Tag: Rick Story

UFC 171 Predictions: Which Welterweights Make the Move into Contention?

UFC 171 on Saturday night is headlined by the highly anticipated title bout between Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler for the vacant crown. That fight, however, is not the only welterweight scrap on the card.
UFC 171 features four more …

UFC 171 on Saturday night is headlined by the highly anticipated title bout between Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler for the vacant crown. That fight, however, is not the only welterweight scrap on the card.

UFC 171 features four more clashes at 170 pounds, and three of those bouts have at least one ranked fighter. The fight card in Dallas will shake up the welterweight division.

The six fighters participating in those fights are trying to get into title contention. They want to stake their claim in the division and challenge the winner of the main event.

Who will come out on top? Who will insert their names in the list of contenders? Let’s take a look in advance of UFC 171.

 

Kelvin Gastelum vs. No. 14 Rick Story

Story has not had back-to-back wins since early 2011 when he was inching close to being a contender. He was derailed by Charlie Brenneman and never got back on track. A win over Gastelum will put him back into consideration.

Gastelum won the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter by stunning the highly touted Uriah Hall. He followed that up with a stellar showing against Brian Melancon last August. The undefeated prospect can thrust himself into the welterweight rankings with a win over Story.

Both fighters will have to do a bit of work before joining the upper echelon of the division, but they are not far off. This is an important fight for both men and the division.

Story has a win over Hendricks, and Gastelum is a fast-rising prospect. They have good stories to assist in their marketing ability, should they reach contention.

Who can take that next step?

One has to wonder how Gastelum‘s rough weight cut will play against the ever-tough Story. I was firmly in Gastelum‘s camp until the weigh-ins. Story is an uphill battle for someone who struggled to make weight.

Story is not going to relent, and Gastelum will wilt as the fight goes on.

Prediction: Story defeats Gastelum by decision.

 

No. 6 Jake Shields vs. No. 12 Hector Lombard

The battle between Shields and Lombard may be the most intriguing stylistic matchup on the UFC 171 card.

The fight may or may not produce some of the most exciting action, but the technical acumen of both men make this one hard to predict.

Lombard has a strong judo background and incredible power in his hands, but he has struggled against strong grapplers. Can Shields use his wrestling and ground control to stifle the hard-hitting Cuban? Perhaps, but Lombard should be able to get back to his feet.

If Shields can keep Lombard down and win the fight, he will have one of the best cases for receiving the next title shot. Lombard would likely need at least one more fight, but a win would elevate him into the list of contenders, which is where he wants to be.

Shields has taken tough shots before, but if Lombard lands early, it will be goodnight moon. I sense that Lombard will connect and end this fight early.

Prediction: Lombard defeats Shields by KO in the first round.

 

No. 2 Carlos Condit vs. No. 11 Tyron Woodley

Condit has the best claim to being the next title contender, and a win should cement that. He is the No. 2-ranked welterweight and the former interim champion and had a close decision loss to UFC 171 title challenger Hendricks.

Woodley is 2-1 in the UFC, and the former Strikeforce welterweight contender can make it two straight with a victory over Condit. He can ruin “The Natural Born Killer’s” title bid and join the premier contenders in the division.

Woodley has a good wrestling base with a lot of punching power. Condit is the total package. If Woodley can dictate where the fight takes place, he has the inside track to win in a three-round bout, but Condit is one of the best game-planners in MMA today.

The former Strikeforce contender has good odds to upset his opponent, but Condit is simply too well-rounded. He can win on points, but I expect him to touch up Woodley and finish him. Condit‘s striking has improved greatly over the years, and the angles he comes from will frustrate and confuse his opponent in Dallas.

Condit will put on a show en route to stating his case as the rightful next title challenger.

Prediction: Condit defeats Woodley by TKO in the second round.

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UFC 171: Kelvin Gastelum Ready to Take the Tough Road to the Top

Kelvin Gastelum isn’t looking for shelter. He’s in search of the biggest challenges he can find.
Where a large majority of past winners of The Ultimate Fighter were ushered into the official UFC fold slowly and brought along at a measured pace, the 22-…

Kelvin Gastelum isn’t looking for shelter. He’s in search of the biggest challenges he can find.

