Metal Reviews

I feel bad for Bendo and Kim, but they get caught. Everybody does sooner or later. RdA looks to be a legit title challenger. Too bad the Pettis/Melendez fight is still so far away. I think Dos Anjos should fight Bobby Green next and the winner gets a title shot.

I also agree with the early stoppage, but I think he would of been KO'd soon afterwards anyway.

Jordan Mein also made Mike Pyle look amateurish. Took him only 72 seconds to score the KO. His dad, Lee Mein, was arrested earlier in the night for "sexual battery" on a hotel attendant. He has been barred from all future UFC events, which is big as he is Jordan's head corner man.

I agree with the Bisping/Rockhold match-up next. But rumour is Rockhold vs Machida next. If Rockhold doesn't fight Lyoto, than a match-up with Bisping makes all kinds of sense (except for that fact that Rockhold has defeated Tim Kennedy twice and Kennedy already made Bisping his bitch for 15 minutes). If not Rockhold, I could see maybe Tim Boetsch next. That's a drop off for the Count, but it wouldn't hurt to get Bisping on a bit of a winning streak before they start feeding him to the top 5 again.

"Mighty Mouse" Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso replaces Jones-Cormier as the main event for UFC 178. Dana really stacked this card with some great fights. Dustin Poirer faces off against Connor McGregor, Dominick Cruz (finally) returns to action and the debut of Eddie Alvarez against Donald Cerrone. I may actually buy this one instead of going to the bar to watch it.

Where do you get your MMA news from? Try mmajunkie.com, in my opinion the best MMA news site around. They stick to mainstream stuff, but they usually get news first.

Oh, yes. MMA Junkie is an awesome resource for all fight fans. I go to ESPN.com a lot too since I can also check on baseball scores and the NBA. In spite of their lack of major coverage, ESPN's MMA page isn't half bad. Brett Okamoto is basically a one man show but still manages to keep a good pulse on everything that's happening. Outside of the UFC and Bellator there really isn't that much coverage of the smaller federations like WSOF or Invicta FC. That being said, ESPN still manages to keep fairly up-to-date fight cards and event dates for the little guys on their MMA Schedule/Results page.

Rematch for the bantamweight title this weekend as Renan Barao tries to regain the belt after being stunned by the stellar footwork of TJ Dillishaw. Who you boys got in this one?

In his first title defense, Dillishaw knocks out Barao replacement Joe Soto with a vicious head kick in the fifth round. Much respect to Soto for stepping up for Barao at the last minute who was forced to pull out the day before the match after fainting while attempting to cut weight. Dillashaw was never in any real trouble during the fight outstriking the challenger by a huge margin and scoring several takedowns before finally landing the knockout blow. According to Dana, RB will not be given a title shot in his next fight and must work his way back up the food chain. I doubt it will take him long given his previous domination of the competition.

I was at the family cottage this weekend and missed the PPV. But I have it recorded and plan on watching it soon. I did a good job avoiding spoilers, but then goddamn Facebook ruined everything. So even though I haven't seen any main card fights, I know all the outcomes. From what I have read, it seems like even though it was light on name power, it was still a solid night of fights.

As for Barao, Ariel Helwani says that if Aldo loses to Mendes in October (big IF) expect Aldo to move up to 155 and Barao to go up to 145.

Carlos Diego Ferrerai looks like he can be a dark horse at 155. Undefeated record, now 2-0 in the UFC both finishes. One by submission and most recently his KO of Nijem, definitely a guy to keep an eye on.

Yancy Medeiros finally got his first UFC victory (even though he as a KO over Yves Edwards that was overturned due to marijuana). Listening to Nate Diaz try to coach was painful. That boy should never open his mouth. At least Nick is interesting when he talks, Nate is just dumb. Back to Medeiros, they are calling his submission victory the "Medeiros Choke". First of its kind in the UFC.

Bethe Correia continues to win fights and beat the "4 Horsewoman". Baszler should retire. She looked completely outclassed, and without looking up her record, I am pretty sure she has lost several in a row now. I know that she is a "legend" in WMMA, but her time has passed. Correia improved to 8-0, 3-0 in the UFC. She called out Rousey, and Rousey said she'd like to fight Bethe next, but uncle Dana says we have to "wait and see". Still talks of Gina Carano signing with the UFC soon.

Tony Ferguson continues to improve and is starting to convince me that he can actually be something in the stacked lightweight division. Yeah he was on his back a lot, but this is not prison Mr. Castillo. I lost a lot of respect for Danny after this fight. He did throw some nice combos on the feet, but on the ground he just laid there and stalled. Ferguson was working for submissions and just generally was the busier fighter. Then for Danny to start crying and complaining after the fight... I get that he's 35 and if he's going to make a run for the title, it had to start at UFC 177, plus the extra pressure of his first co-main event on top of being in his home town, but to cry like that does you no favours. Plus his prison comment was just weird.

