Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 21 Results

Confuseyus

Click below for quick results from tonight’s UFC Fight Night 21 event in North Carolina. (Note: Full results will be posted Thursday morning)

Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 20 Results

Confuseyus

Click below for results and post-event news from last night’s UFC Fight Night 20 event in Fairfax, VA.

Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 20 Predictions

Confuseyus

For it’s latest foray into a new market, UFC is headed to Confuseyus’ own backyard-the Washington, DC area, for it’s next event-UFC Fight Night 20 this Monday at George Mason University in Vienna, VA, just a few miles west of DC (no, regrettably Confuseyus will not be there this time). But UFC is bringing a good-looking card of 11 fights with a main event that, if it goes the right way, could determine the next challenger for UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn. I’m disappointed I can’t make this event in person (if it hadn’t been for major health issues and a car accident back in October that required me to get a new car I can GUARANTEE you I would’ve been there) but hopefully it’ll be a great show and UFC will be back before too long. In the meantime, have a look at the card.

Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 19 Quick Results

Confuseyus

Click the link below for quick results from today’s UFC Fight Night 19 event from Oklahoma City. Refresh your browser often for the latest updates.

Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 19 & UFC 103 Predictions

Confuseyus

It’s a rare doubleshot for UFC next week with 2 shows in just 4 days-Wednesday starts things off with UFC Fight Night 19 leading into the much-anticipated premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 10, then the following Saturday it’s off to Dallas for UFC 103, headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort.
Since both shows are so close together I’ll do quick predictions for both in one post here. No time for detailed stuff again though.

Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 18 Results: Bader Marches To Victory, Condit Disappoints! (Updated)

Confuseyus

Click below for results & main card commentary from UFC Fight Night 18.

UFC Fight Night 18 Weigh-In Results: Controversies Developing! (Updated)

Click below to read the results from the UFC Fight Night 18 weigh-ins, which produced some rather strange developments ahead of tomorrow’s card…

Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 18 Preview & Predictions (Updated)

Confuseyus

After what may wind up being the longest stretch without a UFC event this year, it’s back to work on April Fool’s Day for a big UFC doubleheader. Kicking things off is a UFC Fight Night on Spike leading into the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 9. UFN is scheduled to feature 4 fights spotlighting one of the TUF 8 winners, the final WEC Welterweight Champion, a couple of TUF alumni, and a couple of the usual name talents among other on a big 12 fight card we’ll preview here. Are you ready? Are you ready? Let’s Go!

UFN 17 Fighter Payouts, Medical Suspensions, And WEC 38 Medical Suspensions

The bills, and body count totals, are in from the last week or so of MMA. Here’s how it looks with regards to the UFN 17 fighter payouts, UFN 17 medical suspensions, and the WEC 38 medical suspensions…first, the UFN 17 fighter payouts, as always these include the win bonuses for the winners but not the other usual bonuses, payouts, etc.:

Joe Lauzon ($20,000) beat Jeremy Stephens ($10,000)
Cain Velasquez ($30,000) beat Denis Stojnic ($5,000)
Josh Neer ($18,000) beat Mac Danzig ($15,000)
Anthony Johnson ($26,000) beat Luigi Fioravanti ($13,000)
Kurt Pellegrino ($32,000) beat Rob Emerson ($10,000)
Dan Miller ($18,000) beat Jake Rosholt ($13,000)
Gleison (Graison) Tibau ($26,000) beat Rich Clementi ($23,000)
Matt Veach ($6,000) beat Matt Grice ($7,000)
Nick Catone ($6,000) beat Derek Downey ($3,000)
Matt Riddle ($16,000) beat Steve Bruno ($7,000)
Total disclosed payouts: $304,000

And here are the medical suspensions from UFN 17 as handed down by the Florida State Athletic Commission:
Denis Stojnic is suspended 30 days. TKO’d.

Luigi Fioravanti is suspended 30 days. TKO’d.

Matt Grice is suspended 30 days. TKO’d.

Derek Downey is suspended 30 days. Shoulder injury.

And here are the medical suspensions from WEC 38 (1/25) as handed down by the CSAC:
Jamie Varner is suspended indefinitely. Right eye. Must be cleared by opthmalogist to fight again. Also suspended an additional 180 days unless cleared early by doctor. Possible left foot fracture.

Donald Cerrone is suspended 60 days. Cut. Can be cleared early.

Mike Campbell is suspended 45 days, no contact for 30 days. TKO’d.

Rolando Perez is suspended 45 days, no contact for 30 days. TKO’d. Also suspended an additional 60 days. Cut. Can be cleared early.

