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Friday MMA: A TV Viewer’s Guide
By: Jeff Sherwood
Friday
3:30 a.m. ET Sportsnet Ontario: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news.
3:30 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Roundtable
Welterweights II Jay Glazer sits down and gets personal with the UFC's top welterweight fighters.
4:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: Henderson vs. Diaz
Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz; Alexander Gustafsson vs. Mauricio Rua; Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn; Matt Brown vs. Mike Swick. From Seattle.
9:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: Bellator Fighting Championships 83
From Caesars in Atlantic City, N.J.; Rad Martinez vs.Shahbulat Shamhalaev; Zach Makovsky vs. Anthony Leone; Zoila Gurgel vs. Jessica Eye.
10:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: Henderson vs. Diaz
Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz; Alexander Gustafsson vs. Mauricio Rua; Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn; Matt Brown vs. Mike Swick. From Seattle.
12:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Reloaded
Relive UFC 141, Brock Lesnar versus Alistair Overeem.
3:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson Weigh-In
Weigh-in for UFC on FX 6 Georges Sotiropoulos vs Ross Pearson from the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Queensland, Australia.
4:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 12: Semifinal Showdown Two semifinal fights determine which two men will move on to fight in the finale for a UFC contract.
5:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 13: Finale Weigh-in Mixed martial artists from Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson and more weigh in ahead of the finale.
6:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson Prelims
Cody Donovan vs. Nick Penner; Mike Wilkinson vs. Brendan Loughnane; Manuel Rodriguez vs. Benny Alloway; Seth Baczynski vs. Mike Pierce; Joey Beltran vs. Igor Pokrajac; Yaotzin Meza vs. Chad Mendes. From Queensland, Australia. (Card subject to change)
8:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: Bellator Fighting Championships 84
From Hammond, Ind.; Dave Jansen vs. Marcin Held; Michele Gutierrez vs. Felice Herrig; Rich Hale vs. Alexander Volkov.
9:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: X-Fighters 2011 Highlights
Brazil
9:00 p.m. ET AXS: Inside MMA
EPISODE: 270 Matt Mitrione; Michael McDonald; Cheick Kongo; Dana White.
9:00 p.m. ET FX: UFC: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson
Rousimar Palhares vs. Hector Lombard; Norman Parke vs. Colin Fletcher; Bradley Scott vs. Robert Whittaker; George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson. From Queensland, Australia. (Card subject to change)
10:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: X-Fighters 2011 Highlights
Italy
10:00 p.m. ET AXS: AXS TV Fights
Legacy Fighting Championship 16 Will Campuzano vs. Jimmy Flick; from Allen, Texas.
10:30 p.m. ET The Score Fighting Series
The Score Fighting Series (SFS) features fighters from North America and beyond with a focus on exciting match-ups and developing the next generation of great fighters. Tune in for non-stop action from events across the country.
11:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Post-Fight Show
George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson Featuring Jay Glazer and MMA analysts recapping the lightweight battle, including interviews and highlights.
12:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Post-Fight Show
George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson Featuring Jay Glazer and MMA analysts recapping the lightweight battle, including interviews and highlights. Read more -
Tuesday MMA: A TV Viewer’s Guide
By: Jeff Sherwood
Tuesday
3:00 a.m. ET AXS: Inside MMA
EPISODE: 270 Matt Mitrione; Michael McDonald; Cheick Kongo; Dana White.
4:30 a.m. ET Sportsnet West: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news.
6:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz
Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz; Alexander Gustafsson vs. Mauricio Rua; Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn; Matt Brown vs. Mike Swick. From Seattle.
2:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Reloaded
UFC 140: Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones faces former champ Lyoto Machida; the Nogueira brothers, Frank Mir and Tito Ortiz.
7:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: Best of PRIDE Fighting Championship
The Brazilian Top Team The best of the greatest submission team in Pride.
8:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 12: Semifinal Showdown Two semifinal fights determine which two men will move on to fight in the finale for a UFC contract.
8:30 p.m. ET The Score: The Score Fighting Series
The Score Fighting Series (SFS) features fighters from North America and beyond with a focus on exciting match-ups and developing the next generation of great fighters. Tune in for non-stop action from events across the country.
9:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Unleashed
UFC 143 Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit; UFC 142 Rousimar Palhares and and Mike Massenzio; Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon at UFC 144.
10:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Tonight
FX 6 A preview of all the official news, views, and action for UFC on FX 6: George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson.
10:30 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Ultimate Insider
Fuel for the Fire Long Island native Chris Weidman tours the town he loves; Alexander Gustafsson sits down with Jon Anik; Nate Diaz's submission game in Gracie Breakdown; experience Chad Mendes' dominating performance through the eyes of teammate Joseph Benavidez.
11:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz
Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz; Alexander Gustafsson vs. Mauricio Rua; Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn; Matt Brown vs. Mike Swick. From Seattle.
11:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet Ontario: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news.
11:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet East :UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news. Read more -
Beatdown After The Bell: UFC Live 4
By: TJ De Santis
Jack Encarnacao and Todd Martin took to the air following "UFC Live" on Versus for another edition of "Beatdown After The Bell." The two men recapped the card that saw Cheick Kongo defeat Pat Barry in the main event.
Read more
Check out the show and our archives by clicking here. -
UFC 120 Postmortem: Bisping Accelerates, Hardy Parked
By: Jake Rossen
Michael Bisping file photo: Sherdog.com
The most brutal part of Saturday’s UFC broadcast on Spike? Unless your television had a TiVo filter, you were in for nearly an hour of commercials during a three-hour timeslot. Thirty-three percent of the time, your brain was being beaten into oatmeal and under duress from advertisements. I got two nosebleeds just from “Blue Mountain State” spots alone.
