THE RUSH RETURNS

It's been a week since we found out Georges "Rush" St. Pierre has signed back with the UFC, and already we are wanting to know who does he fight first. Now there is speculation he will be fighting between 155-185. I know there are so many fighters right now like:

And to be honest...they is probably a long list of fighters who would love to be the first person to fight GSP: he has not fought since November 2013, and after a long layoff there has to be tons of ring rust); he has been in and out of Hollywood (filming Captain America: The Winter Soldier); he was having personal issues outside the UFC (baby mama drama); etc. You can see why so many people would love the chance to get at him. But let's be honest, would you want to fight GSP? He was a master of the game, he was able to breakdown your gameplan in the first few minutes of a fight and attack your strengths. Remember when he fought Thiago Alves, and everyone praised Thiago's wrestling...how did that turn out?

Remember when people were talking about GSP's inability to match-up with wrestlers, so GSP trained with the Canadian National Wrestling Team. Wrestlers on the team said he could compete on the international level and then he did this...

and this...

in case you did not know the top picture if Carlos Condit (regarded for his wrestling ability) and Matt Hughes (the legend known for his wrestling ability) both were out matched by GSP and beaten.

Or how about people who said GSP's ability to strike with great strikers was never going to be elite, so he hired Freddy Roach (the legendary boxing training, who trained Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, among a slew of other great boxers) (Freddy, n.d.), then other fighters ended up like this:

So fighters ended up like this:

And this:

Or maybe that time when people would talk about how the spinning heel kick would be the new move people needed to add, so GSP went to Joe Rogan and trained with him...then we saw him utilize this kick on several occasions:

And:

We already know that GSP had a deadly kick game and was able to finish off fights with it, just ask Matt Hughes how that went:

But what makes this so interesting, the Return of GSP is the list of names being dropped: Anderson Silva, Conner McGregor, Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, Jose Aldo, Max Halloway, etc. A long line of people who want a piece of GSP. Now personally I think GSP needs a warm-up fight to shake off all the cobwebs, others think he needs to be put in right away against the sharks of the tanks. I say give him Dan Hardy, the have fought before and both are coming back from long layoffs. Both will need a tune-up fight and they are still big names. After that, it is whoever GSP wants to fight. Tyron Woodley, Stephen Thompson, Jose Aldo, McGregor, or even Michael Bisping.

The return of GSP is much needed even with all the UFC "stars" falling as they have: Rousey, McGregor, Jon "Bones" Jones, Jose Aldo, etc. So let's see who the UFC puts GSP up against first, this will be fun to watch and it will be amazing if GSP can be the "Rush" he use to be or if he is even better.

Reference:

All photos are property of UFC

"Freddy Roach ." Http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Human:3014. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2017

Joerogandotnet. YouTube. YouTube, 03 Feb. 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2017

Fight Night Tonight!!!

We are here!!! The #8 Heavyweight fighter versus the #9...anyone who was ready for a slugfest, should keep holding their breath. I am sorry I have been from the beginning a very big fan of Travis "Hapa" Browne but recently his striking has not been on point. Now he is not the problem, his corner is the problem. Let's breakdown this fight:

Derrick Lewis:

In his last five fights Lewis has had 4 of those fights end in KO with his other win being in a split decision against Roy Nelson. He stands 6 foot 3 inches and weighs in around 268 pounds, he has some devastating hands and trains out of 4oz Fight Club. He refers to his style as "swangin and bangin" boxing. He is relentless in his attacks and makes sure he can finish the fight. He is one of the few fighters who is either going to finish you or get finished.

Travis Browne:

In his last five fights Browne has lost three of his fights. However the two fights he did win Were both by TKO, he loves to throw bombs and work for KOs. He stands 6 foot 7 inches and weighs in around 240 pounds, one of his favorite set-ups comes from his front face kick. He trains of our Glendale Fight Team and has been there since May of 2013. It should be noted this is the same gym Ronda Rousey trained out of. He does have a tough chin and looks to eat punches while delivering his own and I feel this is his type of fight.

