Kingdom MMA review of UFC 169

UFC 169: Barao vs Faber II

by Sam Heard @SamHeard_

Boasting two title fights with a brace of the UFC’s most dominant champions topping off a stacked card, UFC 169 certainly promised a lot and in many ways failed to live up to this lofty expectation. Not only were UFC records broken for the most fights to go to decision – ten of the twelve fights would hit the judge’s scorecards – but the night ended in an unsatisfactory manner with a questionable referee stoppage. The disappointing nature of the night is reflected in the distribution of the bonuses with one fight taking all the honours. The Trujillo/Varner matchup would pick up not only the Knockout of the Night bonus for Trujillo but also an augmented Fight of the Night bonus as a result of the lack of a ‘Submission of the Night’ – a whopping $125,000 in bonuses for Abel Trujillo.

Renan Barao (32-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) VS. Urijah Faber (30-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC)

The UFC’s marketing of this fight was such that Faber had a 50% chance of toppling the newly crowned undisputed Bantamweight champion. Not only did Joe Rogan explicitly say this in the promo but they were also very shady about revealing the fact that the two had fought before and that Barao in his decision victory Barao had outscored Faber 50-45 on one judge’s scorecard.

In their second match-up it was all too clear that since they last met in the Octagon, Barao is the more improved of the two fighters. The first two or so minutes of the fight saw some fairly even striking exchanges between the two fighters with Faber’s tutelage under Duane Ludwig clearly giving him the confidence to kick-box with the dangerous Brazilian fighter. However, standing with Barao proved to be a mistake as a solid straight right connected directly with Faber’s jaw, dropping him and allowing Barao to swarm all over him. Somehow Faber was able to get to his feet but the Brazilian blitz continued, a typhoon of knees, uppercuts and body shots. The relentless pressure from Barao paid off as he once again dropped the dazed Alpha Male captain. Faber clung to Barao’s leg and was guarding the Brazilian’s rapid hammerfists but Herb Dean had seen enough, despite Faber having given him the thumbs up. In fairness to Faber, he did seem like he was able to continue and after the fight was stopped he was immediately up challenging the controversial decision.

This ending was undesirable to both Bantamweights – Faber was denied the opportunity to continue in the fight while Barao, who had looked amazing in the fight, couldn’t get the definitive stoppage he may have needed to get his name right up the p4p rankings.

Result: Renan Barao def. Urijah Faber via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:42

Jose Aldo (24-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) VS. Ricardo Lamas (13-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC)

Some have expressed disappointment in Jose Aldo for not picking up a victory in the distance. I am not one of these people. While he failed to stop Lamas, Aldo looked completely dominant in his unanimous decision victory and showed some of the most technically appealing combinations of strikes I’ve ever seen.

Aldo chained together long, accurate combinations throughout the fight which nearly always finished with one of his renowned thunderous leg kicks. The Brazilian champ also displayed exceptional takedown defence to ruin Lamas’ strategy to outwrestle him. Lamas was mostly unable to threaten Aldo – the only round he won on the judges’ scorecards was the fifth where he was fortunate enough to find himself on top of Aldo in a scramble. Even in this position he didn’t really trouble Aldo who was clearly content to remain on his back and let the judges give him his sixth consecutive UFC win. Critics of Aldo will attribute his losing the fifth round to his tendency to fade towards the end of fights. I tend to disagree with this as he hadn’t slowed down at all until being taken down.

At the post-fight press conference it was revealed that now Aldo has defeated all the top featherweight contenders he would be interested in moving up to 155-lbs to fight Pettis for his Lightweight belt.

Result: Jose Aldo def. Ricardo Lamas (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)

Frank Mir (16-9 MMA, 14-9 UFC) VS. Alistair Overeem (37-13 MMA, 2-2 UFC)

In what was probably the most disappointing fight on the main card we saw one of the least competitive heavyweight fights in recent memory. Most expected Overeem to come out, rock the shaky chin of Mir immediately and finish him for a quick return to the dressing room. We saw domination of a very different, far more boring kind, however. Clearly in fear of getting tagged as he has been in his past two fights, Overeem fought ultra-conservatively despite having several openings to easily finish Mir. Instead, he lay on top of Mir for large sections of the fight landing just enough ground-and-pound for the ref to not stand it back up. What could have been one of the most exciting fights on the card turned out to be boring and highly uncompetitive. Bad match-making on the part of the UFC.

Result: Alistair Overeem def. Frank Mir via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Ali Bagautinov (13-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) VS. John Lineker (23-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC)

This clash of two rising flyweights certainly seemed to be a fight for the number 1 contender spot, pitching the world-class sambo of Bagautinov against the brute power of John Lineker.