The filler -- that pesky actual ring footage -- was ostensibly an ad for UK fight talent, but not everyone wanted to follow the script: Mike Pyle had a terrific night as the foreign interloper, stopping the momentum of 14-0 John Hathaway and pulling off the neat trick of choking and punching someone at the same time. (Hint: it takes all four limbs to pull off.) Following Pyle’s embarrassing loss to Andrei Arlovski in “Universal Soldier 4,” this is a nice return to form.
Hathaway is a burgeoning British talent, and since an undefeated record is virtually impossible to pull off, he should probably enjoy the depressurized environment. Intentionally or not, his presence was one of three distinct stages in foreign-favored talent: the middle man, Dan Hardy, got his first stern test against Georges St. Pierre but didn’t get obliterated until he met Carlos Condit, who put him to sleep; the highest-level -- and highest-paid -- platform belongs to Michael Bisping, who did what most expected in defeating a gassed and undisciplined Yoshihiro Akiyama.
That the UK scene hasn’t grown to the point where we can see a waning fighter is both good and bad: good in that no one likes to see a favorite get beat up, bad in that the country might still be playing catch-up when it comes to skills across the board. (Condit, the night’s biggest American villain, isn’t known as a KO artist). Hathaway needs more wrestling time; Hardy needs to get opponents thinking about takedowns; Bisping needs a big win over a top-ten middleweight to prove his actions have caught up with his words.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a strong urge to purchase tickets for “Saw 3-D” on a night that won’t conflict with the Spike Scream Awards or purchasing a new flavor of Mountain Dew. Or a TiVo. Read more -
Awards: UFC 107
By: Jake Rossen
D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
The Literal Hole in the Head Award: Clay Guida, for getting a sink installed in his skull by Kenny Florian’s elbow. (If Kenny were a real bastard, he’d get that thing shaved down to a point and start directing his own horror movies in there.)
The Communal Corner Award: The Memphis crowd, for catching on quickly that Diego Sanchez shooting a single on B.J. Penn was the very definition of insanity: doing the same thing, and expecting a different result.
The Zen Master Award: Frank Mir, for talking all kinds of philosophical smack prior to the Cheick Kongo fight -- and backing every up every antagonizing word.
The Sports Dentists’ Fund Award: Stefan Struve, for calmly allowing the referee to pluck a tooth chip from his mouthguard before continuing. Read more -
5 Questions: UFC 107
By: Jake Rossen
D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
Sanchez or Penn: whose cardio chokes first?
There’s not much enthusiasm left to beat the tired drum about B.J.’s lack of cardio conditioning, particularly in light of recent, long-form fights. (A TKO loss via mugging against Georges St. Pierre being the exception.)
Doesn’t matter: if Sanchez is at all likely to overcome Penn, his best chance remains in the championship rounds, where he can keep Penn going backwards and wasting oxygen on resisting aggressive takedown attempts.
This all assumes Sanchez has the cardio for the last ten minutes, which is no guarantee: he’s never seen the back two in his career. And while he’s often looked fresh enough at the conclusion of three, he’s never seen three against Penn.
Will Mir’s muscle be binding? Read more -
Kongo Looks to Teach 'Big Mouth' Mir a Lesson
Video courtesy of UFC.com. Read more -
Kongo/Mir Rumored for UFC 107
By: Jake Rossen
Per MMAJunkie, Frank Mir may get the sharpest striking test of his career to date if he meets Cheick Kongo at UFC 107 on December 12 in Memphis.
Read more
Both Mir and Kongo are coming off high-profile losses, Mir to a bullying Brock Lesnar and Kongo to Cain Velasquez. It will be interesting to see how Kongo reacts to Mir’s level of grappling, which has rarely been a factor in Kongo’s bouts -- and how Mir’s cardio conditioning will respond to a resisting frame, since he may be required to go in for a takedown.
The winner will still be a fair distance away from a title shot, which is expected to go either to the winner of the Randy Couture/Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira bout on August 28, or the survivor of Shane Carwin/Velasquez on October 24. -
Kongo’s Trainer Analyzes Recent Loss, Future
By: Loretta Hunt
Much has been said about Cheick Kongo’s decision to accept a last-minute bout against heavyweight upstart Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 on June 13 in Germany.
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Kongo, who was considered on the periphery for a title shot after three consecutive nods in the Octagon, dropped Velasquez (6-0) three times in the bout. However, the heavy-handed Frenchman lost a unanimous decision after spending a majority of the bout on his back pinned underneath the two-time Arizona State All-American wrestler.
Kongo (13-5-1) took the bout on three weeks’ notice to replace an injured Heath Herring. Many fans are asking why. -
UFC 99 Post-Mortem: Foreign Relations, Falling Axes and More
By: Jake Rossen
Despite misinformed opposition from typewriting German stormtroopers -- due to the time difference, it was actually 5 p.m. ET on a Tuesday in 1995 -- the UFC made a successful debut in Cologne on Saturday, offering up a card that was surprisingly robust in the weeks leading into their kitchen-sink 100th event.
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In a bout that had reverberations through the deep 195-pound division, Rich Franklin managed to ace Wanderlei Silva in a three-round decision. Though Silva appeared to easily fatigue -- perhaps he shouldn’t have hunted, killed and eaten that wild boar the evening before -- he was the more aggressive of the two in the latter 10 minutes; the premise of scorecard victimization will come up repeatedly in his the coming weeks. Franklin, meanwhile, seemed relieved that he didn’t have to put another paycheck in the hands of his plastic surgeon.
