Tag: UFC 131

From the ‘We Saw This One Coming a Mile Away’ File: Dana White Says Kenny Florian is Likely Up Next for a Shot at Aldo

(Video courtesy of Videobb/fightvideomma)

If you listened to The Bum Rush Radio Show this week (and we’re pretty sure at least some of you did, right mom?) you would know our collective feelings on the inevitability that Kenny Florian would be handed another undeserved title shot if he beat Diego Nunes at UFC 131. Well, according to UFC president Dana White, KenFlo “pretty much” has dibs on Jose Aldo when the champ returns from nursing a nagging shoulder injury.

When asked at the post-UFC 131 press conference if Florian’s win earned him a shot at Aldo, White answered succinctly, “More than likely. How’s that for confirmation?” before adding “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He deserves a shot at the title. No doubt about it.”


(Video courtesy of Videobb/fightvideomma)

If you listened to The Bum Rush Radio Show this week (and we’re pretty sure at least some of you did, right mom?) you would know our collective feelings on the inevitability that Kenny Florian would be handed another undeserved title shot if he beat Diego Nunes at UFC 131. Well, according to UFC president Dana White, KenFlo “pretty much” has dibs on Jose Aldo when the champ returns from nursing a nagging shoulder injury.

When asked at the post-UFC 131 press conference if Florian’s win earned him a shot at Aldo, White answered succinctly, “More than likely. How’s that for confirmation?” before adding “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He deserves a shot at the title. No doubt about it.”

Sure Florian’s win over Nunes was a decent one, but taking two out of three rounds doesn’t really scream “immediate title shot” to me. I’m starting to think Kenny has a photo of Dana White and Joe Silva in a compromising position with a barnyard animal or something. How else can you explain their proclivity for handing Florian title shots whenever the feeling comes to them? What about Chad Mendes? And if you’re going to just give title shots away, why not bring in Hatsu Hioki and put him against the champ or even better still, have him fight Florian to decide who deserves it more?

I seem to recall a certain UFC president stating that Florian was a choker when it came to title fights, so why give him another one before proving if he can beat a top-tier 145er. I asked Mark Hominick a few weeks ago if Florian is an opponent he’d like to face and he said he would if he got past Nunes. Problem solved.

Maybe Dana was caught up in the moment, maybe he was trying to make headlines out of footnotes from the presser, or maybe he realized the photo Florian’s camp had been holding over his and Silva’s heads for the past few years was merely a shoddily done Photoshop, but for whatever reason he was less definitive when talking to MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani a short while later.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “Nothing is definitive.”

Especially not the UFC’s formula for deciding its number one contenders.

UFC 131 Results: Junior Dos Santos and What’s Next for the Winners

UFC 131: Junior Dos Santos and What’s Next for the WinnersBleacher Report’s Michael Magoulis:Although many considered UFC 131 to be a fairly lackluster card due to the debuts of three fighters on the main card, it still featured several big contender …

UFC 131: Junior Dos Santos and What’s Next for the Winners

Bleacher Report’s Michael Magoulis:

Although many considered UFC 131 to be a fairly lackluster card due to the debuts of three fighters on the main card, it still featured several big contender matchups in the Featherweight, Middleweight, and Heavyweight divisions.

Chris Weidman, Sam Stout, Donald Cerrone, Dave Herman, Mark Munoz, Kenny Florian and Junior Dos Santos all walked away with big wins on Saturday night. All of them significantly raised their stock and a few of them may now be in line for title shots.

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Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 131, including the latest UFC 131 Results, Fight Card Analysis,  UFC 131 News, and Live Reaction, from Vancouver.

UFC 131: Junior dos Santos and What’s Next for the Winners

Although many considered UFC 131 to be a fairly lackluster card due to the debuts of three fighters on the main card, it still featured several big contender matchups in the Featherweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions.Chris Weidman, Sam Stout…

Although many considered UFC 131 to be a fairly lackluster card due to the debuts of three fighters on the main card, it still featured several big contender matchups in the Featherweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions.

Chris Weidman, Sam Stout, Donald Cerrone, Dave Herman, Mark Munoz, Kenny Florian and Junior dos Santos all walked away with big wins on Saturday night. All of them significantly raised their stock, and a few of them may now be in line for title shots.

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UFC 131 Results: Mark Munoz Gearing Up for Big Run After Win over Demian Maia

UFC 131 Results: Mark Munoz Gearing Up for Big Run After Win over Demian MaiaBleacher Report’s Elliot Olshansky:In all likelihood, there were two No. 1 contenders crowned on Saturday night at UFC 131.Obviously, in the main event, Junior dos Santos co…

UFC 131 Results: Mark Munoz Gearing Up for Big Run After Win over Demian Maia

Bleacher Report’s Elliot Olshansky:

In all likelihood, there were two No. 1 contenders crowned on Saturday night at UFC 131.

Obviously, in the main event, Junior dos Santos confirmed his status as the No. 1 contender to Cain Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, as the injured champion was brought into the Octagon to congratulate the TUF 13 coach on his win and set the matchup for later this year.

Also, with Kenny Florian’s success in his featherweight debut with a unanimous decision victory over Diego Nunes, all signs are pointing to a matchup with Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship. 

Mark Munoz didn’t earn a No. 1 contender spot for his middleweight victory over former top contender Demian Maia, but the former NCAA Champion wrestler sent a strong signal that he’s heading in that direction in one of the night’s best fights. Furthermore, a quick survey of the UFC landscape at 185 pounds shows that Munoz’s time as a contender could be coming sooner rather than later.