Hopefully we can see a nasty fight with a lot of set-ups to either counter or just some devastating shots being landed. I think Travis could have this fight being the longer and taller fighter, but Lewis has shown he wants to compete and will look for the knockout. In this fight I am looking for it to end early, either 1st or 2nd round by KO. I will be pulling for Travis in this fight and looking forward to seeing him get his hand raised.

Some of the other fights on this card could be fun to watch:

Johnny "Big Rig" makes his return to the Octagon after failing to make weight at 170, he will be set at 185 and hopefully we can see him make his return to his old form. There was a time where the Big Rig would land some nasty shots and finish people, but I feel since he has been dropping so much weight to fight at 170 some of his power has left. Getting back to 185 could be good for him and keep him healthy.

He is fighting a tough opponent as well, in Hector Lombard. Hector comes into the fight looking to get back into the win column and put his name back on the map. Johnny may be the target to help him get back in, but Hector has had trouble with guys who can land heavy punches and Johnny is that kind of fighter. It will be interesting to see, but I will be pulling the wrestler from Oklahoma State University, Hendricks.

Another returning fighter to the octagon is Sara McMann look to see her utilize her world class wrestling to get the win, as she continues to grind out fights. Another fun fighter to watch is Carla Esparza who will be returning to the octagon as well, hopefully we will see both women win their respective fights and maybe we can see both women get a fight against each other.

After this fight the UFC will not be back until March, with the rematch of Stephen Thompson and Tyron Woodley. This will be a fun fight to watch again, and maybe Woodley will actually finish off Thompson this time.

What fights are you looking forward to, let me know in the comments and you can find more articles attached to "Your Sports Therapy" as well. Enjoy the fights tonight!

UFC 208...the disappointment

Let's begin by saying this fight card lacked a lot of things to begin with, and even Dana White has come out to say it was disappointing. I do not want to come out and say it was all bad, because it was not, but the UFC needs to try harder in building up stars for the sport.

But, I have to be honest the first fight of the night was electric. I really thought this fight was going to set off the entire card.

Jim Miller vs Dustin Poirier

In case you were not aware, these two gladiators went at it to see who is supreme. Round after Round after Round, there were devastating shots to both individuals. As I am listening right now to Fox Sports One, Dana has mentioned the numerous kicks Miller threw and the possibility of Poirier's leg being broken. I hope to see these two monsters in the Octagon again because it was fun to watch them do what they do best. Though I felt this fight could have gone either way, I was pulling for Miller to get the win, but the judges saw it another way. Great fight again between these two and hope to see a part two.

Anderson Silva vs Derek Brunson

So here is a fight that started with a lot of mutual respect between each other, and stayed the same throughout the entire process. But, let us play devil's advocate for a second...it was interesting to listen to Greg Jackson tell Brunson in the third round, he was giving "too much respect" to Silva. I agree with this statement 100%, yes we know it is Silva...yes we know how dangerous he can be...yes we have seen his skill for a long time, but there has to be a line drawn in the sand. I mean Brunson did not have the same kind of respect for Uriah Hall in his fight. He did not show the same killer instinct he had when he fought an aging Chris Leben. Because it was Silva and people understand the history he has had with the UFC,  Brunson fought too timid in my book. Sure I had him winning the first round, but the next two rounds were like this...

If anything has been shown from the last four fights with Silva, it is that he is no longer invincible. He has been knocked down and out, he has slowed down, and he has been taken down numerous times in his last fight (prior to Brunson). Yes I get it, it was DC, Bisping, and Weidman (also a NC against Nick Diaz...which he won the fight) but these younger fighters who are coming up should not be afraid, be respectful of Silva but not to the point you are afraid to attack. With that being said Silva was able to defend multiple shot attempts by Brunson. You have to give points for a great defensive battle Silva was able to put together. Stopping the momentum of Brunson in the third round numerous times. Now if you listen to the Sunday Morning Sports Voice, you would have heard me say I was taking Brunson over Silva. What I did not see coming was Brunson trying not to lose instead of trying to win the fight. Great strategy by Silva and I hope he chooses to go out on this victory, but I am sure we will see him fight at least two more times this year. 

Holly Holms vs. Germaine De Randamie

This was the main event for the evening and I have to be honest, it was a great fight between two deadly strikers. After the results of the fight I was upset about why (spoiler alert) Germaine won the fight, but after thinking about the Silva vs Brunson fight I realized why she did. Holly was definitely being the aggressor in the fight when she got Germaine to the cage. However when the fight was in the center of the ring Germaine was able to take the fight to Holly...

According to Joe Rogan last night during the broadcast, Holly Holms went 0 for 8 in takedown attempts. A point of weakness in Germaine's game is her inability to stop takedowns, this is due to her being a striker for her career. Same to be said about Holly she is not use to taking people to the ground, being put in situations to allow her to control her opponent. When these two elements mix, the person who is against the cage has the advantage and that is what we saw in the fight. Holms did her best and even landed an amazing question kick that stunned Germaine during the fight, but a great defense will most times beat a great offense. Stuffing takedowns, not taking a lot of damage, and being able to counter is what got Germaine the victory and...NEW FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!!!

So what is all the problem with the judges for some reason felt to award victories to individuals, maybe the crowd or Dana did not agree with. In the final fight there were two incidents that could have effected the fight more, Holms was struck not once but twice in back to back rounds after the bell sounded. The ref warned Germaine the second time by letting her know he would deduct a point from her, but it was too late. A more experienced ref needed to be in the fight, which is something the New York Athletics Commission was not ready for. I get it, to get that experience you need to be involved in that kind of atmosphere but, after the first incident a fighter should be warned. The second time a point should have been deducted and the fight should have ended in a draw.

But that is my little rant on that, what did you guys think of the fights. Also let me know what fights you are looking forward to coming up. I will tell you next Feb. 19th Travis "Hapa" Browne and Derrick Lewis squaring off in the Octagon expect to see a lot of fireworks in the making. Hopefully Hapa can show why he is a dangerous striker and not fall under the Rousey curse. Let's hope!!!

All photos were taken from UFC and Google.

What Happened!!!

What is going on readers!!!

I am glad to announce that GET THE KO will be exclusively feature on the blog called Your Sports Therapy!

This will be a new blog that will have lots of articles attached to it from many different writers, different point of views and a lot more fun. I am excited for this change and I hope you all will stay with me and enjoy the ride.

BUT LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!!!

First thing I want to address is the fall of the Queen! As most of you know Ronda Rousey was beaten again by Amanda Nunes, and not just beaten but embarrassed. It is tough when you have no head movement, while your corner is yelling "HEAD MOVEMENT...HEAD MOVEMENT!" But as we learned from the Holly Holms fight, to her debut on Saturday Night Live, to her fight with Amanda Nunes...she needs a lot of help with her stand up.
From this...

To this...

To ultimately this...

Now do not think I am only coming down on Ronda (I was pulling for her) I thought if she had worked on her striking, she could eventually clinch up. That was not the case, Amanda had an amazing game plan for her. Nunes said herself she had been preparing for this fight her whole career, and it showed.

As for Ronda it is not time to re-brand yourself, time to find the next thing. Gina Carano after her lose to Cris Cyborg went into movies. Maybe Ronda can find herself in the same boat and even the WWE. Re-branding her the most dominate wrestler can get her back on the Bad Ass path. Look at John Cena, Dwayne Johnson, and the other wrestlers who have starred in films (Minus the Big Show, sorry).

Speaking of the WWE...The UFC hired former WWE and ESPN talent Todd Grisham to replace Mike Goldberg as their play-by-play announcer. We are talking about this guy...

Now my problem is not with Todd himself, though I remember him being the butt of The Rock's jokes back in the day. It is the fact the UFC did not give a proper send off for Mike Goldberg. The man literally dedicated himself to 2 decades in the UFC, and there was nothing. Mike Goldberg had been around even before Zuffa bought the UFC, only to sell it to WME-IMG. He and Joe Rogan have been the faces and the "hype men" for the sport. I will be pulling for Todd and wish him the best, but how much time will pass before Joe Rogan leaves, and who will be the person to replace him once it happens. My vote is for Jay Glazier, or maybe Brian Stann. Everyone will have the one person they want to include. Those are just a couple of my picks.

Also speaking of Picks...We have an interesting fight card coming up on Feb. 4th, one day before the "Big Game."

Usually this fight card will be loaded with talent, but for some reason this fight card is a little lackluster. Sure, we will see the return of the Korean Zombie (bad ass nickname by the way) and OSP (one fight after being knocked out) but overall the fight card is meh at best. With all the talent that is starting to emerge around the MMA world, why not try to give this card a little more UMPH!

I would like to see the Korean Zombie get his win, especially after being away for two years due to military obligations, I do want to see OSP get a win after being KO'd in his last fight, I am looking forward to seeing Anthony Hamilton win his fight, and pulling for Abel Trujillo (who is on a 3 fight win streak).

Now I will be back to writing especially now since I get to write for both the blogs. I look forward to seeing your comments and talking with all of you.

Thank you again for the support!!!  

We're Back!!! Let's Catch Up and Move Forward

Let's catch up on what has been going on outside of GET THE KO! First thing I have finished college officially and I am graduating with my Master's Degree in Sports & Health Science. We have had a lot of news going on with fighters all over the place.

RDA

Let's not worry about what happened last night, we witnessed another defeat of RDA. Though I was pulling for the man himself, he did not come through at all. He has had some tough losses and, hopefully next year we see him get back in the win streak.

THE RETURN OF GSP

We have to talk about the possibility of Georges St. Pierre to return to the octagon. He is officially a free agent and can sign with any promotion, however I do not see the UFC letting him go without a fight (pun intended). Names like Nick Diaz, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, and Stephen Thompson have been thrown around as possible opponents. Hopefully we see him back within the next year, it would be amazing to see Rush back in the octagon fighting.

THE ROWDY ONE

It has almost been a full year since we have seen Ronda Rousey in the octagon, in fact the last fight he had was November 15, 2015. She will be back in the octagon fighting Amanda Nunes in UFC 207 on December 2016. She has not had it easy since her last loss, and has been pretty open about her countdown to retirement. If she is wanting to get back Amanda she is going to have to utilize that judo game that made her so dangerous. Nunes loves to start fast, most of Amanda's wins have come in the first round. However Rousey is going to have to be careful Nunes is quick on the ground and will look for submissions, 3 of her 13 wins have come through submissions all coming in the first round. 

New York City And How We Got Here

It goes without saying we are getting ready to witness history in the making; after several attempts to bring MMA to the Big Apple, we are finally going to get it. Since the UFC started in Denver, Colorado, the UFC has been all over the world. We have seen events in Dubai, Mexico City, Boston, Baltimore, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Las Vegas...so why was it, it took so long to get it to New York City. Well it seemed the panel for MMA was ran by some corrupt politicians; and when a scandal broke out about a couple members on the panel, we saw the UFC get welcomed. 

Dana White understood how big this event was going to be and decided to unload the talent pool attached to this card. This card is loaded with so much talent by the end of the night the only thing a person could want is a heavyweight fight (which this fight card is missing, but i digress). There are 3 HUGE title fights, while the other three fights on the main card will have big ramifications for the title picture. Every fight on this fight card could be on the main card of another event, some of these fights on the under card could be Main Event fights on another card. There are 8 former or current champs on this fight card from bottom to the top. 

UFC 205 And The Fights To Look Forward To...

Now let us break down this card and talk about what we expect from the fights people are not talking about. We also know the Alvarez VS McGregor, Woodley VS Thompson, Tate VS Pennington, and Jedrzejczyk VS Kowalkiewicz. But there are some other fights on this card I want to talk about, and are not as hyped as some of the other fights, I want to talk about three of those fights:

FRANKIE EDGAR VS JEREMY STEPHENS

We have to talk about how a former champion in the lightweight world is on the undercard for this event. It is amazing to see Frankie again in the octagon though the last time we saw him he lost to Jose Aldo at UFC 200. He still has the endurance and drive to fight through championship rounds. He has great boxing and still can take any person down at will. However he is getting older and though it has not shown, he is stale in his talents. MMA is continuing to evolve and though every fight starts on their feet, Edgar has not shown his evolution in the game. 

Jeremy Stephens is coming off of a tough victory over Renan Barao, he is going to continue to try and utilize his advantages over Edgar. Jeremy has had trouble with fights who can throw serious hands. Max Holloway can throw with the best of the UFC and even beat Jeremy in a unaimous decision. However Jeremy does have youth on his side and can push a tempo further to see how Edgar can do. This will be a tough match-up for Stephens if he does not utilize his ability to push the fight in his favor. 

LIZ CARMOUCHE VS KATLYN CHOOKAGIAN

In the last five fights Carmouche has not faired so well, she has lost 3 of her last 5 fights to include losses to Rousey and Tate. But she is coming off a victory over Lauren Murphy in a decision, Liz is known for taking fights to the ground and either submitting them or finishing them in TKO. This is a fight I believe she is going to be able to boost herself back up and into title contention, if she can utilize her ground game and control the fight. 

Katlyn is by far going to be a tough test for her, she is currently undefeated at 8-0 but has not faced someone like Liz before. Katlyn has 5 wins by decision, 2 by KO, and 1 by submission. She is a well rounded fighter and it will be good to see her in the octagon. If people have not noticed yet, the women's division is loaded with talent. It is getting thick and if you think Ronda is the face that runs the place (a John Cena phrase), you are not really looking at the entire roster. 

DONALD CERRONE VS KELVIN GASTELUM

The Cowboy is returning to the octagon since UFC 202, where he punished Rick Story. Cowboy is a crazy dude who likes to throw punches from all angles. He loves his submission game as well, he is one of the few fighters who is well rounded at 170 but he wants the title at 155. I think with a win over Kelvin, he should definitely get the opportunity after the Alvarez VS McGregor fight. 

But, let us not get too far ahead of ourselves Kelvin Gastelum is no push over either, he has won 3 of his last 5 fights. Those victories are coming over Jake Ellenberger, Nate Marquardt, and Johny Hendricks those are no push overs and he had no issues with those individuals. Those are true test for Kelvin and getting an opportunity at Donald will strengthen a resume for a championship fight with a victory over the Cowboy. 

COME AND CATCH UP WITH ME

Since I had to put down the site for a while some new things have come through. If you want to hear my predictions for the UFC 205 event coming up, you can catch me on 1570 AM WNST on Thursday, November 10th between 3PM to 5PM or you can go here www.wnst.net and stream it live. Also during the fights you can follow me on twitter @cm_miller85 or @getthekoblog. Also for the first time you can follow me on Snapchat as well @icendaveins. My friends and I will be talking about each fights and going through round-by-round. Hope to hear from you all and it is great to be back!

We Have To Catch Up On The UFC!!!

What is going on my readers, it is great to have you back visiting the page once again. We have a lot to talk about since last week I was working for the Washington Redskins. So let us dive in and talk about the amazing things around the UFC. We are going to talk about the highlights for the last two weeks. I do have to advise one of the pictures is very graphic, so parents beware.

Michael Johnson vs Dustin Poirier

What a return for Michael Johnson to the Octagon, Dustin Poirier is a tough opponent for to stop him in the first round is not easy. Johnson came out set his game plan and finished the fight, maybe this is a step in the right direction for him. Hopefully next year we can see him further set himself up for a great shot at the title, but for now its too early to tell.

Derek Brunson vs Uriah Hall

If you are a big fan of Uriah Hall, then you will probably not be a fan of me. When I first saw Uriah Hall and his unbelievable skill set on the Ultimate Fighter, I thought to myself there is a person who is going to bang with anyone. So far he has not been afraid to throw punches with anyone, the problem is the competition level is much higher than the Ultimate Fighter and Uriah Hall is having problems keeping pace. He needs to have a better plan when matching up in the Octagon. He is going to be on the brink of being replaced in the UFC, and it is a shame because so many people have referred to him as the next "Andersen Silva."

Chas Skelly vs Maximo Blanco

Chances are you have already seen this fight, it only lasted 19 seconds. Skelly came out with a huge push kick that set Blanco on his backside and from there it was a swarm of looking for the submission victory. Credit to Blanco, he fought as much as possible but in the end he passed out. It is too early to see what Skelly has in his arsenal and I am excited to see where he goes from here. Here is another look at this finished:

Francsico Trinaldo vs Paul Felder

What a great fight for Francsico, he pushed the pace of the fight and made Felder come to him. Unfortunately for Felder this fight ended up being stopped because of a nasty cut. The cut started small and eventually grew "three times that day"...by the end of the fight. If you did not see what the cut looked like at the end of the night, there is a picture of it here. Be reminded it is pretty graphic, so proceed with caution.

Roy Nelson vs Antonio Silva

The biggest controversy with this fight was not the finish so much but what happened afterwards. Now Roy finished the fight, but proceeded to give the bird to John McCarthy and even kicked him at the end of the fight. Nelson understood the fight was over, and felt that McCarthy was trying to set him up to injury Bigfoot further. Nelson does possess one punch power, but to the extent of him saying he has walk off power like Mark Hunt, is simply not true. But Respect to Nelson for not destroying the face of Silva like some fighters would.

Cristiane Justino vs Lina Lansberg

I want to talk about this fight for one reason, the domination Cyborg had on Lina. Cyborg went out against a Muay Thai fighter and finished her in the second round. It was an amazing set and she did not hesitate to finish the fight. Though I am sure Lina would be a problem for other fighters Cyborg is on a whole level above most fighters. Cyborg wants to put on "Superfights" and I do not blame her, she did not call out any one opponent but, for someone who cuts from 170 pounds down to 140 in a week...anyone can be on her list of people to beat down. I am sure the next fight for Cyborg will come next year, but with the rumor of Ronda coming back at UFC 207, we will see if May they will finally get locked in the cage together.

I know this is quick but, I wanted to make sure we hit a few of the fights as we have UFC 204 and UFC 205 coming up soon. I know you are excited about the first ever event in New York City at Madison Square Garden. We also have the much anticipated rematch of Henderson vs Bisping. I am excited are you guys excited yet?

Let me know what you guys think? What fights are you looking forward to?

Was it disappointing? Depends on who you ask? UFC 203

Well now it came and it went so quickly, but was UFC 203 all it was hyped to be? In my opinion...No, but I am one person and that is my opinion. Other people may have thought the fights were great. If you follow me on twitter, a bunch of friends were talking about the fights and enjoying for the most part. However I feel like they were missing something from it. Sure the championship fight was exciting, and maybe if Werdum fought Rothwell instead of Browne it might have changed things. Overall I felt the card was slow and mundane at best. The undercard fights I felt were the best part of the card, usually they are. The guys on the undercard want to show they belong on the maincard and they have worked just as hard. But let us get into these fights and talk about what happened (Spoiler Alerts):

Jessica Andrade vs Joanne Calderwood

Interesting match up with these two, I felt that Calderwood was doing a great job at first trying to keep Jessica away. However once the fight was taken to the ground Jessica showed everyone why she is so dangerous on the ground. I felt she controlled the fight and swarmed all over Joanne, letting her know there was nothing she could do to get away. When she finally was able to tighten in the Guillotine Choke, Calderwood has no choice but to tap.

Jimmie Rivera vs Uriah Faber

At one time Uriah was considered the bench mark of the UFC, it seems though those days have finally past him. Uriah looked sluggish in the fight, while Rivera looked like a future contender. Now I am not saying Rivera will beat Cruz, but what I am saying is he was scary good against Faber. Faber was being out wrestled, out stuck, and was dominated in the fight. Though I do like the California Kid and I was rooting for him, he might be heading down and slide after dropping to both Cruz and now Rivera. Hopefully the UFC can get him a fight that he can win and Faber can get his confidence back.

Mickey Gall vs CM Punk

There are two parts to this story, 1. CM Punk knew this was going to be an uphill battle and 2. Mickey Gall is the real deal. So let us start with the first point...CM Punk was in an uphill battle from the jump. He stepped out looking to strike with Gall, but Gall was not having any of it. He instantly took him to the ground and began to grind him out. Now I do have to commend CM Punk for having so much heart in this fight, he was fighting out of numerous submission attempts but Gall never let up. I think for me once I saw CM Punk take a shot to the face, it almost looked like a light bulb went off in his head and he knew this was bad. I had mentioned numerous times about CM Punk saying he was a white belt for life, and it seemed that showed against the brown belt Gall.

But we should not take anything away from Mickey Gall at all. This was a man who waited patiently for CM Punk to be ready, and when it came down to it...dominated a fight. It did not matter to him what anyone else thought, he put his game plan to work and made CM Punk tap out. A lot of people did not like what Mickey Gall had to say after the fight, but I am one of those who actually did. I like that he called out Sage Northcutt, I like that he is going to say what is on his mind, I like he is calling out whoever he wants. He is hungry and he is ready to take on the world, and I think he wants to grow as a fighter. I would like to see how fast this kid can rise to the top.

Fabricio Werdum vs Travis Browne

Have to be honest, this was a disappointing fight for me as a fan of Hapa. I am not sure what happened in the first round with him and his finger, but it was pretty severe to have him want to stop the fight. Now I am sure Travis was waiting for him hand to go numb so he could start landing some bombs, but this is not boxing. He was going to need a few more rounds till it happened. Now reports are coming out that he actually dislocated his finger and put it back in place during the fight. He is a tough but that would be pretty gnarly if it is true.

Now the fight itself was pretty boring due to the injury but, what happened after the fight was uncalled for. There were some kind of word exchange between Fabricio and Browne's coach, which ultimately led to Werdum push kicking the coach away and fights began to break out, it seem Browne was pretty chill though. It will be interesting to see what the UFC does about it, but I think the UFC needs to get Travis back in the win column and help him get his confidence back as well, after dropping the last two he is going to need it.

Stipe Miocic vs Alistair Overeem

Apparently there is some controversy to this fight, Alistair had Stipe deep in a chokehold and said he felt Stipe tap out. However after looking over numerous replays Stipe never showed a tap anywhere. Once they stood up and began to battle Overeem got caught and went down, ultimately getting TKO'd.

What made this fight so much fun was all the knockdowns that happened. I know most of my friends were calling out thinking the fight was going to be over with Alistair on top, but Stipe showed a lot of heart and kept holding on till the end. You have to love fighters who refuse to lose and want to put on a great show for their fans. Stipe is one of those guys who you not only have to beatdown to win, but you are going to feel like you have to kill him to win.

I feel Cain Velazquez is going to have a lot of his plate when he gets ready to fight Stipe, but Cain's wrestling could be the X-factor in this fight. Cain has excellent stand-up, and world class wrestling behind him. Stipe is going to have to be ready on all fronts to win this fight, especially with the Spinning wheel kick Cain has put in his bag of tricks.

I think the UFC has some work to do with UFC 206 going forward. It could also be that we have been spoiled with the last few events, that we needed to have a break. With UFC 204 (possibly the last fight for Dan Henderson win or lose) and 205 coming up we could see some fun times. I know for myself I am looking forward to next year with the anticipation of Ronda returning and Conor back in the Octagon.

What was your thoughts on the fights? You can leave comments here or tweet me out at cm_miller85 or getthekoblog.