Countdown to UFC 173

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This week, after three consecutive wins, the resurgent Team Sonnen will try to even the score at four apiece when they send Marcos Rogerio “Pezao” de Lima against Team Silva’s Jollyson Francino in the last heavyweight quarterfinal.

Wanderlei Silva’s squad was down in the dumps at the end of last week’s show following the loss of their unofficial team captain, Ismael de Jesus. The fighters get a much needed morale boost to start this episode, as they get some coaching from special guest Andre Pederneiras of Nova Uniao.

Meanwhile, spirits are high over on Chael Sonnen’s side of the gym. His men are putting assistant coach Hortencia Marcari through the ringer with a tough workout, but the former basketball player does not seem too keen on finishing the circuit with an ice bath. Not one to back down from a challenge, Marcari eventually hops in the tub, with predictably uncomfortable results.

It’s time to meet this week’s competitors, and up first is the man known to all in the “TUF” house as simply Jollyson. Team Silva’s heavyweight hails from Recife, Pernambuco, and says he was a “calm kid” who people never imagined would become a fighter. Coach Wanderlei is banking on Francino being in better shape than his opponent and has tailored a takedown-based game plan for his charge.

Pezao talks of starting martial arts at a young age before becoming“lost” from 14 to 16: living on the streets, doing drugs and getting in street fights. The onetime Strikeforce fighter turned things around after a conversation with his father, who displayed de Lima’s older brother’s sports medals and asked his younger son what seed he was sowing for later in life. Sonnen has been backing de Lima from the start, talking up his No. 1 heavyweight pick as one of the team’s toughest outs.

At the official weigh-in, de Lima hits the scale at 232.6 pounds, almost even with Francino, who comes in at 234.6. In no time at all, it’s time for the fight.

The first strike landed is a thudding kick to the body of Francino, who clinches up shortly afterward. The big men jockey for position on the fence, trading short punches and knees in the tie-up. De Lima staggers Francino with a jab and jumps guard to attempt a guillotine, but Francino frees his head and stands over the prone Team Sonnen fighter, kicking at his legs. After exploding back to his feet, de Lima floors Francino with a big slam and roughs him up with a couple punches on the ground.

With 90 seconds left in the round, de Lima appears concerned with something about Francino and tries to indicate this to the referee. After a few seconds, the ref notices what Pezao is pointing at: Francino is bleeding from the index finger on his right hand, where he says de Lima bit him.

“Is this a cockfight?” Francino asks while being attended to by the cageside physician. “He bit my finger. He’s disqualified.”

The referee warns both fighters — de Lima for biting, and Francino for putting his fingers in his opponent’s mouth — and the fight resumes. Francino tries a trip takedown against the cage and takes some wraparound right hands to the side of the head. De Lima reverses the position and tries a trip of his own, but he botches the takedown and accidentally pulls Francino into full mount to finish the round.

Francino goes straight to the clinch to start the second frame, but de Lima refuses to stay on the fence. This time, Pezao hits a foot sweep and follows Francino to the ground, sitting up in half guard to deliver rough punches to the body. With about 3:00 remaining, de Lima backs out and allows his opponent to stand. It doesn’t last long, as Francino does an ugly guard-pull after eating a couple hard shots. De Lima is able to keep Francino trapped against the cage and grinds away with punches and elbows from half guard for the final two minutes of the fight.

After two rounds, the judges come to a unanimous decision, and the winner is de Lima. Team Sonnen celebrates the big win by shaking and spraying energy drinks all over their locker room. When it’s time for Pezao to move his picture in the gym’s big bracket, he skips the semifinal slot and puts himself in the final alongside teammate Vitor Miranda.

UFC President Dana White consults with Silva and Sonnen, as well as the fighters, regarding the semifinal matchups. Surprisingly, the coaches are on the same page when it comes to matchmaking.

The first semifinal will be at middleweight, with Team Silva’sWagner Silva Gomes facing Team Sonnen’s Warlley Alves. The next fight will see heavyweight Pezao make a quick turnaround to take on Silva’s “Cara de Sapato,” Antonio Carlos. The other middleweight matchup will see Silva’s top pick, Ricardo Abreu, take on Marcio“Lyoto” Alexandre, followed by a heavyweight tilt between Miranda and “Rick Monstro,” Richardson Moreira.

Source: www.Sherdog.com By Sherdog.com Staff

In a “Face the Pain” world, we search for an oasis. But who can we rely on? Who can we trust?
We can trust these 10 individuals, is who. These are the 10 best signature entrance songs among active UFC fighters.

The time was right to produce this list. We’ve dealt with some difficult departures lately on the entrance-song front. Matt Hughes and his steely “A Country Boy Can Survive.” Chuck Liddell and that nasty DMX intro. And of course, who can forget Nick Denis robbing us all of “Genesis” by Justice with his early retirement because of brain injury concerns? What about what I want, Nick Denis? You’re a selfish person.

Anyway, we’re now just trying to pick up some pieces and move forward. For a song to make this list, the first criterion is that it must be strongly associated with one fighter. If it’s a good song but everyone uses it, it’s ineligible. I’m glancing in your direction, Rocky theme. I’m talking to you, every single Johnny Cash song from The Man Comes Around.

Second criterion: This is a ranking of songs, not fighters. Nevertheless, it helps if a fighter is more elite because frankly that makes it easier to find his or her song, not to mention the fact that it increases his chances of having a signature walkout song in the first place.

Third and most important criterion: The song has to be, how do I put this, good. Apologies to Kid Rock on this one. If it qualifies as a “signature song,” but the song sucks, that doesn’t help anybody. It doesn’t move the ball forward. Know what I mean?

So if you didn’t see your favorite signature song on the list, take heart. It’s just because the song wasn’t good enough. This is not a subjective exercise. Use this as an opportunity to improve.

One more thing: The reason I’m the best in the world when it comes to MMA walkout song lists is because of my eclectic tastes and my ability to understand that just because it’s not in my iPod, that doesn’t mean it’s not a worthy song. I have taste, but I’m not snob. The rope ladder is hanging there for anyone to climb. All the more reason you should really feel disheartened if your fave isn’t on here.

10.) Jason High: “Run the Jewels” by: EI-P and Killer Mike

The welterweight worked a long time for his first UFC win, and it wasn’t always pretty. It’s fitting, then, that Jason High walks out to a track that details life’s dirty work. It’s also fitting that High, a well-known and charismatic Twitter personality, chose the current media darlings of indie hip-hop as his entrance artists of choice.

9.) Joseph Benavidez:  “Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent

I wish every Team Alpha Male fighter walked out to this song.

I get why they don’t, though, at least in certain instances. Urijah Faber is stuck on Dr. Dre and Tupac’s “California Love,” which just missed the list because of the aforementioned song-not-being-good thing.

This Ted Nugent cut works much better because the team is so well-known for guillotine chokes. “Strangleholds,” if you know what I mean. Joseph Benavidez just won a match that way a few weeks ago when he made Tim Elliott tap with his feet.

Would that have happened if Benavidez had walked out to “California Love”? You tell me, bro. You tell me.

8.) Anderson Silva: “Aint no Sunshine” by DMX 

I remember this more as the theme song for the film Exit Wounds, or as I like to call it, the defining film of our time. Because the wounds enter, but they also exit, you know?

But I’m not here to tell you things you already know. I’m here to rank walkout songs. You might ask why this one isn’t higher. Well, most of that has to do with the fact that the GOAT hasn’t gotten much done lately. There was a day that when the lights went down and “Ain’t No Sunshine” went up, everyone became terrified. That’s not the case today.

Tell you what: If Anderson Silva recovers his form while using this song, it will shoot up this list. Or, we make an all-time list and put this No. 2 behind Fedor’s funeral dirge.

Tie 7.) Frankie Edgar: “Kick in the Door” by Biggie Smalls

A notoriously big rapper for a notoriously small fighter with a notoriously big heart.

There you go. This signature song is helped along by that nasty, staccato sample from “Screamin” Jay Hawkins. I’m not going to lie and pretend I had heard of “Screamin” Jay Hawkins before the Biggie brain trust sampled him, but I know now that he was a strange, theatrical dude. Think an R&B Alice Cooper, but before Alice Cooper. Maybe that explains the way those horns ring—the same way a good guitar riff captures an audience. And Frankie Edgar has been using it to help capture his audience for years.

Tie 7. Johny Hendricks: “50 Dollars and a Flash of Crown” byBleu Edmonson

This is the early and pretty definitive leader in the clubhouse to replace “A Country Boy Can Survive” as the best of MMA’s southern-fried walkout songs. So we had to make room for it.

Hendricks is, as Hughes was, completely consistent on his song choice. That helps. The more regularly a fighter plays it, the more likely it is to become his sonic calling card.

It also doesn’t hurt that he doesn’t have much competition in this area. Matt Brown has walked out to “I’d Love to Knock the Hell Out of You” by Hank Williams, Jr. The song has a fun name but is on the slow side and doesn’t exactly get the crowd amped, not to mention that I’m pretty sure it’s about spousal abuse. (Brown also hasn’t used it lately.)

After that, what are the options? Don’t even talk to me about Uncle Chael and “Too Much Fun.” The first person to mention “Too Much Fun” gets a rotting tomato to the dome.

6.) Josh Barnett: “The IVth Crusade” by Bolt Thrower

What an untapped vein for fighters. They could come out to real metal like this, but instead they usually choose “Bleed it Out” or what not. I feel like we can do better as a community.

Josh Barnett can lead the way. An unabashed metal fan, he makes his entrance to the dulcet tones of British death metal band Bolt Thrower. He’s such an aficionado of the band that one of his nicknames, “The Warmaster,” is taken from one of the group’s album names

5.) Jeremy Stephens: “Work” by Gang Starr

Plenty of hip-hop cognoscenti view Moment of Truth as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, and “Work” is one of its most adrenalizing and enduring tracks.

It also makes sense because it’s about doing work, which is also something MMA fighters do a lot of. See that symmetry?

Props to Jeremy Stephens for the deep cut from one of the rap game’s most revered tandems.

4.) Cain Velasquez: “Los Mandados” by Vicente Fernandez

I understand that mariachi music may not be to everyone’s taste. But when this one starts up, you know the baddest man on the planet is in the building. So that’s pretty good.

The song is meaningful beyond simply being a Mexican song for a Mexican-American fighter in Velasquez. Velasquez’s father crossed the border to find work in the United States. “Los Mandados” tells the story of a person who is trying repeatedly to break into the land of opportunity.

It also gives Velasquez a needed boost in the showmanship department. Look at that sombrero: Vicente Fernandez is a showman. Velasquez is not a showman. Terrifying, yes. Showman, no.

As such, the upbeat horns offer an energizing foil to Cain’s stoic trudge to the ring. The whole thing just works.

3.) Ronda Rousey: ‘Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett

Does any other MMA walkout song fit its fighter more than this one?

Ronda Rousey is first and foremost the best fighter in women’s MMA and one of the UFC’s most popular personalities. But she is nearly as well-known for having some, eh, rough edges. This song from Joan Jett—a pioneer in her own right—encapsulates that roughness and Rousey’s position of not caring about said roughness.

For the record, I think Rousey does care about how people perceive her. That’s just my opinion. But this song drives home her branding as a rebel and a heel. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

2.) Tim Kennedy: “Rooster” by Alice In Chains”

Sometimes the slow stuff is what really makes you want to run through a brick wall. And “Rooster” is solidly in that camp.

It’s also great to see some ’90s rock on the radar. That was good stuff. And Alice in Chains was one of the era’s most successful groups and probably the heaviest one to break onto the radio.

But that’s not why it’s No. 2 on this particular chart. The song is a ballad about the Vietnam War written by AIC guitarist Jerry Cantrell about his father, a Vietnam vet.

Tim Kennedy is a U.S. Army sniper who served multiple tours in Iraq. So it’s a meaningful song to him, it fits like a glove, and it’s also a darn good track. And that sums it up.

1.) BJ Penn: ‘Hawaii ’78” and “E Ala E” by Israel Kamakawiowo’ole

If this entrance song doesn’t give you chicken skin, you may want to consult a dermatologist.

BJ Penn is known among hardcore fans as a fighter’s fighter, always picking battles with people who are bigger than him and running his mouth ad infinitum to drive home his point. He’s a legend with a chip on his shoulder who, in his own case, has earned more followers than haters.

The secret ingredient in that recipe is respect. At the end of the proverbial day, Penn deeply respects his opponents, fans and the fight game. This song captures that perfectly, countering his braggadocio with reverence. Honoring his Hawaiian heritage, the smooth ukulele and vocals have a remarkable effect on the crowd.

I was there in person for one of his entrances. It was UFC 101, his lightweight title defense against Kenny Florian. When this song came on, the crowd calmed down. Penn’s slow procession was like ancient fighting royalty moving among the masses.

It was a reminder to everyone, maybe including Penn himself, that there is beauty in the violence and love below the hate. And I’m not going to lie: It was a beautiful thing to watch, and it’s a beautiful song to hear. I’ll miss it when Penn retires. Until then, I’m going to soak this up every chance I get.

Source: www.bleacherreport.com By: Scott Harris

Scott Harris never misses an opportunity to talk walkout songs. If you also like to talk walkouts, follow Scott on Twitter.

There wasn’t a lot of good news to go around once Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney confirmed that Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez wouldn’t be making the trip to Southaven, Miss., for Saturday night’s pay-per-view.

Bellator had to be bummed because the loss of the trilogy fight almost certainly meant a significantly lower buy-rate for the event. Michael Chandler was bummed because it meant he wouldn’t get a chance to avenge his only career loss. Alvarez was bummed because, well, he has a concussion, but also because it throws a wrench in his plan to fight his way out of Bellator and into a fat UFC contract.

Bummer, bummer, bummer, as far as the eye can see.

But there’s at least one person who stands to benefit (two if you count Alvarez’s replacement, Will Brooks, who at least succeeded in forcing people to Google ‘Will Brooks’ once the change was announced), and that person is former Strikeforce champion Muhammad Lawal, who now finds his fight with longtime rival Quinton Jackson firmly ensconced in the main event slot.

This is the fight that Lawal has been aiming at for years, ever since he and “Rampage” traded verbal barbs during a seemingly never-ending van ride back in 2009. It’s also the fight that Bellator clearly had its eye on when it organized this four-man light heavyweight tournament to begin with (what, you thought Mikhail Zayats vs. Christian M’Pumbu was Rebney’s pay-per-view dream fight?).

Jackson and Lawal, that’s the 205-pound endgame for Bellator. It also might be the last best chance Lawal is going to get to become the fighter he was supposed to be.

Lawal is 33 years old and well into the sixth year of his pro career. He’s won a championship and lost it. He’s positioned himself for a possible jump to the UFC and lost that, too. He made the leap to Bellator, where his particular mix of genuine skill and obstinate charisma seemed bound to make him one of the organization’s crown jewels … and then he went 0-2 against current Bellator light heavyweight champ Emanuel Newton.

It’s not that Lawal has crashed and burned – and, after nearly losing his leg to a staph infection, he could probably be forgiven even if that were the case. It’s more that we seem to be still waiting for him to fully develop into the talent he once claimed to be, and we can only wait so long.

That’s why the stakes are so much higher for Lawal than they are for Jackson in this fight. “Rampage” already had his glory days. He slammed his way into PRIDE highlights and won a UFC championship before washing up on the shores of Bellator. He doesn’t need this. Whatever he does now is just extra padding in a long career with a complicated legacy. Lawal’s the one who’s still trying to forge a legacy of his own, and for that he has to win this fight.

Say he doesn’t. Say Lawal gets knocked out or loses a decision to a past-his-prime “Rampage” in Saturday night’s main event. Say that’s him bumping his head against the ceiling of his own potential as a fighter. What, then, would be the biggest win of Lawal’s career?

His decision over Gegard Mousasi in 2010? His KO of Roger Gracie in 2011? How about the thumping he put on the Kimbo-killer, Seth Petruzelli, in 2013?

All of those fights seemed, at the time, like glittering little promises of the bright future to come, the one where Lawal’s performances in the cage would justify the hype outside of it. And, for all we know, that future is still out there.

If Lawal wants to reach it while he’s still young enough to do something with it, however, he has to start on Saturday. He has to start with beating “Rampage” Jackson. It’s the only remaining path into that future he once seemed destined for, and it gets a little narrower with every passing year.

Source: www.MMAJunkie.com By: Ben Fowlkes