Edgar Garcia is suspended 180 days unless cleared by doctor. Possible right hand fracture.

Ian McCall is suspended 180 days. Possible right lower leg fracture. Also suspended an additional 60 days. Cut. Can be cleared early.

Blas Avena is suspended 45 days, no contact for 30 days. KO’d. Also suspended 60 days. Cut. Can be cleared early.

Charlie Valencia is suspended 180 days, no contact for 180 days. Possible right hand fracture. Can be cleared early.

No Love For Mario Bros. Today-UFC Cuts 2 UFN 17 Losers

If you got the title, then you know at this point who got Das Boot: Rich Clementi and Luigi Fioravanti. Both are out of UFC after losing last Saturday at UFN 17. The reports of the cuts come from BloodyElbow.com via fiveouncesofpain.com. Clementi, including Saturday’s loss, has now dropped 2 in a row, which dropped him to 5-5 overall in UFC in 3 stints with the promotion. Fioravanti, in his 2nd UFC stint, alternated wins & losses in 4 fights and is 4-5 overall but unfortunately was on the tracks when the freight train that is Anthony Johnson was coming through. Those records don’t really cut it even though Clementi has a great overall record and Luigi is an entertaining fighter. In Clementi’s case, there reportedly are at least 50 Lightweights under UFC contract, so I guess there was only room for so many. Both of these guys should definitely land somewhere else in the next couple months (they’re probably looking at medical suspensions for a month or two-at least Fioravanti because he got TKO’d), we’ll just have to wait and see where. Does this mean more cuts are coming? Too early to predict.

Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 17 Results-Good Fighting, Bad Officiating! (Updated)

Confuseyus

Read on for LIVE results from tonight’s UFC Fight Night 17 event from Tampa, Florida:

Unaired prelim matches:
Matt Riddle beat Steve Bruno by unanimous decision, 3 29-28s.
Nick Catone beat Derek Downey by submission (keylock) at 1:15 of round 2.
Gleison (Graison) Tibau beat Rich Clementi by submission (guillotine) at 4:36 of round 1.
Kurt Pellegrino beat Rob Emerson by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:14 of round 2.

TV fights (airing on Spike):
Anthony Johnson beat Luigi Fioravanti by TKO (strikes) at 4:39 of round 1.
The turning point was when Fioravanti hit Johnson with a low blow (knee) in the clinch. That seemed to light a fire in Johnson, who was surprisingly humble after the fight and he said he personally was disappointed with his performance despite the win. The sign of a constantly improving fighter.
Josh Neer beat Mac Danzig by submission (triangle) at 3:36 of round 2.
Confuseyus Scorecard:
Round 1: 10-9 Neer. Nearly finished Danzig in the opening 30 seconds and in the final minute, despite Danzig getting in some good shots and causing a cut on Neer, Neer really controlled the round and even got some taunting in late.
Round 2: Again, all Neer until he finally was able to finish with the triangle. I was very surprised at how Neer dominated the fight, I expected other way around. Neer played quite the heel in post-fight interview. Danzig has now lost 2 straight. Something is very wrong with the TUF 6 winner and he still hasn’t figured it out.
Cain Velasquez beat Denis Stojnic by TKO (strikes) at 2:34 of round 2.
Confuseyus Scorecard:
Round 1: 10-8 Velasquez. Stojnic landed a couple shots but he really was nothing more than a training dummy for Cain who somehow stayed on his feet. I was very impressed with Velasquez despite not finishing.
Round 2: The clinic continued despite questionable officiating. The fight went on a lot longer than it should have, Stojnic was doing less than nothing. The final stoppage was questionable because he acted like he was standing it up, I though tmaybe that last strike by Velasquez was to the back of the head, but then it was ended. But still, that was Raising Cain, what I felt was a very impressive performance by Velasquez.
Matt Veach beat Matt Grice by TKO (strikes) at 4:34 of round 1. (Prelim)
Great fight that reminded me of Guida vs. Huerta and Rollins vs. Koppenhaver/War Machine. I read the stoppage may have been premature, and after watching the fight and the finish again, I agree. Grice wasn’t out of it and seemed to be trying to improve his position despite being rocked by a couple of good shots. Grice’s protest, while likely futile, was right in this case.
Main Event: Joe Lauzon beat Jeremy Stephens by submission (armbar) at 4:43 of round 2.
Confuseyus Scorecard:
Round 1: 10-9 Lauzon. Dominant until the last 90 seconds or so, after Stephens got out of an armbar he was in full mount and controlled the round the rest of the way with some good GNP, but not quite enough to take the round from Lauzon.
Round 2: Almost opposite of the first. Stephens did enough damage to open a cut before Lauzon took control before finally getting the armbar for the finish.
Dan Miller beat Jake Rosholt by submission (guillotine) at 1:03 of round 1. (Prelim)
This fight aired after the main event (about 4 minutes TV time left). The Supersub Millers did it again, but balme this also on Rosholt’s lack of experience. This was his first UFC fight despite WEC experience. He’ll learn from this, but also those Millers are pretty darn good.