The fight was extremely back-and-forth throughout: Bagautinov, as we had seen in his last fight, was comfortable enough on his feet to throw combos at the Brazilian while mixing in takedowns while Lineker was able to cause some visible pain to the Russian, particularly with body shots in the second. Despite this, it was an easy fight to score in the end with Bagautinov’s domination on the mat able to comfortably win the first and third rounds while Lineker’s power shots in the second frame won him a round back. Bagautinov certainly seems like a worthy challenger to take on Mighty Mouse next – he was able to make a man who has been knocking out talented flyweights left, right and centre look slow, plodding and one dimensional.

Result: Ali Bagautinov def. John Lineker via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Abel Trujillo (12-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) VS. Jamie Varner (21-9-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC)

This fight was easily the most entertaining on the whole card and there really isn’t much which can be said about it other than that you should watch it as soon as you get chance.

Imagine two Wanderlei Silva clones slugging it out in the Octagon if you want the best description of this bout. The two had each other hurt on multiple occasions and indeed it seemed Varner had all but beaten Trujillo until he got caught by a massive counter-right which sent him down immediately like a felled tree.

Once again, if you haven’t watched this fight yet, watch it.

Result: Abel Trujillo def. Jamie Varner via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 2:32

UFC 169 predictions

Kingdom MMA predictions for UFC 169

by Ben Heather @benheather and Chris Marzella @ChrisMarzella

For this event we will be predicting the fights for UFC 169 including a write up for the big 3 fights on the card and then picking our winners for the rest of the card. Let us know if you agree with our picks.

Barao vs Faber

Chris: The UFC always tends to really stack this card and I'm glad to see this year is no exception. I was disappointed when Dominick Cruz had to pull out, but it says a lot that there is still a buzz about this card. Faber just may be the most popular UFC fighter to never hold the title and I can't really see that changing come Saturday night. Renan Barao is special. I mean seriously, who goes on a 31 fight winning streak? That is ridiculous.

I'm going to go with a Barao decision in this one.

Ben: I really have been struggling to pick a winner for this fight, my head says Barao but my heart is picking Faber. I would love nothing more than to see Urijah Faber crowned the champ he has been on a tear and beats 99% of the division. I think he knows this is probably his last shot and I think it may well be the time that Team Alpha Male finally have a champion in the team.

I'm not confident at all but will go with Faber by decision.

Aldo vs Lamas

Chris: In the co-main event I can't see past Barao's stablemate. Aldo is quite simply a cut above anyone else at 145lbs. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Ricardo Lamas fan and his shot has been a long time coming, but I don't see a specific area of his game where I think he's better than Aldo. Aldo is about as devastating a striker as we have in the sport right now and it'll be interesting to see how Lamas copes with that.

My money has to be an Aldo TKO, probably in the second or third round.

Ben: I agree completely with Chris, I like Lamas and love seeing him fight. However, right now there is two divisions within the featherweight division.... Jose Aldo and everyone else. It wouldn't matter to me who Aldo was fighting if its at 145lbs I am backing him. As i predicted at the start of the year, I think Aldo will end the year as the UFC lightweight champion and on Saturday night we will see him defeat Lamas and then vacate his title. As he moves up for the super fight against Anthony Pettis.

It has to be Aldo by TKO Round 2

Mir vs Overeem

Chris: The most intriguing fight on the card for me has to be Frank Mir vs Alistair Overeem. Billed as a looser leaves town match I really think, with a loss here, we may see the last of Mir. Overeem still has a point to prove and just needs the win more. If Josh Barnett can do what he did to Mir with strikes, I fear what Overeem may be able to do.

I predict an Overeem KO.

Ben: Since Overeem has been in the UFC we have not seen him tested on his back, if Mir gets the fight down he will surely have an advantage as he does against most guys in the division but I just don't see the fight getting there. I think like Chris that Overeem is going to come in to this fight so focused and his preperation in Thailand will be put to get use on Saturday night.

Overeem by KO Round 1.

Predictions for the remainder of the Card

Bagautinov vs Lineker

Chris: Bagautinov    Ben: Lineker

Varner vs Trujillo

Chris: Trujillo          Ben: Varner

Makdessi vs Patrick

Chris: Patrick          Ben: Makdessi

Cariaso vs Martinez

Chris: Martinez        Ben: Cariaso

Catone vs Watson

Chris: Watson         Ben: Watson

Iaquinta vs Lee

Chris: Iaquinta         Ben: Iaquinta

Hester vs Enz

Chris: Hester           Ben: Hester

Martin vs Magomedov

Chris: Martin           Ben: Magomedov

Magny vs Umalatov

Chris: Umalatov      Ben: Magny

The Bradley Scott Blog - Episode 2

My life training at The MMA Lab

by Bradley Scott @Bradleyscott89

The MMA Lab

Last week was a tough week, it was probably one of the harder weeks we have done. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it, absolutely fucked. The strength and conditioning was probably the reason for it. We did three solid strength and conditioning sessions, they were really long winded as well.

