Chandler Wants Melendez in Bellator

Former Bellator Lightweight Champion, Michael Chandler, has expressed an interest in facing Gilbert Melendez if he jumps the UFC ship and heads over to Bellator MMA.  Chandler tweeted:

Seeing this news about @GilbertMelendez has me excited. Who wants to see me welcome him to @BellatorMMA after I beat Eddie?
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) February 13, 2014

 I would be heavily interested in seeing a clash between Chandler and Melendez, but as much as I would love to see this, I'd prefer to see Gilbert stay in the UFC and eventually fight for the belt.  If Melendez does decide to leave the UFC I would love to see him face Chandler or Eddie Alvarez for the title.  If Melendez were to move to Bellator and beat one or both of these men, it would further solidify his top 5 status in the world at 155 lbs.  The Lightweight division is the most talented division in all of MMA and Bellator has the second best Lightweight division after the UFC.

The Interview Between Dana, Cormier and Cummns

Enjoy!

Melendez May Be Leaving the UFC

UFC President Dana White, has publicly come out about the status of former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez and his relationship with the UFC.   White has stated that he has a good relationship Gilbert Melendez, but is frustrated with the management team of Melendez. White says that Melendez may need to start looking at other organizations for employment hinting at fhe fact that he might not get re-signed by the UFC. Melendez's last fight with the UFC and Zuffa on his contract was against Diego Sanchez at UFC 166 in Houston, Texas.

I really hope that Melendez is able to come to terms with the UFC so that we can continue to seem him fight amongst the best fighters in the world in his weight class. Melendez has the potential to be the UFC Lightweight Champion and some feel that he should've been the current UFC Lightweight Champion as some felt he beat Henderson when they squared off for the title. Melendez is a real gem in the UFC and represents the best of the best at 155 lbs.

The UFC Just May Get Another High Level Strawweight

Very soon we will be seeing 115 lb female Strawweights inside the Octagon.  The UFC has already acquired a who's-who of competitors in the UFC's coming strawweight division.  The show will introduce us to the division by putting together the first season of the Ultimate Fighter that will include and all female cast of competitors featuring some of Invicta FC's biggest names including current Invicta Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza.  The women on the show will compete until there are two women left to square off for the inaugural UFC Strawweight Championship at the finale.  Now it seems that another big name from Invicta may be joining the cast as well.

Former Invicta Atomweight Champion, Jessica Penne (11-2) has expressed interest in moving up a weight class to try out for the 20th season of the Ultimate Fighter.  Penne defeated Naho Sugiyama at Invicta FC 3 in order earn the Invicta Atomweight title, but lost the title to Michelle Waterson at Invicta FC 5.  Penne recovered from that loss by defeating Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc at Invicta FC 6 by securing a first round rear-naked choke.

New Partnership Announcement!

Tough Spar MMA is proud to announce that we have a new partner in the world as we have teamed up with Richards MMA from all the way across the pond!  Be sure to visit Richards MMA for all of your up-to-the-minute news, fight previews and reviews.  We would also like to welcome Jack Richards to our team of content creators.  We are excited to have him and the talent that he brings on board.  Be sure to look out for insightful articles from Jack and Richards MMA on the Tough Spar MMA site.

Confirmed: Daniel Cormier WILL fight at UFC 170

As people were still drowning their sorrows after hearing that Daniel Cormier will not be fighting at UFC 170, it has been announced that he will fight and his opponent, replacing Rashad Evans, will be two-time All American Wrestler, Patrick Cummins, who has a spotless record of 4-0. 

The news comes after it was seeming to be that Cormier had lost all the weight he needed to compete, for nothing. But ‘event-saviour’ Cummins stepped in and volunteered to be his opponent for the night. He tweeted, “@dc_mma [Cormier] lost all that weight & the fight got cancelled last minute…I’ll step in there @danawhite. We’re friends but we’re not ‘brothers.” Patrick has fought primarily for regional promotions, but made his professional debut in the preliminary card of Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu as he comfortably beat TerrellBrown via a technical knockout.

Written by Jack Richards 

UFC 173 Update: Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva Rescheduled

Only a few days ago, the UFC announced that the grudge match between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen would be co-headlining UFC 173 in Las Vegas.  Now it has been announced that the UFC will be moving that match to be the main event of a Fox Sports 1 card on May 31st, a week after UFC 173.  The card will act as the Finale for TUF Brazil 3, which both men are coaches to the all Brazilian cast.  According to Dana White, the two coaches have already come to blows while filming the show in Brazil.

Overeem Not Ready for JDS

It has been reported that former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem has turned down a fight with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos, who is expected to return sometime in May of this year. Overeem and JDS we're originally scheduled to fight for Dos Santos' belt at after Overeem overwhelmed Brock Lesner in their clash for the number one contender spot. The fight was later scrapped, when Overeem was suspended for the use of PEDs following his fight with Lesner. This time around the fight may not occur due to an injury that Overeem is claiming to claiming to have.