Final thoughts: The refereeing kept this one from being outstanding. The fights were very good to excellent, but I wasn’t sure about this officiating tonight. The Florida Athletic Commission needs to look into this (one common MMA misconception is the promotions hire/fire and choose officials for fights. That is incorrect, the state Athletic Commissions do it). But for a UFN, this was a very solid show that lived up to my middle-of-the-road expectations. A “B level” show that ultimately bordered on a low “A show”, comparable to perhaps a typical England card in quality.
It’s not scheduled to replay on Spike anytime soon, however if you do catch a replay this is a watchable (or re-watchable) event despite the shortcomings.

Fantasy record: 6-4. (Incorrectly said 7-3 last night)

Next up: UFC 95 from England in 2 weeks (February 21). Preview & Predictions coming February 16.

2/8 UDPATE: Some final notes from last night:
Here are the bonus of the night winners, each gets $30,000:
Fight-Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer
KO-Cain Velasquez
Sub-Joe Lauzon

The Clementi vs. Tibau fight can now be seen for FREE at ufc.com. PS-don’t freak out when the Bud Light ad pops up right before the fight starts. You won’t miss anything.

Attendance: 7596 for a live gate of approx. $428,000. A legit full house would’ve been about 8000.

Confuseyus: UFC Fight Night 17 (What’s Left Of It Anyway) Preview & Predictions (Updated)

Confuseyus

And at the rate things are changing, let’s call this card even happening a miracle. Injuries are piling up to guys on this card at a rapid rate-3 in only the last week or so! Anyway, this event is scheduled for February 7 in Tampa, Florida and will air live on Spike at 9 PM ET. UFNs typically are “B Level Cards” that feature lower-level and mid-level guys getting some fights and airtime, with the main event featuring one or two closer-to-top-tier guys or fighters with name recognition to boost ratings. In the meantime, here’s the preview & predictions for the current incarnation of the card, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it changes a few more times before all is said and done.

Usual disclaimer: As always, these picks/predictions are for entertainment purposes only and should not be used as the basis for any real life betting/wagering. Also, a “NC” in a fighter’s record stands for No Contest.

Prelim matches-these fights may not air on TV:
Matthew Riddle vs. Steve Bruno
Records: Riddle 1-0, Bruno 12-4
Classic rookie vs. veteran fight. This will only be Riddle’s second official MMA fight, his official debut came at the TUF 7 Finale when he beat Dante Rivera by decision. Bruno is 1-1 in UFC, losing his debut then winning his next fight. I don’t think there’s too much to say about this one-sounds to me liked a “booked to win” for Bruno. I’m surprised this is the “Hot Bout” on MMA Playground (the closest fight in terms of who players are picking to win), it comes off to me as one-sided. I see Bruno winning easily and quickly, I’d be surprised if it goes longer than 1 round and more surprised if Riddle wins. I don’t think either will happen, but you never know.
Prediction: Bruno by 1st round KO/TKO.

Nick Catone vs. Derek Downey
Records: Catone 5-0, Downey 10-3
This was to have been Catone vs. Amir Sadollah. Again. But Sadollah is off. Again. Injured. Again. So the TUF 7 winner’s first fight is on hold. Again. (FLUKE! HE’S A FLUKE!) In steps Downey so Catone can actually fight. Not much known about either of these guys although Downey has fought and lost to UFC veterans Ed Herman & Josh Burkman. Thus this one is very tough to call, but I give Downey the nod, as to how…coin flip…Heads, KO/TKO. Tails, submission…And it’s…Heads.
Prediction: Downey by 1st round KO/TKO.

Gleison (Graison) Tibau vs. Rich Clementi
Records: Tibau 15-6, Clementi 32-13-1
If you look at the records on paper, both guys need this fight. Tibau has lost 2 straight after a 2-fight win streak and has fallen to 2-3 overall in UFC. Clementi is 5-4 overall and just had a 4-fight win streak snapped in a loss to Gray Maynard. Frankly, neither has been impressive lately-combined, 5 of their last 6 fights have been decisions (exception was Tibau’s last fight, subbed by Joe Stevenson). Don’t expect too much out of this one…I expect Clementi mid-fight to TKO Tibau out of the fight and possibly UFC. Happy Trails, Janigleison Tibau-Alves. Yes, that is is real name.
Prediction: Clementi by 2nd round KO/TKO.

