Instant Reaction: UFC 184
Feb 28, 2015
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12:10 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: I know Dana White was joking but at this point Ronda Rousey might have to fight men because there is no one left. Fourteen seconds in a title defense reminds me of Mike Tyson back in the day.
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Andrei Arlovski decking Paul Buentello in 15 seconds, Frank Shamrock armbarring Kevin Jackson in 16 seconds? Bite the dust. Rousey needs just 14 seconds to dispatch Zingano with a beautiful armbar.
Zingano ran across the cage, threw a flying knee and hit a headlock
throw... well, kinda. Rousey scrambled to the top, then stepped
over to her back and when Zingano reached back with her right arm,
Rousey pinned the arm under her armpit and cranked it for the tap.
Just insane.
Rousey has cleaned out all the A-level top-shelf elite bantamweight women in humiliating, demoralizing fashion. And she just ended a west coast UFC pay-per-view at 9 p.m. local time! It's party time in the City of Lost Angels now, courtesy of the best female MMA fighter we're gonna see for a minute.
11:46 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Jordan I'm not going to take Cat Zingano or anyone else over Ronda Rousey ever. Rousey will end up walking away from the UFC undefeated to go make movies like Gina did within two years.
11:43 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: You've got a split decision -- 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29 -- for the still-undefeated Holly Holm. She deserved to win and she showed a variety of skills, but she didn't implement a lot of them very well. As she discussed prefight, she could never live up to the hype that preceded her and she was definitely overly nervous in this case. But, I think an underdiscussed bit of this fight is Pennington's general improvements and considerable toughness, which served to further accentuate Holm's shortcomings. A lot of booing from the Los Angeles crowd while Joe Rogan interviewed her, too.
The takeaway: Holm is still a very good 135-pound fighter, but still a work in progress and nowhere near ready for Ronda Rousey. Speaking of her, it's main event time. If any of you are calling Cat Zingano to last a round, win a round, or win the damn belt, speak now or speak never of it.
11:40 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: I'm not so sure I agree with Goldberg about it being an "outstanding" fight for Holly Holm. She does not look close to being up for a battle with Ronda Rousey just yet.
11:38 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Pennington has her best round in the third, dropping Holm briefly with a right hook, absorbing Holm's liberal body attack and busting Holm's nose further with right hands. I've got it 29-28 for Holly Holm, but a close decision the other way would not shock me here, in honesty. Holm was technically and statistically superior in the first two rounds, but it wasn't a wipeout by any means and Pennington landed some decent blows her and there.
11:33 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Pennington still landing good shots here or there, but Holm superior both at distance and in the clinch. However, it's not like Holm is dominating, but rather she's simply winning the striking exchanges with better accuracy and more variety. Most imporantly, she still looks tense, like she's forcing and rushing her combinations a bit. I'm normally lukewarm to most claims of the infamous “Octagon jitters” but Holm definitely looks stiff here.
11:26 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Despite all her nervous energy and seeming jitteriness, it was a solid first round for Holm, landing her usual array of kicks plus a bevy of left hands. However, her defense did disappear for a few seconds and let Pennington get a few shots in. A clear Holm round, but not one without competition. Solid stuff so far.
11:19 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: This fight back in the day would have been a perfect storyline for the "Zuffa Curse."
11:16 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Well, don't look now, but apart from the blue-balling that was Kid Yamamoto-Roman Salazar, this card has been pretty offensively potent and with two bouts to go, we've got the two women's bantamweight matchups that could (and really, should) deliver maximum action.
First up, Holly Holm, the 2005 and 2006 Ring Magazine “Female Fighter of the Year,” brings her 7-0 MMA mark into the cage against the uber-tough and no-nonsense Raquel Pennington. It's a great and convenient style matchup for Holm, but the Hawaiian will give her no quarter and legitimately might be able to take Holm's best strikes for 15 full minutes.
11:09 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Koscheck got desperate and started shooting sloppy and paid for it big time. That picture of the foam would scare small children.
11:05 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: A patient, methodical finish by Jake Ellenberger which is certainly different from his usual M.O. Koscheck shot, he locked up a standing figure-four guillotine, Koscheck tried to spin out and ended up underneath a death gripping north-south choke. So intense he foamed from the mouth, all over his face, like the victims in David Cronenberg's “Rabid.” What a visual. This card is turning out to be spine-tinglingly violent.
10:46 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Losers of three in a row, Jake Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck square off in a must-win match for both welterweights. If the 37-year-old Koscheck lost, especially via knockout for a third time in a row, you'd think retirement would be the best option for the former D1 national wrestling champ, but he's got one fight on his deal after this and he's said he intends to fight it out.
10:37 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Well, hot damn. Alan Jouban still needed to get hit by Walsh a few times to get going, but what a finish. The model-turned-fighter must've seen Tim Means' finish earlier and got inspired, landing a brilliant left elbow of his own that rocked Walsh badly. His right hook missed, but his left hook turned the Aussie's legs to noodles along the fence. Walsh was able to awkwardly shimmy back up the fence like one of those inflatable tube mascots outside of a car dealership, but he was out of it. John McCarthy stepped in instantly and it was done in just 2:19.
More often than not, I prefer to see a fighter get the chance to fight out of a situation when he's still on his feet. However, Walsh basically bear hugged McCarthy and just laid on him while staring into the void after it was done. Jouban would've almost certainly just ripped him a la Phil Baroni on Dave Menne. Probably for the better, then.
Great rebound from Jouban after he was cruelly ripped off against Warlley Alves in Brazil last time out. He's never going to be a serious title contender at 170 pounds, but man oh man, could he be a great action fighter. Him rumbling with guys like Stephen Thompson or Brandon Thatch could be tons of fun.
10:40 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: In honor of two spectacular knockouts this evening set up with left elbows to the temple from the clinch, does anyone have an .mp3 of Bas Rutten ranting on commentary about elbows only causing cuts? I'd love to grin my way through an audio loop or two.
10:33 p.m. ET TJ De Santis: It's been a minute since we have had "The Jordan Breen Show curse" mess something up.
10:33 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: We've been righteously tough on this card, but honestly, this welterweight scrap between Alan Jouban and Richard Walsh could turn out to be more valuable than you think. Jouban is a very talented fighter whose major issues at this point are psychological and strategic; he's a deadly accurate striker with solid power and has crafty grappling, but he needs to start getting beat up to get going in a fight and has been debating seeing a sports psychlogist to try to get over it.
Meanwhile, Walsh isn't a bad fighter. He's big, rough and tumble with a workmanlike style in the clinch. He was oused from his TUF season by Olivier Aubin-Mercier, which is no slight, and got the short end of the stick in ridiculous fashion against Kiichi Kunimoto last time out. He's better than the record indicates and still has some upside. This fight could be revealing for both dudes and have some interesting action.
Here's hoping I didn't just hex it.
10:31 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: I was just looking for that full fight, unfortunately, there's only a one-minute clip of it on Youtube. Ferguson-Jardine was the kind of scrap that showed off exactly why sometimes guys even outside of a major promotion sometimes cry out for five rounds of violence.
10:30 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: I remember seeing Tony Ferguson take on Brock Jardine in a rodeo ring in 2010 it was one of the best fights I have ever seen and he just keeps getting better and better.
10:24 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: The real reason Ferguson performed so well?
BROCK has arrived at #UFC184 pic.twitter.com/ykbpJPSlll
— Dave Sholler (@Sholler_UFC) March
1, 2015
His former “Ultimate Fighter” coach Brock Lesnar was on the scene, getting him pumped up backstage DeathClutch style. I'm surprised he didn't hit the F5 on Tibau for good measure.
Oh, yeah, and obviously Lesnar is at the UFC. Get excited, kiddies.
10:21 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: The question of how Tibau could use his wrestling to exploit Ferguson never got answered. Why? Because “El Cucuy” landed a beautiful counter right hook on an overaggressive Tibau, stumbled him, then kept the heat on, alternating with front headlock attempts and punches until he could turn the corner, take the back, and sink a fight-ending rear-naked choke. The best performance of Tony Ferguson's career and the kind of showing that is going to earn him a much more prestigious fight next time out.
10:10 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Pay-per-view proceedings being at 155 pounds with what is the most important and relevant bit of meritorious MMA on this card, other than the main event. No diss to Holly Holm in her UFC debut, but Tony Ferguson and Gleison Tibau are underrated dudes and top-15 fighters in the best weight class in MMA.
With his 16-7 record in the division, Tibau is the winningest lightweight in UFC history, and his 25th appearance overall in the Octagon in this fight ties him with Matt Hughes for the second most UFC bouts ever, and just behind Tito Ortiz's 27. Ferguson is on a roll and is one of the most accurate, technical and consummate boxers in MMA. Not sure if it'll be exciting in practice, but the stakes are very high.
10:12 p.m. ET TJ De Santis: When C.J. Tuttle and I caught up with Tony Ferguson at UFC Media Day, his intensity was crazy. So much so that he had to tell himself to calm down after our interview. I am wondering if it is all a pro wrestling bit like the "Rowdy" Roddy Piper rip off, or if he is really turned up to maximum aggression.
10:01 p.m. ET TJ De Santis: You can tell that Dana is interested in Grasso joining the UFC ranks. The Shrine last night was deafening during her bout with Inoue. Also, I think Irene Aldana is very much on his radar for not just her skill set, the the fan appeal to the Latin market.
9:50 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: During the beloved “LOUD NOISES!!!11” before the PPV gets started, a subdued Dana White talks about hitting up Invicta FC 11 last night and says the Alexa Grasso-Mizuki Inoue fight was “one of the best fights he's ever seen.” The hyperbole is strong, but Grasso might wind up being one of this year's biggest breakout stars.
9:39 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: And in less than two minutes, Carneiro gets on top of Munoz, takes his back and sinks a deadly-deep rear-naked choke that turns Munoz purple and puts him out cold. Cardio couldn't even become a factor, as Carneiro got all over Munoz. This underscores an ongoing theme in Munoz's career failures, too: in spite of his accomplishments as a D1 national champion wrestler at 197 pounds, his style was built around being a powerful-but-nimble scrambler. He just doesn't have an explosive first step. The second he tried to take Carneiro down, he was easily caught in a headlock, snapped down, then he tried to come out the back door, and wound up on his back.
Complete dominance by Carneiro. I wish I wasn't a lily-livered sissy and I threw some change down on the Brazilian “Big Dude” at +260 and above. Learn from my shortcomings, y'all.
9:31 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: After winning the notorious and hilarious BattleGrounds MMA one-night welterweight tournament last October, Roan Carneiro is back in the UFC for the first time in six years, this time at 185 pounds. It's not a softball return, as he meets up with former Division 1 national wrestling champion Mark Munoz.
This is a hard fight to get a read on. Carneiro is incredibly experienced, talented and generally well-rounded and technical. However, he's got cardio issues and is a notorious head case; hell, he nearly flaked out of the BattleGrounds twice despite going on to win the thing soundly. He got triangle choked easily by a basic set-up from full guard by then-blue belt Kevin Burns. But, he's going up in weight, which could help his fitness, and Munoz desperately struggled to make weight after initially missing his mark yesterday, looking physically awful in the process. My interest is piqued for this one.
9:20 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: The official end comes at 2:37, and this fight is a No Contest. In a better world, this second round should be scored up to this point and Yamamoto should win a technical decision, 20-18. Salazar was just standing around, playing his role as an opponent, then opted out. Can't say I blame him, and honestly, his left eye could be legitimately compromised. Nonetheless, it feels like we were deprived of something, however trivial.
9:18 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: McCarthy has asked Salazar 15 different ways, wondering if he wanted to continue. Salazar refused to say he quit, but repeatedly said he couldn't see out of his left eye. After McCarthy going through a parent-on-toddler routine (“Be honest, Roman!”), this has been called off. Your UFC-sponsored “Move of the Fight” is literally Salazar ramming his face into Yamamoto's fingers. Literally. Gong show status achieved.
