FOTN bonuses.

If Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowels took place back in 2007, odds are it would have looked almost identical to the fight we saw from them last night. Brian Bowels managed to tag Faber with some heavy shots, but couldn’t put together a significant offense against the former WEC featherweight champion. Once Faber dropped Bowles in the second round, the fight over, as Urijah utilized some brutal elbows en route to a fight finishing guillotine choke. The victory earns Urijah Faber the $70K Submission of the Night bonus.

Also of note, Martin Kampmann nearly fell victim to a controversial decision again last night. Despite dominating Rick Story, Kampmann still lost the fight on one of the judge’s scorecards, earning him a split-decision victory over Story. If Wikipedia is to be trusted, the decision was the result of a judges error and the fight has since been ruled a unanimous decision victory for Kampmann. Stephan Bonnar made it three straight victories last night with an impressive unanimous decision victory over Kyle Kingsbury. Bonnar completely neutralized Kingsbury’s attack with his wrestling. After the fight, “The American Psycho” did two things that pretty much nobody expected: He apologized to Josh Koscheck and called out “Rampage” Jackson. Furthermore, the $70k Knockout of the Night bonus went to Michael McDonald for his first round knockout against UFC newcomer Alex Soto. McDonald improves to 14-1 overall, as well as 3-0 in the UFC.

Full Results:

MAIN CARD:

Dan Henderson def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Wanderlei Silva def. Cung Le via knockout (strikes) – Round 2, 4:49
Urijah Faber def. Brian Bowles via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:27
Martin Kampmann def. Rick Story via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Stephan Bonnar def. Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD:

Ryan Bader def. Jason Brilz via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:17
Michael McDonald def. Alex Soto via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:56
Chris Weidman def. Tom Lawlor via technical submission (D’arce choke) – Round 1, 2:07
Gleison Tibau def. Rafael dos Anjos via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Miguel Torres def. Nick Pace via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:42
Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:52

– @SethFalvo

UFC 139 Live Blog: Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann Updates

Filed under:

Martin Kampmann takes on Rick Story at UFC 139.SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann, a welterweight bout on tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.

Story (13-4) had his six-fight UFC win streak snapped by Charlie Brenneman in June. Kampmann (17-5) is coming off back-to-back losses against Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez.

The live blog is below.


Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

%VIRTUAL-Gallery-139928%

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under:

Martin Kampmann takes on Rick Story at UFC 139.SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann, a welterweight bout on tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.

Story (13-4) had his six-fight UFC win streak snapped by Charlie Brenneman in June. Kampmann (17-5) is coming off back-to-back losses against Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez.

The live blog is below.


Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

%VIRTUAL-Gallery-139928%

Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments