Matt Mitrione entered UFC 137 off of five straight wins in the UFC. He left the cage Saturday night with his first career loss.
Cheick Kongo took a unanimous decision victory over Mitrione in the co-main event of the card, winning the only clear round of the fight in the final frame to secure the decision.
Overall it was a highly tentative affair, with neither fighter seemingly all that willing to engage through the first five minutes, and doing just a little bit more than that in the second frame. Kongo finally got the advantage in the third by taking Mitrione down and out-muscling him on the ground, and it turned out to be the difference.
Kongo is now unbeaten in his last four fights and will look to move up the ladder, while it’s back to the drawing board for Mitrione.
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Learn MoreMirko Cro Cop went out on his shield at UFC 137, putting in his best effort in recent memory before succumbing to Roy Nelson in the third round of their bout on Saturday night.
Saying before the fight that it was most likely his farewell bout, Cro Cop battered Nelson in a huge flurry during the second round, and handled himself well standing for much of the fight. However, Nelson still ended up getting the better of many of the exchanges, and in the third round he dropped Cro Cop against the cage, took his back and forced a stoppage with a series of undefended strikes.
Nelson rebounded from an ugly loss to Frank Mir with the win, and said after the fight that he wanted a fight with the Cain Velasquez-Junior dos Santos winner, because he’s “too old for this s***.”
Mike Brown Junie Browning Paul Buentello Josh Burkman Mikey BurnettÂ
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LAS VEGAS – It was one of the most bizarre back stories in UFC history, and on Saturday night Nick Diaz and BJ Penn were rewarded for making the fight live up to the hype.
Diaz and Penn were given Fight of the Night honors at UFC 137 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center for their three-round slugfest in the main event. Diaz and Penn each got bonus checks for $75,000 for their performances in the fight, which Diaz dominated in the standup game for a unanimous decision win – and prompting Penn to announce his retirement.
Also picking up bonus checks for their performances were Donald Cerrone for Submission of the Night and Bart Palaszewski for Knockout of the Night. Cerrone’s submission was the only one on the 11-fight card.
Though Diaz couldn’t finish the two-time UFC champ, he left his face battered and bloodied. After the fight, Penn said the fight would be his last.
“It’s probably the last time you’re ever going to see me in here,” Penn told Joe Rogan. “That’s it. I’ve got another daughter on the way – I don’t want to go home looking like this.”
Diaz, who was supposed to face Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title on the card until he was removed from the fight for missing two press conferences, now is back in line to likely face the winner of St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit. That fight won’t take place until St-Pierre recovers from a knee injury suffered in training earlier this month.
“It feels good to be back fighting,” Diaz said. “In the second round, I turned it on and tried to take him out. He started going on defense in Round 3. Things would have been different if there were five rounds. I would have taken him out for sure in the fourth. BJ is one of the best there is, and not that many would go out there and take all those punches.”
Cerrone continued his blitz up the UFC’s lightweight ladder, submitting Dennis Siver with a first-round rear naked choke. That win gave Cerrone six straight and four straight in the UFC – all in 2011 after moving over from the WEC. Siver’s four-fight winning streak was snapped with the loss.
Palazewski was the card’s biggest underdog winner. Fighting in the UFC for the first time, and back in action for the first time in 10 months, Palaszewski stunned Tyson Griffin with a hook, then battered him with lefts and rights until one big right put Griffin on the canvas.
After the fight, Palaszewski, a former WEC and IFL standout, said he believes he broke both of his hands landing the shots that ended the fight.
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Mikey Burnett Murilo Bustamante Grant Campbell Gesias JZ Calvancante Luiz CaneÂ
Learn MoreThis video is worth the 1:05 it will take you to watch. In fact, it’s worth the 5:25 it will take you to watch it five times in a row, because you will. You will want to watch UFC fighters and once opponents Pat Barry and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic sing along to the Mamas and the Papas classic “California Dreaming.”
The two fought at UFC 115, but Barry never kept his fandom of Filipovic a secret. That may explain why he’s grinning like a jack o’lantern throughout the video. What impressed me most is that Cro Cop knew the verses to the song. Everyone knows the chorus, but the verses? Wow. English is his second language, but he still knew about stopping in the church they passed along the way.
Indeed, it was California dreaming on such a winter’s day.
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Learn More“UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz” may have marked the end of two legendary careers, as former Pride Open Weight Grand Prix champ Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and former multi-divisional title holder BJ Penn appear to have made their final Octagon appearances. After a great night of fights, the card’s top winners joined UFC president Dana [...]
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Learn MoreNick Diaz vs. BJ Penn Fight Video UFC 137 main event match.
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Dustin Jacoby wasn’t your typical quarterback, nor has he become your typical MMA fighter.
On the gridiron, he sought out contact with defenders. Now a little older (and with significantly less padding), he looks to dish out a new kind of punishment inside the octagon not even a year into his professional career.
Jacoby faces fellow middleweight newcomer Clifford Sparks on the Facebook-streamed preliminary card of UFC 137, which takes place tonight in Las Vegas.
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LAS VEGAS – Saturday’s “UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz” event drew a reported 10,313 attendees and generated a live gate of $3.9 million.
UFC president Dana White revealed the figures at the evening’s post-event press conference, which MMAjunkie.com attended.
Featuring a welterweight contest between former Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz and former UFC titleholder B.J. Penn, UFC 137 marked the company’s first event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas since this past February’s UFC 126 contest.
Steve The Snake Claveau Rich No Love Clementi Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs Ray CooperÂ
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LAS VEGAS – The new Donald Cerrone is one scary individual.
The former WEC star continued his assault on the UFC lightweight division by destroying a previously hot Denis Siver in less than three minutes.
Cerrone (17-3, 4-0 UFC) rocked Siver on the feet several times before finishing him with a rear-naked at the 2:25 mark of the first round in the second fight on the UFC 137 Spike broadcast.
[Related: UFC 137: Penn, 'Cro Cop' set to retire after losses]
Cerrone’s now won six straight fights and last two have come via brutal knockout. The list of title contenders is long at 155 pounds, but Cerrone has certainly earned himself a shot at one of the guys in the top six.
Both fighters came out throwing, but it was Cerrone who was able to deal with getting hit. He fired back hard shots and when he landed a huge left kick to the head, it was the beginning of the end for the Russian fighting out of Germany. Siver’s legs were lost. He wobbled for several seconds before grabbing a Cerrone leg and slowing the down the fight along the cage.
The fighters separated and Cerrone landed another right straight down the pipe. Siver went down to his knees where Cerrone jumped on his back and quickly got his hooks in. Seconds later, he slapped on the rear-naked choke and Siver tapped almost immediately.
“Donald hits very hard. Both shots got me pretty wobbled and I was unable to collect myself after the second one. That made it very easy for him to sink in the submission and there was nothing I could do.”
Cerrone loves to fight so he may not wait until one of the big boys is free to fight. He said before and after the fight, he’d like another bout before the end of 2011. He’s 4-0 this year.
“There were a couple of things I should have done differently, but I’ll work on it,” said the extremely self-critical Cerrone. “I want to fight one more time this year – bring it on. I don’t want to wait.”
Siver (19-8, 8-5 UFC) had won four straight coming in.
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Learn Morehttp://youtu.be/GDn8bcewKMc
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Brandon Vera knows that many of you doubt him.
After a whirlwind year that saw the former No. 1 contender lose his UFC job only to come back after his opponent failed a drug test, Vera’s no more excited to talk about it than the keyboard warriors are to make fun of it.
“The talking is over,” he recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio. “I’m excited to show everybody, all the doubters, all the haters. I even love those bastards.”
Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen Alex AndradeÂ
Learn MoreYou’ve heard of “too big to fail.”
Well as long as Andy Reid is their head coach the Eagles will always be too small to succeed: For years they haven’t been able to get a first down on 3rd and 1,…
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Alexander Shlemenko battled through an absolute slugfest to advance to the Bellator middleweight tournament finals, but he’ll have a beast awaiting him. Right before Shlemenko finished off Brian Rogers, Vitor Vianna sent a resounding message by running over Bryan Baker with a first round TKO finish at Bellator 54 in Atlantic City.
Vianna (13-1-1), who trains at Wanderlei Silva’s Wand Fight Team in Las Vegas, decided to stand and bang with Baker. The jiu-jitsu ace showed he has thunder in his hands.