9:14 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Before the second round can end and he can take a 20-18 lead, Kid Yamamoto goes up 2-1 in the much more crucial eyepoke race. This is a sparring session, as imagined by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. The ringside physician examining Salazar now to assess his fitness to continue. This time, Salazar basically ran face first into Yamamoto's open hand for extra comedy points. Time to stretch your limbs for a sec.
9:03 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Three years and two days since he last fought, bad boy Japanese MMA icon Norifumi Yamamoto, a “Kid” who turns 38 next months, returns against underdeveloped Arizonan bantamweight Roman Salazar. Yamamoto is just -140 here, which speaks volumes to his deterioration from his 2003-2006 form. Which, I mean, of course... it was a decade ago, stupid.
If the former K-1 star has any semblance of the punching power, fast-twitch freakery and potent wrestling he had early in his career -- any semblance -- he wins this. A win for Salazar is the effective end of Norifumi Yamamoto in any real meaningful MMA fights.
But, never forget when he laced Miyata's face in four seconds with that flying knee.
8:57 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: As per Ariel Helwani's Fox Sports 1 report, this is the first card in Cali history (and UFC history, maybe MMA history) in which every single fighter is being subjected to a postfight blood test and urinalysis.
I miss the good old days, when Keith Kizer would pop up to tell you how blood testing was invasive and would bankrupt even a major fight state.
8:44 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Well, I didn't think it was going to go well for Dhiego Lima, but I didn't imagine a complete Silva-on-Lebenesque incineration where every single strike lands hard, clean and seems to produce a knockdown. Means' left hand, clinch knees and elbows were sensational. The fight-ending left elbow was pristine, reminiscent of Paul Daley on his finest day, or how Means iced Pete Spratt a few years ago.
The end officially comes at 2:17. Means has now won three straight and impressively so, looking much physically fitter, healthier, happier and more productive at 170 pounds. Also, how ironic that “The Dirty Bird” is the guy who clobbers a fighter from Atlanta. Jamal Anderson's stomach must be turning.
8:28 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: We head down to the welterweight division now, with rugged customer “The Dirty Bird” Tim Means taking on TUF 19 finalist Dhiego Lima. Lima's older brother, Bellator welterweight champ Douglas Lima, was supposed to fight last night at Bellator 134 in Connecticut against Paul Daley, but got injured. It'll now be up to the less skilled but more happy-go-lucky Dhiego, and their big homie “Jucao” Roan Carneiro to hold it down for MMA's favorite Atlanta-based crew of Brazilians this weekend. Sorry, Assuncao brothers.
8:22 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Potts told his corner between rounds he was done. They told him he wasn't, and send him out to get bashed by one of the very heaviest hitters in the entire sport for another couple of minutes. Awful stuff, and that TKO victory for “The Black Beast” at 3:18 of round two will probably send Potts back to fighting on EFC Africa streams on weekday afternoon.
Lewis will never be the creme de la creme at heavyweight, but serviceable, mid-level guys who can still create carnage and desctrution are more rare than you'd think. He's got a warm spot on the UFC roster. And who doesn't want a guy with “Knockout King” tatted across his chest in the big show?
8:18 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Ruan Potts makes it to round two. Better still, he could've won the round there with his decent kneebar attempt, getting a takedown and controlling from half guard. You know, if he didn't almost get knocked out the only two times Lewis threw punches at him. He's getting more and more desperate for takedowns and this seems like a matter of time heading into the second stanza unless Lewis does something absolutely irrational and blows it.
8:09 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Guys like Sean Gannon, Jonathan Wiezorek, Wade Shipp, Philip De Fries, Neil Wain, Colin Robinson and other historically ignominious UFC heavyweight notables must love Ruan Potts taking some of the heat off of them, and giving fans a more recent punching bag heavyweight to cruelly mock and scorn.