Overeem says that an injury is keeping him from facing Junior Dos Santos and many believe that he is just scared of JDS. I believe the injury is legitimate considering Overeem's toughness. Overeem has no reason to run from JDS. Overeem has faced some of the toughest guys in the world in his MMA career as well as his kickboxing career.  I really hope that this fight can come together sometime soon because I believe that it is the biggest fight that the UFC has available with the champ Cain Velasquez out due to a shoulder injury.  The fight would be perhaps one of the biggest fights between two strikers in the UFC Heavyweight division. It would pit JDS's pure power boxing against Overeem's many striking tools.

Overeem has more tools at his disposal in the striking and clinch game, but I give the greater KO power to Junior Dos Santos.  This is a dream fight for the fans as long as Overeem doesn't go out there to "not lose" and pressures Dos Santos.

UFC 170: Rashad Evans Out of Cormier Fight Due to Injury

Fox  Sports Analyst and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Rashad Evans has fallen to injury this week and will not be able to compete in a contest with Daniel Cormier next weekend at UFC 170. The UFC has decided to do away with the bout for now. It is rumored that the UFC may possibly be targeting the bout for UFC 172 if Evans is healthy.

In the meantime, Daniel Cormier has took to Twitter to ask for possible replacement opponents calling out Chael Sonnen and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson.  He has also asked to maybe take a fight at heavyweight. Both men already have opponents in the next few months, but Sonnen replied saying that he was up for filling in for Evans. It is unlikely that the UFC will book a replacement opponent on such short notice with UFC 170 right around the corner, a little over a week away.

UFC Introduces Performance of the Night Award

The UFC has announced that they will be putting a new post-fight bonus into play for all future UFC events.  To those of you who are new in the MMA/UFC community, the at the end of each UFC event fighters from that are night who compete are eligible for three separate post-fight bonuses of $50,000.  The three categories are Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night.

Fight of the Night goes to the participants of the most entertaining fight from that particular event.  The two fighters that put on the most exciting contest both receive the post-fight bonus.  The Knockout of the Night bonus goes to the individual who delivers the best KO/TKO of the night.  Like the Knockout of the Night award, Submission of the Night will go to the person who locks in the best submission of the night.

The UFC has decided to do away with the Knockout and Submission of the Night bonuses and replace them with the Performance of the Night award which will go to the individual who had the best individual performance of the night.

I think that this is certainly a great move on the UFC's part in awarding the best performance of the night.  I like all fight fans like a knockout every so often, but sometimes a fighter may not score a KO or submission, but simply outclasses their opponent in such a dominant fashion that deserves recognition. 

UFC Abu Dhabi: Headlined by Nogueira vs. Nelson

On April 11th the UFC will be heading to Abu Dhabi for the second time in its 20 year existence.  It has been made official that the UFC will have heavyweights Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira and Roy Nelson square off as the headlining fight for UFC Fight Night 39.

Both men are coming off of losses in their most recent outings in the UFC.  Roy Nelson most recently lost to rising contender Stipe Miocic amd Nogueira most recently lost to longtime heavyweight standout Fabricio Werdum.  This is a fight between two big names in the UFC's Heavyweight Division. This fight could've been a big deal a few years ago, but isn't really appealing at this stage of their careers. Nogueira isnt going to be fighting for a place in the rankings and is simply fighting out the rest of his contract.  Nelson can still earn a title shot, but this won't be a fight that will catapult him back to the top; it will simply put another W on his record.  It's an interesting fight between to high level grapplers with good boxing.

Sarah Kaufman Returns to Action in Quebec

UFC  Bantamweight star, Sarah Kaufman was last seen in the Octagon at UFC 166 in Houston.  Kaufman met Jessica "Evil" Eye  in a slufest on the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1.  The two went at it for fifteen minutes with a controversial decision victory giving Eye the win despite what seemed like an obvious win Kaufman.  The decision victory was then overturned recently two a no contest after Eye failed a drug test and tested positive for marijuana.

Now Kaufman will have the opportunity to prove herself in the cageagain against WMMA vet and recent TUF 18 contestant, Shana Baszler. The two on will clash at the UFC TUF Nations Finale in Quebec, Canada.

Khabib Nurmagomedov Finally Has an Opponent

After hearing that the news of a possible Gilbert Melendez and Khabib Nurmagomedov showdown being pulled from UFC 170, the MMA community has been waiting around for a while now to get a replacement for Melendez. It has been announced that Rafael dos Anjos has been scheduled to face Nurmagomedov at UFC on Fox 11.