Where a large majority of past winners of The Ultimate Fighter were ushered into the official UFC fold slowly and brought along at a measured pace, the 22-year-old had no want to continue that trend. After pulling off a dramatic upset over the heavily favored Uriah Hall to win the 17th season of the reality-based fighting tournament, Gastelum didn’t waste time basking in a job well done. Instead, he made the decision to drop down a weight class and get to work.

Certainly the UFC could have paired him in a favorable matchup and allowed him to get his feet wet, but when his opponent was announced to be Paulo Thiago, the Yuma-based fighter’s path began to take shape. When the gritty Brazilian veteran was forced out of the bout just weeks before their scheduled date in Indianapolis, the undefeated fighter remained focused and properly dispatched late-replacement Brian Melancon in the first round of their tilt at Fight Night 27 in Indianapolis.

It was an impressive showing from start to abrupt finish and put another charge of momentum behind Gastelum‘s rising profile. He was looking to continue that push when his next challenge was announced but an injury suffered in training forced the Team Sonnen representative out of his scheduled bout with Court McGee at UFC on Fox 9 last December.

While Gastelum was undoubtedly disappointed he was forced to withdraw from the fight, those feelings quickly faded when his next fight against Rick Story came together for UFC 171.

“Before I even got the fight it was rumored that Story was going to fight Tyron Woodley,” Gastelum told Bleacher Report. “As soon as Woodley got the fight with [Carlos] Condit, I text Dana and asked him if I could get this fight. He told me he was going to work on it with Joe Silva, and the next thing I know, they are calling to tell me I’m fighting Rick Story.

The Brave Legion fighter has been a nightmare matchup for some of the biggest names in the division and is one of only two people to hold a win over current title challenger Johny Hendricks. With his upcoming opponent’s history against “Bigg Rigg,” Gastelum packed his bags and headed to Arlington to train with the former two-time Div. I national champion wrestler and his crew.

“I did my training for this camp down here with Team Takedown and Johny Hendricks,” Gastelum said. “They have some experience fighting Story and Johny is a heavy-hitter with a great wrestling base. I’ve been preparing pretty well with them and I feel good. I feel confident going into this fight.”

In addition to the wrestling pedigree the camp is known for, they are also recognized for carrying some of the best beards in the fight game. While Hendricks’ beard may be the most famous of the bunch, heavyweight Jared Rosholt and coach Marc Laimon have been bringing it strong and Gastelum‘s baby face must have been an interesting addition around the gym.

“No…no they didn’t,” Gastelum laughed when asked if they made him grow a beard to train with TTD. “Marc Laimon and everyone down there has their facial hair going and I tried to join the club but mine grows in patches. It’s just not something I could pull off.”

When Gastelum steps into the Octagon to face Story on Saturday night, it will be the biggest challenge to date. The Washington native has twice as many fights under the UFC banner as Gastelum does for his entire professional career. There is no doubt a victory over Story would certainly speed up his ascension through the rankings, and while Gastelum isn’t quite sure where a win in Dallas would put him in the bigger picture, he’s confident it will only lead to bigger things.

“A win over Story does put me in a really good position for a really good fight against a top opponent in my next outing,” Gastelum said. “But I don’t know what my next step would be to be honest. That is something I would have to talk with my management team and coaches about. A win here would put me in the right direction because I don’t want to move backwards. I want to keep going forward. I want to keep getting bigger fights and keep building myself up in the rankings. 

“Everything is absolutely coming together for me,” he added. “I feel great and I feel like this is my time to shine. This is where I need to be right now. I’m living my dream and I’m happy to be here.”

 

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.

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And Now He’s Retired: Jay Hieron Hangs It Up After a Decade in MMA

Jay Hieron announced his retirement from MMA competition today via twitter. He retires with a 23-7 record, accrued over 10 years of competition.

Jay Hieron announced his retirement from MMA competition today via twitter. He retires with a 23-7 record, accrued over 10 years of competition.

Hieron was truly one of the most well-traveled fighters in MMA. He fought for every big organization to grace the sport in the last era. He made his mark in Strikeforce, Bellator, the WEC, and the IFL. In the latter organization, he captured gold for the first and only time in his career, becoming the inaugural IFL welterweight champion.

Hieron’s success in the B-leagues of MMA never translated into success in the UFC, however. He lost all four of his fights in the world’s leading MMA organization. That doesn’t mean Hieron was a poor fighter though. He has wins over the likes of Pat Healy, Rick Story, Jason High, Rick Hawn, and Joe Riggs, (and debatably over Ben Askren). And for the most part, Hieron only lost to the best.

Hieron’s retirement signifies an ending era of MMA. There are few fighters of his ilk anymore—men who have fought for every would-be claimant to the UFC’s throne. The landscape is different now. The only organizations big enough to showcase talent aren’t big enough to keep it.

We wish Jay Hieron the best in his life outside the cage.

 

UFC 171 Adds Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Andrade, Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story, Jimy Hettes vs. Dennis Bermudez


(“Julianna Pena, you’re the first female Ultimate Fighter in the show’s history, so I gotta ask, what was your favorite room in the house?” Photo via Getty.)

The UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler card is filling up fast, Nation, and has recently added a pair of intriguing bouts featuring TUF winners as well as matchup between top featherweights. Let’s get right to it…

Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Andrade

“The Venezuelan Vixen” may not have made many friends in the TUF household (which we imagine she wasn’t there to do in the first place), but her performances in the octagon spoke for themselves. With stoppage victories over Shayna Baszler (rear-naked choke), Sarah Moras (guillotine) and Jessica Rakoczy (TKO), Pena is riding high on momentum at the moment, and she’ll need plenty of it against Jessica Andrade.

Currently 10-3 and 1-1 in the octagon, Andrade is submission specialist who has tangled with the likes of Liz Carmouche, Rosi Sexton and Jennifer Maia. She has only been the distance twice in her professional career, and while the holes in her wrestling game were exposed by Carmouche at UFC on FOX 8, she should easily make for the toughest test of the TUF winner’s career come March 15th.


(“Julianna Pena, you’re the first female Ultimate Fighter in the show’s history, so I gotta ask, what was your favorite room in the house?” Photo via Getty.)

The UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler card is filling up fast, Nation, and has recently added a pair of intriguing bouts featuring TUF winners as well as matchup between top featherweights. Let’s get right to it…

Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Andrade

“The Venezuelan Vixen” may not have made many friends in the TUF household (which we imagine she wasn’t there to do in the first place), but her performances in the octagon spoke for themselves. With stoppage victories over Shayna Baszler (rear-naked choke), Sarah Moras (guillotine) and Jessica Rakoczy (TKO), Pena is riding high on momentum at the moment, and she’ll need plenty of it against Jessica Andrade.

Currently 10-3 and 1-1 in the octagon, Andrade is submission specialist who has tangled with the likes of Liz Carmouche, Rosi Sexton and Jennifer Maia. She has only been the distance twice in her professional career, and while the holes in her wrestling game were exposed by Carmouche at UFC on FOX 8, she should easily make for the toughest test of the TUF winner’s career come March 15th.

Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story

In his first post-TUF appearance, season 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum showed that his victory over Uriah Hall was no fluke, dominating and submitting the now retired Brian Melancon in just two minutes at Fight Night 27 last August. The win kept Gastelum’s unblemished record intact, but unfortunately, bad luck would rear its head in the form of a PCL tear that would force him out of his UFC on FOX 9 fight with fellow TUF winner Court McGee.

Thankfully, Gastelum’s legs are not held together by tissue paper and dental floss, so he will be making a quick turnaround against veteran Rick Story. “The Horror” has been struggling with consistency for the past couple of years, going win-loss over his past five contests, but recently scored a unanimous decision victory over the returning Brian Ebersole at UFC 167. A win over Gastelum would easily make for his biggest since defeating Thiago Alves at UFC 130, so expect an all out war for this one, Nation.

Jimy Hettes vs. Dennis Bermudez

Call me crazy, but this is the matchup I’m most excited to see out of the three. Despite a minor setback against Marcus Brimage last year, Hettes has been on fire since entering the UFC, scoring submission wins over Alex Caceres and Robert Whiteford and dominating Nam Phan en route to a decision at UFC 141. Bermudez, on the other hand, has notched five straight victories since coming up short in the TUF 14 finals.

We all know Bermudez and Matt Grice put on a Fight of the Year contender at UFC 157, but “The Menace” also scored highly-entertaining decision victories over Max Holloway and Steven Siler in 2013 as well. The winner of this fight could easily find himself facing a top 10 opponent next, is what I’m getting at. In fact, if I were to GIF-rank this fight, I’d have to give it a solid

Can’t argue with the facts, folks.