Read the entire article

UFC 131 Results: Mark Munoz Gearing Up for Big Run After Win over Demian Maia

In all likelihood, there were two No. 1 contenders crowned on Saturday night at UFC 131.Obviously, in the main event, Junior dos Santos confirmed his status as the No. 1 contender to Cain Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, as the injured c…

In all likelihood, there were two No. 1 contenders crowned on Saturday night at UFC 131.

Obviously, in the main event, Junior dos Santos confirmed his status as the No. 1 contender to Cain Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, as the injured champion was brought into the Octagon to congratulate the TUF 13 coach on his win and set the matchup for later this year.

Also, with Kenny Florian’s success in his featherweight debut with a unanimous decision victory over Diego Nunes, all signs are pointing to a matchup with Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship. 

Mark Munoz didn’t earn a No. 1 contender spot for his middleweight victory over former top contender Demian Maia, but the former NCAA Champion wrestler sent a strong signal that he’s heading in that direction in one of the night’s best fights. Furthermore, a quick survey of the UFC landscape at 185 pounds shows that Munoz’s time as a contender could be coming sooner rather than later.

The most recent middleweight rankings published at Sherdog.com naturally listed UFC titleholder Anderson Silva as No. 1. Following “The Spider,” the remainder of the top 10 doesn’t include much in the way of fighters that Silva hasn’t beaten.

Chael Sonnen came in at No. 2, and while there’s undoubtedly interest for a return engagement between Sonnen and Silva after the Spider escaped at UFC 117, that remains on hold while Sonnen’s fighting future remains up in the air. Yushin Okami is No. 3, and will have his chance to take the title on August 27 in Rio de Janeiro. After Okami, it goes like this:

The No. 4 man on the list is Nate Marquardt, who lost to Silva at UFC 73, and is making his welterweight debut later this month against Rick Story. Strikeforce champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is No. 5 on the list, and while the UFC has brought over one Strikeforce titleholder to challenge its champion in the form of Nick Diaz, the MMA world isn’t necessarily screaming for a battle between Souza and Silva.

Maia, of course, was beaten and shown up by Silva at UFC 112, and has been pushed further back in the line than his No. 6 spot by his loss to Munoz on Saturday night. The No. 7 man, Jorge Santiago, fell a bit with his loss to Brian Stann two weeks ago at UFC 130, and No. 8 Vitor Belfort is coming off his loss to Silva at UFC 126. No. 9 Michael Bisping is nowhere near a title shot, and the No. 10 man is Bellator champ Hector Lombard, the only one of the bunch not under Zuffa contract. 

This doesn’t mean that Munoz should necessarily be next in line for a title shot if Silva retains against Okami at UFC 134, but if a rematch with Sonnen or the much-talked-about super fight with Georges St-Pierre isn’t up next, Munoz might be the most attractive option, possibly with one more win under his belt. And one more fight could be perfect for some of the UFC’s business plans.

Earlier this year Dana White spoke of bringing The Ultimate Fighter to foreign countries, and said that a Philippines edition of the show would be first later on this year. We haven’t heard much about those plans since then, but there’s certainly been plenty else to talk about, and when the UFC does bring its hit reality show to the Philippines, is there any doubt that the “Filipino Wrecking Machine” would be a natural choice as one of the coaches? 

As for the other coach, that would need to be determined. Sherdog is recommending Brian Stann as Munoz’s next opponent, but if TUF is going to the Philippines, Stann wouldn’t be the right foil for Munoz, and even if the reality show isn’t in the picture, a title eliminator between Stann and Munoz might not be the right way to go. The winner of the Chris Leben-Wanderlei Silva bout at UFC 132 could be the right way to go, or the winner of UFC 133’s battle between Belfort and Yoshihiro Akiyama.

These are the sorts of decisions that Joe Silva gets paid to make, and he’s certainly got his work cut out for him. In the meantime, it’s clear that in Mark Munoz, the UFC has a bona fide star on the rise.

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UFC 131 Results: Shane Carwin’s Bloody Face Photos After Fight with Dos Santos

UFC 131 Results: Shane Carwin’s Bloody Face Photos After Fight with Dos SantosBleacher Report’s Nick Caron:Photos of Shane Carwin’s face following a bloody war with Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC 131 are beginning to flood in, and Bleacher …

UFC 131 Results: Shane Carwin’s Bloody Face Photos After Fight with Dos Santos

Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron:

Photos of Shane Carwin‘s face following a bloody war with Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC 131 are beginning to flood in, and Bleacher Report is here to compile them in one easy-to-use photo slideshow!

In what was on of the most amazing displays of heart we have ever seen in the Octagon, Carwin narrowly escaped a first-round TKO when he took dozens of shots directly to the face from one of the UFC’s most heavily handed punching specialists. 

“The Engineer” fought back in the second round and even looked like he might take that round, but it wasn’t enough as he was eventually smacked around some more by dos Santos in each of the final two rounds of this fight.

What one almost has to wonder is that, with the UFC’s new initiative to include five rounds in even non-title main events in the future, would this fight have made it to five rounds?

Referee Herb Dean even stopped the bout with only a couple minutes left in the third round to make sure that Carwin could continue. Though the doctor determined that he could, it was pretty obvious that Carwin had taken a crazy amount of damage and would need some help from the medical staff after the fight. 

So let’s take a closer look at the brutal cuts and bruises that Shane Carwin will be dealing with tonight and for the foreseeable future.

Click here to see the images.