To keep you all up to date with my routine for the past couple of weeks, this is what I have been doing.

Last Monday (26th August)
Kickboxing - working on our technique so it was quite tame but focused on specific techniques.

Tuesday
Wrestling and Grappling - which was pretty difficult

Wednesday - It was tough we did a really hard conditioning session and then after that we had stand up sparring.

Thursday
In the morning I did Jui Jitsu, then in the afternoon we just rolled for like an hour and a half. It absolutely killed me.

Friday Morning ON MY DAY OFF
I had to do conditioning again which absolutely annihilated me, but I had the rest of Friday off.

Then on Saturday I had sparring, proper MMA sparring which is the hard sparring session at The MMA Lab but I was so fucked I could hardly spar, I still managed to get four good five minute rounds in. I was destroyed mentally by the end of the week.

Monday (2nd Sept)
This week, conditioning has been upped a notch as the Americans have had a day off on Monday called Labor Day which is like one of our bank holidays back home. So we had an hour and half to two hour MMA practise doing Kickboxing drills. Lots and lots of kicks and lots of defence from kicks obviously this was as a result of Anthony Pettis and how his fight with Benson turned out.

Tuesday
We had a fucking horrible conditioning session, it was the worst conditioning session ever. Oh my god, it was fucking hell. I had to leave early as I had to have my eyes tested and so he just crammed as much shit in to an hour and half session as he could and it just fucking killed me. Loads and loads of biometric stuff, the vertimax machine which ties you to the floor with all the elastics. It was a fucking nightmare it caught me off guard massively and completely destroyed my soul and my will to live.

Then on Tuesday night I was hoping for some technique work, we did wrestling mixed with a little bit of jui jitsu and then we rolled at the end for another thirty minutes or so. It was another hour and half workout by the end so that was pretty savage as well but it was really good.


All the guys are so good and I am learning so much. Ive been working a lot with a brown belt in Jui Jitsu called Ishmael (I cant remember his second name) but he is really good and is kicking my arse on the floor. I'm currently a blue belt, second degree not that makes any difference. So I need to hurry up and get to a purple belt otherwise I cant compete.... you got to be a high belt in Jui Jitsu its like the law so I think I'll get my black belt in a couple of months I expect. Do a couple of backward rolls, couple of forward rolls, a couple of triangles and that should get me my black belt..... god if only it was that easy!!

I have been getting destroyed on the floor here they are so good. Its the ones that look like nothing who are the most dangerous ones, well except for Ishmael who is shredded. He is really athletic and has good stand up, good wrestling in fact he is good at MMA. He is also a pro but I don't know what organisation he fights for, but he is really good.

We also have Augusto Mendes he is a 4x World Brazilian Jui Jitsu champion and a ADCC winner so he is really good and so fast but he is only little so he can help and he is a damn sight better than me. He is quick on the floor, not so good stand up or wrestling but great on the floor.

That's is literally all I have been doing so far and I am hanging out of my arse. Everyday I come home and drink this special water "Essentia Water" Its super hydrating water and is quite expensive but it tastes quite good as water goes. Its fucking lovely, them and chocolate almonds they get me through.

I weighed myself yesterday and I'm 200lbs so that's well ahead of schedule. Its where I want to be a week out so I will just try and stick to it now if I can. It was after training though so I was probably a little dehydrated so I'd probably say I was more like 203lbs I expect.

Hanging out with the guys from The MMA Lab
On Saturday night I didn't actually get to see the Benson fight as we all got together for a local event which was about an hour away, still in Arizona. We had three wins out of three fights all of them really quick. Two of them were guillotines, one in about 30 seconds the other in a minute and a half. Then the other fight was a third round TKO but it was a massacre so that was really good and it proved what a real winning attitude The MMA Lab has.

As for the UFC fights I know Jamie Varner didn't win but I haven't seen the fight yet but I would have liked to see Jamie Varner win, he is a really cool guy.

I know Benson will be back as well and will hopefully get another shot at Pettis to earn revenge, he will probably have to take a couple of fights before but then hopefully get another shot. He walks around deceivingly close to weight and is still in good shape now. He is fucking shredded.

In the next blog I will continue to give more details of my training and touch on my game plan and some specifics that I have been training on ready for the fight so stay tuned to Kingdom MMA for the next instalment.

The Bradley Scott Blog - episode 1

My thoughts on my fight announcement and my first week at the MMA Lab

by Bradley Scott @Bradleyscott89

By now you all know that I am back.

This is the first instalment of my blog which will only be available on Kingdom MMA, I will talk you through my life as I train towards the big fight in Manchester on October 26th against Michael Kuiper. So keep reading over the coming weeks as I tell you about my life as a UFC fighter.

My opponent Michael Kuiper
 

The fight was officially announced on Thursday that I will be fighting in Manchester on October 26th against Michael Kuiper. I have been watching some videos of him and he looks a pretty good Dutch kick boxer, not up there with the likes of Andy Souwer but he is definitely skilled.

I imagine come fight night there will be a lot of punches thrown, I am certainly hoping to finish him I don't want to go the distance. I will be going in there to get the KO/ TKO obviously, the only way I will get a submission victory is if its handed to me on a plate. I'm talking if he grabs my arm and wraps it around his throat and squeezes it for me that's the only way it will be a submission victory. There is no ifs or buts it will be an exciting fight. Loads of punches thrown, loads of blood, claret and shit everywhere I'm just hoping its in my favour.

Training at The MMA Lab
 

For this fight I have decided to go to train in America, I have been training at The MMA Lab in Pheonix, Arizona. I came out to America at the start of last week and last Tuesday (13th August) I had my first training session. It is certainly an experience to say the least, this week has been my induction week and I am just trying to get used to it here. I'm getting starstruck just seeing current UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson and people like that walking around. Joe Riggs is my training partner and its quite an experience. All of these guys which I am used to seeing on TV thinking wow what a legend and here I am training in the same room as them.

Since I have arrived I have been working a lot on my ground game, doing a lot of wrestling at the minute as my striking is pretty good. So I am trying to learn as much as I can, there are so many great wrestlers here. The ground level is just insane here, everyone is a good wrestler.

Training with John Crouch
 

John Crouch is an awesome coach, he looks at all the nitty gritty details. He doesn't care he will make time for you, even if he doesn't have any time he will make the time available for you. Even though Benson's title fight is just over a week away I have been working loads with John. He even set a whole session around me just to help me learn a certain technique. It's really technical here, I like the set up and they only have one hard sparring session a week so you're not really hurting all the time but we do do a lot of sparring.

Benson Henderson
 

He is still training here everyday, he is an absolute fucking monster. People don't understand how hard he trains and he certainly is better than everyone else here and you can see why. His dedication and his training ethics are amazing. He trains everyday and the other day he did 5x five minute rounds and he looked better in the fifth than he did in the first. The guy is a freak!! When I first saw him I was surprised how big he is, he is fucking huge and absolutely shredded. I don't know how much weight he has to cut but I do know he will make weight he is a professional, everything he does is professional.

My initial thoughts on the biggest differences so far between a UK gym and the Lab
 

In the UK most of the gyms I train at I am normally one of the top five fighters at the gym but here I am probably like in the top twenty maybe and that I am getting to train with some top fighters which all forms a good experience.

My first session was an experience, they spar hard here. They only do small sessions like 3 x 5 minutes or 4 x 5 minute sessions and that's your whole day done but its hard. Its also very clever as we don't get hurt or pick up any silly injuries, everyone has got that experience of having a fight. Another big difference is that when you spar everyone else watches so you have about 50 or 60 guys watching you which makes it feel like a real fight, its hardcore.

When was the last time someone like Benson Henderson or Jamie Varner pulled out of a fight due to an injury.... The guys here know what they are doing. Speaking of Jamie Varner, he is awesome. He's massive as well, he's built like a pitbull!! Joe Riggs is obviously built like a tank as well, he's huge. I sparred with him yesterday. The guy is a beast, he's got a fractured orbital bone but he puts a head guard on and then throws down still.... The guys a fucking freak!! He's fast as well and believe me he can bang. Like I said the guys a freak.

The quality of the food and stuff is better over here as well. I'm eating much better foods, there is a lot better variety of foods and I am getting better advice from people and advice of the other pro's here.

My weight
 

Another thing I have noticed is I have lost 10lbs since I have been here (10 days). I'm really struggling, I think a lot of it is to do with the amount of water I am drinking over here. I'm drinking about 8 litres a day due to me sweating so much from the two training sessions and I am having to have loads and loads of Gatorade and electrolytes just to keep me from cramping. So I am forcing myself to eat and am adding in high calorie foods such as nut butter and I am having fattier meats just so I can get the calories in and I am still losing loads of weight. I'm actually under 200lbs at the minute which for a middleweight is fuck all. Just look at Joe Riggs he weighs 210lbs and he is a fucking welterweight.

Everything is going right, making weight is not going to be a problem in fact I am trying to put weight on.

The British Invasion at the Lab
 

I've got two more English guys here as well, Andrew Fisher is here "Copper Bollocks" as I call him he's fucking lovely. There is another guy too but he is a amateur. I was the first Brit here and then all of a sudden two days later two more turn up. We have invaded over here, we are taking over.


In the next blog I will be able to give more details of my game plan and some specifics that I have been training on ahead ready for the fight so stay tuned to Kingdom MMA for the next instalment.