Matt Grice vs. Matt Veach
Records: Grice 9-1, Veach 10-0
This was to have been Grice vs. George Sotiropolous, but George has just been forced off due to injury. Veach steps in on short notice. Veach is a Matt Hughes fighter, training out of Hughes’ HIT Squad Gym. Only 1 of his fights have gone past round 2, and he can win by both KO/TKO and submission…and like Hughes seems to favor the Rear Naked Choke, whicch accounts for 4 of his 6 tapout wins. Grice is 1-1 in UFC, losing his debut to Terry Etim then beating Jason Black by decision. Although Grice is a wrestler the fact that Veach is a Hughes-trained fighter really made me take notice. Picks like this are quite risky but Veach’s performances to date and his training have me feeling lucky, so I’m gonna roll those dice and take Veach in a mild upset.
Prediction: Veach by 1st round submission/tapout.

Dan Miller vs. Jake Rosholt
Records: Miller 10-1, 1 NC, Rosholt 5-0
This was to have been Alessio Sakara vs. Rosholt, but Sakara is off due to injury so in steps one of those super-sub Millers. This will be Dan’s 3rd UFC fight in just under 5 months, he’s been impressive so far with 2 wins in his first 2 outings. Rosholt is a WEC transplant who came over after the WEC Middleweight Division was folded into UFC’s. He had only 1 WEC fight, a November TKO win over Nissen Osterneck. Rosholt has yet to go the distance in any of his 5 career fights, 4 of his wins by KO/TKO. Not the best matchup against a guy like Miller, a submission specialist. Rosholt isn’t quite ready for a big step up like this, and it’ll show when he taps early in the fight to a Miller submission.
Prediction: Miller by 1st round submission/tapout.

Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson
Records: Pellegrino 12-4, Emerson 8-6, 1 NC
Both guys are starting to pick up some steam after recent setbacks. Pellegrino, who may never live down his embarrassing submission loss to Nate Diaz (just before he tapped Diaz gave everyone the “Stone Cold Salute”-which was shown live but then edited out of replays), bounced back with a win over Thiago Tavares while TUF 5 contestant Emerson has won 2 straight since his bizarre No Contest against Gray Maynard at the TUF 5 Finale, where we learned that if you’re gonna slam a guy hard make sure you don’t let the guy DDT you on the way down. In his last fight, Emerson stunned fellow TUF 5 contestant Manny Gamburyan by KOing him in just 12 seconds. can he do the same against Pellegrino? Uh…I say no. It won’t be over in 12 seconds and Pellegrino won’t be humiliated again. In fact, I say he’ll hand Emerson his first “official” UFC loss early in the fight. He’ll wear him down then get a submission and lock in to force the tap.
Prediction: Pellegrino by 1st round submission/tapout.

TV fights-these fights are scheduled to air on Spike:
Anthony Johnson vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Records: Johnson 6-2, Fioravanti 14-4
Why UFC originally put this fight on the prelim portion of the event is just beyond me. These guys almost always fight on TV and have a few main events between them…I won’t lie, even with all the recent card changes UFC made a HUGE mistake and although it’s now on TV, it should’ve been the main event. As for the fight itself, both fighters are coming off wins after tough losses-Fioravanti bounced back from his loss to Diego Sanchez by out-pointing Brodie Farber, while Johnson got his revenge for the “eye poke of doom” against Kevin Burns with a convincing early 3rd round KO that served notice that he was back. Any fans who show up early for this one should be treated to an entertaining fight, these guys can bang with anyone. I’d not only be surprised if this goes the distance, but if it even goes past the first round. I’m still very high on Johnson, and I feel he’ll continue to “Rumble” his way back up the ladder with a convincing and potentially devastating KO in the first stanza.
Prediction: Johnson by 1st round KO/TKO.

Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic
Records: Velasquez 4-0, Stojnic 5-1
This could be one of the highlights of UFN, another chance to spotlight Velasquez-considered one of the Heavyweight division’s top rising stars who will carry the division in the future. He’s off to a great start so far, 2 UFC fights and 2 convincing TKO wins both in just over 2 minutes. A good performance here could elevate him up to PPV main card status, perhaps an opening or 2nd-in-order fight. Stojnic, a fighter from Sarajevo, seems to represent another small step up for Cain, he’s a kickboxer who has 2 KO/TKO wins and 3 decisions as well. Not much is known about his fights beyond that, but it should be another good test for the AKA rising star. One thing I don’t expect to change is Cain’s streak of quick impressive performances. He shouldn’t have too much trouble with Stojnic and will finish him quickly and continue his slow but steady and impressive climb up the ladder that is the continually-improving HW division. This is a pick I make with confidence.
Prediction: Velasquez by 1st round KO/TKO.

Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer
Records: Danzig 18-5-1, Neer 24-7-1
This fight could wind up being the main event depending on how UFC settles the fight order, but should be no worse than main event lead-in. The storyline to watch here is how Danzig bounces back from his first UFC loss-after winning his first 2 fights, including the TUF 6 Final, he was finally bested last time out by Clay Guida in dropping a unanimous decision. This is the 2nd straight TUF winner Neer is facing, last time out he lost to Nate Diaz by split decision. He draws another tough one in Danzig. Based on how these guys fight, I’d expect a lot of action on the ground as they constnatly try to out-position and out-hold each other. May not be as exciting as most Lightweight fights but should be a fine technical display, but ultimately it’ll go to the judges. My thinking is they’ll give Danzig the nod and perhaps start the process of Neer looking for work. A loss would drop Neer to 3-5 overall in the promotion with this latest 2-fight losing streak. That usually doesn’t cut it in UFC.
Prediction: Danzig by unanimous/majority decision.

Main Event: Joe Lauzon vs. Jeremy Stephens
Records: Lauzon 17-4, Stephens 14-3
This was to have been Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca, but Franca is now off due to injury and more begging for compassion that he no longer deserves, but that’s for another time. Stephens steps in on short notice as the replacement. Stephens really got on the map in his last fight when he practically Shoryuken’d Rafael dos Anjos all the way back to Brazil in the 3rd round. The win moved him to 4-2 in UFC. Lauzon, who went from nobody to instant celebrity after starting Jens Pulver on the road to retirement and parlayed that into a TUF 5 appearance and UFC run since, bounced back incely from his first UFC loss by TKOing Kyle Bradley in his last fight, leaving him at 4-1 in UFC. It’s a BJJ fighter vs. striker fight primarily, and a pretty good one at that. Stephens probably will want to keep it standing while I imagine Lauzon will try and get it on the ground. Of course Lauzon can stand too, but the sooner he gets it to the ground, the better, where he’ll eventually get the sub win. It might happen fairly early, that’s my prediction.
Prediction: Lauzon by 1st round submission/tapout.

We’ll see how many more changes, if any, this card undergoes between now and showtime next Saturday night. When/if they happen this will be updated accordingly.

2/3 UPDATE: Card now looks to be set, as does the fight order (or at least which fights are prelims and which are TV fights). Probably going to by only a 2 hour show as only 4 fights are scheduled to air, but any prelims that win nightly bonuses and don’t air may be streamed on ufc.com for free within 2 days.

Miller Time, Or I Have Become A Nuthugger Of A Guy I’m Not Big On

Not referring to the beer, because I don’t drink, but more the UFC news broken earlier today by MMAJunkie.com: The TUF alum we all love to hate and despise, Junie Browning, is getting another fight. Meaning I instantly become a nuthugger and a very huge fan of the guy he’s fighting, which in this case is one Jeremiah Cole Miller. The fight’s not yet official (paperwork pending) but verbal agreements are in place and the fight likely would happen at UFN 18-date not yet announced but the news sites say April 1 is a likely date.

If you watched TUF 8 at almost any point this season you know all about Junie’s antics throughout the show. Certainly didn’t endear himself to the MMA community and certainly didn’t help the show’s image, or ratings for that matter. I hoped we’d have seen the last of him when he lost in the show semifinals, but he was brought back to face David Kaplan (not the same guy as the Chicago sports radio personality with the same name) and, much to my dismay, won fairly easily. He tried to show he had changed for the better, but I can’t believe him yet. OK, I don’t want to. He won’t have it nearly as easily with Miller, who is 14-3 overall and 3-1 in UFC. Miller has won 9 fights by submissions and has only gone the distance twice, which I feel doesn’t bode well for Browning. Hopefully Miller will justify my nuthugging and pull out the win, but we’ll discuss predictions in about 3 months or so. Just as long as I don’t have to hear too much about Junie. Still can’t stand the guy. At least that’s still enough time for him to pull a “JT Money” and join Jesse Taylor in the unemployment line.