8:05 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Now we flip over to Fox Sports 1, where we will be treated to what appears to be one of Joe Silva's most gruesome concoctions in sometime. Derrick Lewis, trying to recover from being humiliated via 41-second KO by Matt Mitrione last September, is taking on South Africa's Ruan Potts, who is a lukewarm grappler and poor athlete. Potts' two UFC apperances have been notably futile, as he was embarrassed by both Soa Palelei and Anthony Hamilton.
With Potts' complete lack of striking defense, both standing and on the ground, and Lewis' overwhelming punching power, this one is going to end in a way that might catch your breath in your throat.
8:02 p.m. ET Brian Knapp: Derrick Lewis is fighting Ruan Potts next. Somebody might want to have a stretcher ready.
7:58 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's 29-28 Lazaro on my card after Krause takes the third. The judges hand us another split decision with dueling 29-28's, but the man who gets two of them is your winner, Valmir Lazaro. Solid-if-unspectacular fight between two quality midcard fighters, but Krause's slick-but-awkward wasn't working as well this evening. He landed shots throughout, but Lazaro's jab and ability to follow up with clean counterpunches really made the difference, especially in the first 10 minutes.
Krause's 1-3 run has been less-than-stellar and given his open criticisms of the company, he might get his walking papers. Maybe I'll get to see him back on AXS after all. “Mr. Friday Night” James Krause lives!
7:40 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Up next, a more appealing if not marquee matchup at 155 pounds, as James Krause takes on Valmir Lazaro. Big, strong, aggressive striking lightweights here. The real question is whether or not Krause can attack in volume against the hard-punching, counter-savvy Lazaro. That said, I still miss when Krause was on AXS TV seemingly every Friday night, icing fools left, right and center.
7:30 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Masio Fullen takes the split decision, two 29-28 scorecards, and obviously one dissenting 29-28 for Alex Torres. A pretty gnarly fight to watch, and not in a good way. However, there were some morbidly amusing portions of action and the right fighter got his hand raised, so all's well that end's well.
7:30 p.m. ET Mike Fridley: In the evening's opening bout, Masio Fullen def. Alex Torres via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) R3 5:00.
7:23 p.m. ET Chris Nelson: Flailing is not a word I want to use when doing play-by-play for a UFC event, but there was some definite flailing from Torres in that second round.
7:03 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: UFC 184 starts with a fight that explicitly reflects why folks are crotchety about this card: Mexico's Masio Fullen takes on Colombia's Alexander Torres at 145 pounds in a pairing of fighters with no real business fighting outside of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” reality show. Fullen's more experienced and has far, far superior standup, but the green Torres is a good athlete and strong grappler. Fullen is the slightest of favorites in a near pick 'em fight, and it makes sense, as it is a total crapshoot between fighters you'd be surprised to see on AXS.
6:55 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's fight night again, y'all. Admittedly, however, you are probably not as excited for UFC 184 tonight in Los Angeles as you thought you would be when Chris Weidman-Vitor Belfort was set to headline it. Or when Ronaldo Souza-Yoel Romero and Frank Mir-Antonio Silva were still on the main card.
In spite of the public pillorying of this PPV effort and the #SkipUFC184 hashtag, we're still going to witness the top woman in the sport, Ronda Rousey, stake her UFC bantamweight title against unbeaten Cat Zingano. Zingano is more than well-deserving challenger and is a fantastic fighter, yet is a +600 underdog, which speaks to how overwhelmingly dominant the Olympic bronze medalist has been in the Octagon.
The night will also mark the UFC debut of pound-for-pound women's boxing standout Holly Holm, who remains one of the most coveted foils for Rousey. "The Preacher's Daughter" mixes it up with uber-tough Hawaiian Raquel Pennington in a fight that should feature potent offense.
We can't equivocate: there are some bright spots here, but this is not a great UFC card. The majority of these fights will have to exceed expectations in order for this card to be positively received by the MMA masses.
5:00 p.m. ET Mike Fridley: Sherdog.com's UFC 184 instant reaction will kickoff Saturday at approximately 7 p.m. ET.
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