Vianna floored Baker with a well-placed right hook to the temple. Once Baker went down, Vianna sat on Baker, who was trapped along the cage, and punched away before the referee stopped things. The Brazilian actually caught a break. When Baker was on his hands and knees, Vianna nearly connected with an illegal soccer kick to the face.
Bellator 135-pound champion Zack Makovsky rolled in a non-title fight against UFC veteran Ryan Roberts. Frankly, Roberts looked a bit amateurish in being taken down twice by Makovsky using a low-single leg takedown. Once on the ground, Makovsky easily passed guard to side control. The second time, Makovsky quickly transitioned to slap on a north-south choke. The champ will now wait to see what happens in Bellator’s bantamweight tournament.
Next week at Bellator 55 in Yuma, Az., 40-year-old Alexis Vila will try to continue his amazing run. The former Cuban Olympian will face Marcos Galvao. Ed West, a finalist in last year’s 135-pound tourney faces Eduardo Duntas in the other semifinal. The winner of the tournament gets a title shot against Makovsky.
Todd Duffee Marvin Eastman Stav Crazy Bear Economou Yves Edwards Justin EilersÂ
Learn MoreFor the upcoming UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos in the UFC’s debut event on Fox, the network will air a one hour UFC Primetime episode for the fight this Sunday. Airing at either 3PM ET or 4:30PM ET depending on the market (check your local listings), the hour long behind the scenes program will follow the training of the two heavyweight fighters as they prepare for the historic event. Check out the first three minutes of the show below:
Video URL: http://youtu.be/hzHAzv1iBH4
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Learn MoreThis is my second blog for Fighters.com where I?m keeping fans updated on the road to November 19 when I fight Rick Story in San Jose at UFC 139. Like each entry, I’ll tell a little bit about how my preparation for the bout is going and share whatever else is on my mind. Training [...]
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LAS VEGAS – A softer side – in fact, a jovial and even comedic side – has come out of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic ahead of Saturday’s UFC 137 fight with Roy Nelson.
The heavyweight fighter’s UFC career long has been identified by unrivaled stoicism, but lately, the dangerous Croatian striker has loosened up.
Even with a two-fight losing streak staring him in the face, Filipovic told MMAjunkie.com he’s got every reason be proud of his once-illustrious career. But admittedly, another loss would be a personal disaster, he said.
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Learn MoreDana White flew across country today to New York, when he landed, he and mixed martial art fans were greeted with some lousy news. The main event next week at UFC 137 has been scrapped because of an injury to UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
Carlos Condit will go on the shelf and wait for a healthy GSP to retur with Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn moving to the main event.
MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani spoke with GSP’s trainer Firas Zihabi, who sent mixed signals in these comments:
“He’s out for a month,” Zahabi said of GSP. “I would say at least a month he can’t train. So unfortunately, he’s out of the fight, that’s for sure. He’s not in any condition to fight, that’s for sure. No doctor will clear him.”
That sounds like a pretty serious injury or does it?
This suddenly changes the tone of the event for Nick Diaz. Diaz freaked out a month ago as his title fight with main event status approached against St-Pierre. Does this change things for Diaz from a mental standpoint?
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This one sponsored by @headrushbrand ! Thanks guys!
Mikey Burnett Murilo Bustamante Grant Campbell Gesias JZ Calvancante Luiz CaneÂ
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LAS VEGAS – The entire undercard for next month’s landmark UFC on FOX 1 event will stream live and for free on Facebook and FOX.com.
UFC president Dana White today told MMAjunkie.com about the plans following a pre-UFC 137 press conference.
In all, the Nov. 12 stream includes nine fights, including a key lightweight matchup between top contenders Clay Guida and Ben Henderson.
Ryan Bader Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao Josh Barnett David BaronÂ
Learn MoreUFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo talks about his upcoming co-main event fight against Matt Mitrione at UFC 137 on October 29th. UFC 137 – Cheick Kongo talks training, Mitrione is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News
UFC 137 – Cheick Kongo talks training, Mitrione is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News
Kit Cope Wesley Cabbage Correira Patrick The Predator Côté Randy The Natural Couture Dan Cramer
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