UFC 171 goes down on March 15th from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

–J. Jones

UFC 167 Results: 3 Prelim Fighters Who Should Fight on the Main Card Next Time

With UFC 167 boasting an all-star cast, several talented fighters forfeited the main card spotlight and were left to compete in the prelims of the 20th anniversary fight card.
There’s no shame in competing in the prelims, especially on a card of …

With UFC 167 boasting an all-star cast, several talented fighters forfeited the main card spotlight and were left to compete in the prelims of the 20th anniversary fight card.

There’s no shame in competing in the prelims, especially on a card of this magnitude. The stars had aligned for the UFC’s biggest card of the year, which was headlined by pay-per-view juggernaut Georges St-Pierre.

You would be hard pressed to find any fighter who complains about his spot on that fight card. Many UFC warriors would have been happy with a Facebook preliminary slot.

Still, some guys on the undercard were deserving of a spot on the main card. In fact, several fighters on this card would have likely been featured on the main card of any other UFC event.

When fights turn out as good as they did on Saturday night, it sometimes makes you wish the UFC would extend its typical five-fight main card lineup to six or seven bouts.

In any case, here are three prelim fighters from UFC 167 who should fight on the main card next time.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 167 Betting Picks

Welterweight Championship Fight Predictions Georges St-Pierre (c) vs Johny Hendricks I saw the weigh ins and Georges is very pumped up for this fight. It will be interesting to see if Hendricks can connect with GSP’s chin since its been clocked before and the switch has been flipped by Serra and Condit before. Hendricks is [&hellip

Welterweight Championship Fight Predictions

Georges St-Pierre (c) vs Johny Hendricks

I saw the weigh ins and Georges is very pumped up for this fight. It will be interesting to see if Hendricks can connect with GSP’s chin since its been clocked before and the switch has been flipped by Serra and Condit before. Hendricks is more powerful than both of those guys (based on in the cage performace).

Pick: GSP has shown an ability to endure, I want to think that GSP will do enough NOT to get knocked out and win a decision in the end as well.

Rashad Evans vs. Chael Sonnen

I just bumped into Evans at WSOF 6 last month and he was in good spirits and looked ready to go. Evans should be too fast for Sonnen and will land more overall strikes. I don’t think Sonnen will be able to keep Evans down long enough to win rounds vs Evans ability to do the same plus better striking.

Pick: Evans.

Rory MacDonald vs. Robbie Lawler

MacDonald is the Wizard. He looks stoic and ready to fight efficiently every time. Lawler looks nasty at this weight now and his added size from fighting at middleweight might be a problem for Rory. We will see.

Cetainly the conditioning edge will go to MacDonald.

Pick: With Rory a huge favorite here, I think there is value in picking Lawler.

Josh Koscheck vs. Tyron Woodley

Woodley really hasn’t faced that many great guys, but he is great himself. He has steamrolled many fighters and is ability to not get taken down is one of the best.

Pick: Odds are about even here. Koscheck’s jaw has been clicked before and Woodley looks like he is getting stronger every fight. I’m torn here, but I will give edge to Koscheck with the experience.

Tim Elliott vs. Ali Bagautinov

Pass

Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1)

Donald Cerrone vs. Evan Dunham

Such a good fight. I can see Dunham winning by submission, but this fight is probably best bet via going the distance.

Pick: Dunham

Ed Herman vs. Thales Leites

Pick: I like Leites here with his return to the UFC. He is a little bigger and I don’t think Herman brings anything that Leites isn’t capable of handling except conditioning, but I think Leites will be prepared since he’s been out of the UFC and will want the taste of the spotlight again. Remember he contended for the title against Silva?

Pick: Leites

Brian Ebersole vs. Rick Story

Also an amazing fight. If this goes the distance Story is the busier fighter. However, I always ride with Ebersole. His experience and ability to fight smart is uncanny.

Pick: Ebersole

Erik Perez vs. Edwin Figueroa

Pass

Preliminary card (Facebook/YouTube)

Jason High vs. Anthony Lapsley

Will Campuzano vs. Sergio Pettis

The odds are way too high here to take Pettis. With Campuzano fighting on short notice I understand why against the undefeated Pettis.

Pass

Gian Villante vs. Cody Donovan

Pass