Aldo/Pettis Could Be on the Horizon

It appears that UFC President Dana White is getting closer to putting together a clash between current UFC Champions Jose Aldo and Anthony Pettis.  Jose Aldo is the current Featherweight Champion (145 lbs) and Anthony Pettis is the current Lightweight Champion (155 lbs).  Earlier this week, it was revealed that both champions were not able to come to an agreement as to which weight class the fight was going to take place.  Neither man wanted to go to the other man's weight class.  Aldo's camp insisted on meeting in the middle at 150 lbs, but Aldo's camp only wanted to meet at 155lbs and if the fight couldn't happen at Lightweight, Pettis would move on.  With White's intervention it looks like the fight will be occurring at 155lbs with Aldo moving up in weight to fight Pettis.  If the fight goes through, Aldo will have to vacate his title, but if Aldo loses to Pettis he will be granted an immediate rematch against whoever picks up his vacant title.  Dana White is thinking that a match between Cub Swanson and Chad Mendes would make for the best match for the vacant title.

Machida May Get Weidman/Belfort Winner

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida faces Gegard Mousasi February 22nd at UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil.  UFC President, Dana White has stated that Lyoto Machida could be fighting for the UFC Middleweight Championship if he wins against Mousasi in their five round fight.  We've heard these same statement from White while Machida was the #2 guy behind Jones.  Hopefully he won't get passed up with a victory over Mousasi.  Machida and Jacare Souza are definitely the best options for the next title fight.

Cerrone and Barboza Set for Battle

Two of the UFC's best finishers in the Lightweight division have agreed to go to war at UFC on Fox 11.  Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Edson Barboza will be having what will likely be a stand-up war.

UFC 172: Official Fight Card as of 2/4/14

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones will be defending his championship for the seventh time against Brazilian striking standout Glover Teixeira on April 26th in Baltimore, Maryland.  If you haven't checked out the official fight card recently below we have the up-to-date fight card.  Fight order is not final.

Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira

Anthony Johnson vs. Phil Davis

Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine

Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Boetsch

Joseph Benavidez vs. Tim Elliott

Joe Ellenberger vs. Yancy Medeiros

Max Holloway vs. Andre Fili

Bethe Correia vs. Jessamyn Duke

Jones and Weidman Both Interested in Super Fight

It seems that current UFC Champions Jon Jones and Chris Weidman both share an interest in competing with one another in a potential super fight.  Before you quote us in saying that this is going to happen soon, please realize that the two only share an interest and have not made steps towards trying to make this fight happen.

Both men share a sudden meteoric rise to stardom on their way to becoming champions.  Both men are strong offensive and defensive wrestlers who also have the ability to strike with guys who are considered to have better stand up skills.  This would be an interesting fight if it were to occur down the road after Weidman has at least 3 to 4 more title defense under his belt and both men are still champions a few years from now.  Now just wouldn't be the time for this fight to occur.  Had Silva not lost the UFC title at UFC 162 or possibly regained it at UFC 168, the Silva Jones fight would have been perfect.

UFC 170: Daniel Cormier Update

The UFC's 4th ranked heavyweight and former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion, Daniel Cormier will be making his Light Heavyweight debut against Rashad Evans at UFC 170.  Daniel Cormier last fought at UFC 166 in October at heavyweight against Roy Nelson and weighed in a little over 220 lbs.  We are over two weeks from UFC 170 and it appears that Cormier will not have any trouble with cardio or making weight in a few weeks.  Cormier recently released this photo via social media and already is down to 212 lbs.  His opponent Rashad Evans started his UFC career as a heavyweight and quickly made the jump down to 205 lbs.

Who wins the UFC co-main event between Rashad Evans and Daniel Cormier?--Tough Spar MMA

Rashad Evans

Daniel Cormier

Poll Maker

UFC 169: Event Recap

Last night was not one of the best cards that the UFC has put on in recent years.  It was a night that went to many decisions and didn't really leave me impressed.  As an avid fight fan and blogger it is mandatory that I watch the fight, but I had determined that I wasn't going to watch the fight at all because I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be pleasing.  I'll be completely honest and say that I am not a fan whatsoever of the UFC's Bantamweight division and had no interest in watching Faber fight and come up short for the third time for the belt.  Contrary to how I felt about the event, I felt obligated to watch anyways as I haven't missed a PPV fight that I was home for in quite some time.

Let's begin with the Fox Sports 1 Prelims:

The first bout on the Fox Sports 1 card was perhaps one of my favorite fights on the card as it had two young guns in the UFC's Lightweight Division squaring off against one another.  The two young men went toe to toe with each other with great technical striking.  Al Iaquinta was almost submitted with a tight choke from Lee, but managed to escape and win a close, but obvious unanimous decision victory.

