Alistair Overeem proved he was more than just hype on Friday night by retiring Brock Lesnar from the UFC.
In his octagon debut, the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion made quick work of Lesnar, beating him by TKO at 2:26 of the first round following a body kick.
Overeem was able to stuff the few takedown attempts from Lesnar and land some powerful knees to the body that softened Lesnar up for the finish. Overeem will now face Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title in the near future.
Following the loss, his second in as many fights, Lesnar retired from competition. With a pair of bad knockout losses, his aura has faded. With a title shot not likely to come any time soon, it made sense for Lesnar to call it quits. It hurts the UFC as he was their top draw, but I am sure they can market Overeem.
In the co-main event, Nate Diaz had an impressive decision win over Donald Cerrone. Diaz used his boxing to pick apart Cerrone. The Cowboy took a number of unanswered punches throughout the 15 minutes.
In a big upset, Johny Hendricks knocked out Jon Fitch in just 12 seconds. Fitch, who had just one loss in the octagon to Georges St. Pierre, had been off for nearly a year due to shoulder surgery.
Fitch threw a couple of punches in the opening seconds but then walked in to a big left from Hendricks that put him out cold for a moment.
The loss for Fitch is devastating, as he was close to earning a title shot, and now will fall well back into the contender list. Due to a lack of exciting fights, Fitch can’t expect to headline an event any time too soon.
For complete results from UFC 141, check out the jump.
In the UFC’s anticipated debut on FOX, it didn’t take long for the inaugural fight to end.
Junior dos Santos won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in a little over a minute as he knocked out the champion, Cain Velasquez from the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Dos Santos came into the fight as the betting underdog, but a devastating right hand early in the first round caught the champion in the ear and sent him crashing.
With Velasquez’ equilibrium admittedly thrown off, dos Santos was able to finish the fight with a series of ground-and-pound strikes that left Velasquez face down in the octagon.
The Brazilian exploded with joy as he becomes the third Brazilian to hold a UFC title, joining middleweight champ Anderson Silva and featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo.
In the night’s co-main event, Ben Henderson earned a lightweight title shot against Frankie Edgar with his unanimous decision win over Clay Guida.
The contest was very competitive and neither man seemed to have an obvious superiority over the other, but Henderson was able to gain more dominant positions than Guida and he also exhibited more control during the fight.
For complete UFC on FOX 1 results, check out the jump.
The UFC makes its national television debut on FOX Saturday night with one of the biggest heavyweight fights in the history of the organization as Cain Velasquez defends his heavyweight championship against Junior dos Santos.
Coming into the fight, the oddsmakers like the champion Velasquez to retain, as he has a money line of -190 to win on Saturday night. Dos Santos comes in with odds of +155. These two will clash from the Honda Center in Anaheim at 9 p.m. ET live on FOX.
Here is a look at both fighters and my pick for the winner.
Cain Velasquez (9-0) – The former wrestler from Arizona State is unbeaten in his short MMA career and he holds wins over top fighters like Cheick Kongo, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar. Velasquez started as a wrestler, but has quickly developed his boxing and turned into one of the top knockout artists in the division. The questions for the champion coming in are his conditioning and health, as he is coming off rotator cuff surgery that has sidelined him for over a year. His longest fight in the UFC is 15 minutes and he struggled to make it to the end there, so if this fight goes deep, he could be in rough shape.
Junior dos Santos (13-1) – The Brazilian is 7-0 in the UFC and holds wins over the likes of Fabricio Werdum, Mirko CroCop, Roy Nelson, and Shane Carwin. Junior is a powerful striker that likes to throw heavy punches. His uppercut has been his signature strike to finish opponents, but he also works in devastating body shots. A black belt in jiu-jitsu as well, dos Santos hasn’t had to show those skills because he has been able to dominate fights standing. The test for him in this fight will be whether or not he is able to stuff the takedowns of Velasquez, as he has not faced a tough wrestler in the octagon. Like Velasquez, dos Santos hasn’t been pushed past 15 minutes yet, so fatigue could be an issue if this bout reaches the championship rounds.
Who Will Win? – This fight could go 25 minutes and it could go 25 seconds. Both fighters have a lot of explosiveness to them but both also have some big questions coming in. Ultimately, I feel Velasquez’ striking is closer to matching dos Santos’ as opposed to dos Santos’ wrestling being anywhere near Velasquez’. I think both fighters will land some early strikes, but Velasquez will be the one to get the fight to the ground and control Junior from there. I am actually going to be part of the minority that sees this fight going the distance due to Velasquez going with the wrestling.
A relapse of diverticulitis has forced former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to pull out of his scheduled UFC 131 fight with Junior dos Santos.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the news today.
Lesnar was scheduled to face fellow Ultimate Fighter 13 coach Dos Santos in the main event of UFC 131 in Vancouver. The winner would receive a title shot. Shane Carwin will face dos Santos instead.
Lesnar indicated on the conference call that his career isn’t over and he is not retiring, but that he has to figure out a way to beat the illness so that he can train to the best of his capabilities. “I’ve just got to find the right solution to fix this problem,” Lesnar said.
“UFC 131: Lesnar vs. Dos Santos” is currently scheduled to take place on June 11 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, but UFC officials have not made the location official yet.
The event is headlined by a heavyweight No. 1 contender’s bout between “The Ultimate Fighter 13” coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos.