Lastly, WAR JOE SOTO! He definitely proved that he belongs in the UFC going 4 and half rounds with the champ. Dillashank was never in too much trouble, but Soto landed some nice jabs and hooks. A full training camp and a lesser opponent than the champ, we will see Soto get his first UFC win. He gained a lot of new fans Saturday night. Did better than Barao when he lost the title. I think Soto-Barao next could be a good scrap. Two guys coming off a 5th round stoppage loss to the champ. As for TJ, he looked stellar. His footwork is on point, his takedown defence is crazy (never been taken down in the UFC), and when he starts throwing some of those combos, I had to put the TV on half speed to see it all. If Cruz can beat Mizugaki, then a Dillashaw-Cruz fight must happen. Just imagine the footwork and combinations on display if they fight...

Anybody see the Tito Ortiz-Stephan Bonnar bullshit from Bellator on Friday? Holy WWE Batman.

For those who haven't seen it:
http://mmajunkie.com/2014/09/video-the- ... s-reaction

Embarrassing, yes, but at least they went all out with the 'raslin bit. I was expecting Ken Shamrock to pop up any second during that whole segment. Maybe Jenna will show up at the match and slip a steel chair to Bonnar while the ref isn't looking to complete the Ortiz betrayal storyline. Honestly, I'm still disappointed Tito never fought Dana White in their ill-fated boxing match from way back. The hilarity would have been tremendous.

That Joe Rogan ripoff with the mic... I'm surprised Tito didn't hurt his back.

Wait for it...

Rockhold vs Bisping announced as headliner for Fight Night in Aussieland on November 8th. Luke should win this fight, but the Count looked pretty sharp in his last outing against Cung Le. He's had trouble stringing wins together lately so we'll see which Mike Bisping shows up.

After dispatching an outclassed Mousasi, can we all now agree the BJJ wrecking machine that is Jacare Souza deserves a shot at the middleweight belt? The possibility of a Weidman-Souza fight should have grappling fans foaming at the mouth.

Huge win for Arlovski this weekend with a first round KO over Bigfoot Silva. Not a lot of people had him winning this fight (myself included) and it showed he can still get it done against a quality opponent. Nice rebound from his mediocre performance against Schaub.



I think he needs one more big win. A convincing victory over a Miocic or a Rothwell should put the Pitbull in title contention.

Still can't believe he KO'd Bigfoot like that. But Silva does have a huge target for a chin, Velasquez stopped him in a minute, and Overeem (who was knocked out of the top 10 today) was picking Bigfoot apart before he got caught. So Silva definitely has a history (in the UFC anyway) for getting hit on the feet. Arlovski showed he's still got the chops to hang with the HW top 5. I agree with Miocic or Rothwell, or the winner of next weeks Nelson-Hunt fight. I'd still like to see Stipe fight JDS like he was suppose to a few months back, dos Santos said he should be good to go by January.

Very good. That should still be a great match-up. I like Arlovski getting the winner of the Nelson-Hunt brawl-for-all. Either guy would be a good test for Andrei's questionable chin. At the end of the day, I'm honestly hoping for a new, more durable HW champ. Cain may be a buzzsaw with a limitless fuel tank but these long injury lay-offs are a real pain especially after having endured the Lesnar diverticulitis saga from a few years ago.

It's not just Velasquez either, there's Aldo, Pettis, now Hendricks all sidelined for most of their title reigns. At least Aldo has defended his title a bunch before he started getting hurt.

Also, JDS-Miocic official for UFC on Fox 13 headliner. Stefan Struve fights Alistair Overeem, Todd Duffee also returns vs Anthony Hamilton, and Matt Mitrione vs Gabriel Gonzaga. All on the same card.

Arlovski vs Hunt should be next (depending on their possible layoffs - Arlovski may be out 6 months), and Bigfoot should fight Big Country. What about Myles Jury? He still needs a few legit top 5-10 wins, but he looks like he can be a force (at FW maybe, top end LWs are too big for him IMO - Bendo, RdA, Nurmagomedov, Grant, Cerrone, etc...)

Speaking of Bendo, he may be moving up to 170 lbs next year.

And Cyborg will make her bantamweight debut/return this December for Invicta FC, hoping to fight Rousey after that.

The UFC should institute a policy where all their title holders must defend the belt within a given time or be stripped outright. Get rid of this Interim title BS entirely as it's nothing but a paper championship to begin with. Guys shouldn't be able to hijack the belt because they can't stay healthy enough to fight twice a year.

Really hoping for the Cyborg-Rousey fight to happen. It's going to take a hard nosed, fantastic striker like Santos to challenge Rousey as her grappling skills are just head and shoulders above everyone else. One punch KO power is the only thing that's going to bring her down at this point.

The JDS-Miocic card sounds awesome, especially for a free event. Will definitely have to watch. Go hard or go home for the 'Reem I think. If he can't beat Struve, he'll be heading to the minors or possibly to a kickboxing promotion like Glory.

On a side note, please let Dustin Poirer flatten Connor Magregor this weekend. The wee Irishman's mouth needs a bit o' closin', says I.