The only other fight that stood out on the card was another Lightweight bout between Tristar Gym's John Makdessi and Brazilian Alan Patrick.  It was a fight that pitted a lengthy grappler in Patrick and a stout striker in Makdessi.  It was a bout that saw Makdessi get work his way through  Patrick's reach and close the distance.  It was a fight in which you could give the first round to Patrick, but the last two rounds were definitely Makdessi's  rounds.  After the fight went the distance, somehow the judges gave probably the worst decision since Phil Davis being granted the decision win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 163.  It was TERRIBLE judging of a clear-cut decision that really should have went to Makdessi.

The final results for the prelims are as follows:

Alan Patrick def. John Makdessi via unanimous decision

Chris Cariaso def. Danny Martinez via unanimous decision

Nick Catone def. Tom Watson via split decision

Al Iaquinta def. Kevin Lee via unanimous decision

Clint Hester def. Andy Enz via unanimous decision

Rashid Magomedov def. Tony Martin via unanimous decision

Neil Magny def. Gasan Umalatov via unanimous decision

 And now to the Main Card:

The main card started off with a classic rising contender vs. seasoned vet scenario as Abel Trujillo took on Jamie Varner in the opening fight.  It was a fight in which Varner controlled round one by out-striking Abel Trujillo and rocking him before the round ended.  In the second round, we saw what became Silva vs. Stann II as Varner and and Trujillo swung for the fences and threw caution to the wind.  Just as Varner was even closer to finishing the fight, he gets countered brilliantly by Trujillo.

The next fight was one that I was looking forward to the most on the card as Ali Bagautinov is quickly becoming one of my favorite fighters in the UFC's lower weight classes.  Bagautinov faced the new Anthony "Rumble" Johnson in the form of weigh-in delinquent, John Lineker.  It was a decent fight in which Bagautinov won the first round.  Lineker gained a little momentum in round two as he out-struck Bagautinov.  In the final round, Bagautinov took back the fight that had belonged to him in the first round.  He out-classed Lineker everywhere that the fight went in the third round and earned a unanimous decision.

Before I even talk about what happened in the next fight, I will just give you some stats and let you put the rest together.

Fighter A had a 3 significant strikes w/ a total of 5 strikes landed altogether.  Fighter B landed 62 significant strikes and a total of 139 strikes landed.  Fighter A spent most of the fight backed against the cage or on his back on the mat.  Fighter B controlled where the fight went and took advantage of every position.  This fight is a fight between former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir and former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Alistair Overeem.  If you couldn't match the numbers with the athlete that they represent then I will go ahead and let you know who they are.  Fighter A is Frank Mir and Fighter B is Alistair Overeem.  What happened in that match is exactly what I expected to happen and that my folks was a one-sided beatdown by Overeem.  Overeem looked great in his return to the win column as he demolished Mir with out gassing.  He faught very methodically as he picked apart Mir standing and on the ground.  Overeem won a unanimous decision in a fight that was not his most exciting fight, but the fight showed his ability to control his cardio and pace himself successfully.

The next fight was the first of the two title fights scheduled for the night.  Jose Aldo was slated to  compete against Ricardo Lamas for the UFC Featherweight Championship.  Aldo did what he does best.  He brilliantly counter-struck Lamas for five rounds.  It's that simple and doesn't really require much of an elaborate paragraph on what occurred.  It won't be a fight that most people remember as the  next Melendez-Sanchez, but if you enjoy watching a champion take no damage and outclass an opponent like I do, then this was your kind of fight.  Aldo destroyed Lamas with the leg kicks that he was unable to deliver to Korean Zombie due to the broken foot he sustained in the first round of his fight at UFC 163.  As a huge fan of Jose Aldo's leg kick's I was pleased with his performance.  His approach to the fight was cautious, but still interesting.  Aldo used all of his skills to avoid many takedowns and didn't give up a single round.  Hopefully Dana White puts together the fight between Aldo and Pettis that he had hinted at not long ago.

The main event was very anti climactic as former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber and UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao.  The fight only lasted for one round and was stopped prematurely by referee Herb Dean.  The fight was stopped after Faber had been rocked by a beautiful punch thrown by Barao sent Faber to the mat.  Barao rushed in to put the nail in the coffin for the victory, but Faber was able to grab a hold of Barao's leg with his right hand and defend punches with his left hand.  Faber also threw up a thumbs up to show that he was okay.  It is hard to determine whether or not Dean could see the thumbs up.  As a man who is tired of watching Urijah Faber fall short in title fights since losing his WEC crown to Brown (see WEC 41, WEC 48, UFC 132 and UFC 149) I can honestly say that Faber didn't truly lose this fight.  Herb Dean is an excellent referee, but he stopped the fight too early.  Even though I don't want to see Faber fight the belt again in a way I feel that a rematch could be justified.

Thoughts?