The venue , formerly known as GM Place, has hosted a UFC before. “UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin” was held there on June 12, 2010. British Columbia passed a bill to sanction mixed martial arts on December 17, 2009.
Official bouts confirmed for UFC 131 include:
MAIN CARD
Junior Dos Santos vs. Brock Lesnar
Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz
Shane Carwin vs. Jon Olav Einemo
Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes
Dustin Poirier vs. Rani Yahya
Through the months many of you have taken a moment to read my UFC fight predictions or look at my MMA rankings as part of the The Scores Report.
Well, that has now opened the door for my own “brother” site, strictly devoted to MMA, called MMA Blitz.
At MMA Blitz you will find daily updates on any and all things MMA. From breaking news to opinions to interviews, we will have it all. If you have been a fan of my work here, you will surely enjoy MMA Blitz.
Brock Lesnar faces Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131 in a No. 1 contender’s bout, but the prize he’s eyeing according to HeavyMMA.com is the title shot with Cain Velasquez.
Lesnar faces Dos Santos in a heavyweight No. 1 contender’s bout at UFC 131 on June 11 in Vancouver with the winner getting a title shot at Velasquez.
Lesnar lost the title to Velasquez at UFC 121 in October of 2010, and Dos Santos stands in his way of an opportunity of regaining the belt.
“I’m angry that I lost last fall, but being angry about it isn’t the solution, but doing something about it, and that’s what I intend to do to get another title shot,” Lesnar said on Monday.
Lesnar made no excuses for the loss to Velasquez, but believes a rematch will be a lot different than their first fight.
“I was healthy physically, but mentally probably not so. I don’t think it really registers to the general public on my year last year from being sick and losing 42 pounds and just to get my ass to the gym to recover and put that weight back on and then having a title fight, and on top of that while I’m training for a title fight a new baby boy, and then fighting Shane Carwin. Then I was expecting some time off because I really needed it mentally more than anything and physically, and then I booked a fight with Cain (Velasquez),” said Lesnar.
HeavyMMA.com hands out their MMA Heavyweight rankings for February and Antonio Silva is the biggest mover of the month.
February’s biggest mover in the heavyweight division is Antonio Silva, who jumps up several spots based on the strength of his stunning win over Fedor Emelianenko. It’s true that Emelianenko is not what he once was, but that doesn’t make Silva’s win any less impressive. In 2005, he was heralded as the guy who had the tools and the size to defeat Emelianenko. In 2011, he finally made it happen, and his star is on the rise while Emelianenko’s is dangerously close to fading away for good.
Let’s take a look at February’s rankings for the heavyweight division.
1. Cain Velasquez
Velasquez will be on the mend for the foreseeable future after undergoing a medical prodecure, but he has returned to light cardio work at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. Of course, “light cardio” for Cain Velasquez is about 10x longer than we’ve ever run in our entire life.
2. Brock Lesnar
You’d never know it to be true, but Lesnar is still in Vegas and is said to be enjoying his time coaching The Ultimate Fighter a great deal. Once he finishes the coaching gig, he’ll return to Minnesota and begin preparations for Junior dos Santos.
UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez takes place Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. featuring a monumental main event for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Here is my take on the card and who will win the main card bouts.
UFC Heavyweight Championship – Brock Lesnar (5-1) vs. Cain Velasquez (8-0): This is the biggest heavyweight bout the UFC could put together right now and Velasquez has a great chance to win the belt. The key will be for him to be able to stop the takedown attempts and keep the fight standing, where he has better striking and faster hands. Lesnar showed that he can be hurt in his last fight against Shane Carwin, but I think Velasquez has the endurance to see the victory through.
UFC Welterweight Bout – Jake Shields (25-4-1) vs. Martin Kampmann (17-3): Shields is making his UFC debut and many are penciling him in as the next to challenge Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title, but I actually like Kampmann in an upset here as he has an all-around and aggressive style that can give Shields problems. Kampmann has only lost to strikers in his career, and Shields is far from an elite striker. I like Kampmann to win by decision in this one.
UFC Welterweight Bout – Diego Sanchez (23-4) vs. Paulo Thiago (13-2): Thiago has beaten some solid contenders in the welterweight division, but he has struggled with superior grapplers, losing to Jon Fitch and Kampmann. Sanchez got dominated in his last two fights and is desperate for a win, and I think he will come out motivated and looking to control the fight from the start with his pacing and wrestling. I like Sanchez to squeak out a decision against Thiago.
UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Tito Ortiz (16-7-1) vs. Matt Hamill (10-2): Ortiz hasn’t won a fight since 2006 and while Hamill is lacking in some key areas, I think he has a better all-around game than Ortiz, who is pretty one dimensional with wrestling as his strength. Look for Hamill to move around and work kicks before scoring some late takedowns to get a decision win over Ortiz.
UFC Heavyweight Bout – Brendan Schaub (7-1) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (11-5): Schaub has a lot of promise and is an up-and-comer while Gonzaga is still holding on to a little bit of relevance, but has lost four of his last seven fights, with all of the losses coming by TKO. Schaub has won his last two fights by quick KO, so this fight should have plenty of fireworks. Look for Schaub to get the win as he has the quicker hands and is the better technical striker.
Brock Lesnar is set to defend his heavyweight championship belt Saturday night in Anaheim at UFC 121 and HeavyMMA.com was gracious enough to share a ton of great videos for this huge event, which you can find below.
Alistair Overeem proved he was more than just hype on Friday night by retiring Brock Lesnar from the UFC.
