Is Ronda Rousey Unstoppable?

Who's up next for Ronda Rousey and who's '0' will go?!

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea

Ronda Rousey proved again at UFC 168, that it will take something or someone very special to pull off a victory against her. With another stunning performance defeating Miesha Tate 58 seconds into the 3rd round via her trade mark 'arm bar' to retain the women's bantamweight title.

Though Ronda didn't have all the things her own way, Miesha put up a valiant performance in the first and second round even escaping from a deep arm bar and then rocking Ronda a few times whilst the fight was standing.

Tate made a few errors in the fight, and I was slightly bemused by her fight plan. Trying to take Ronda down and beat her at her own game? Sorry, but this was a massive mistake. You could see when the fight was standing, Tate got the better of the striking, landing some crisp powerful shots that were hurting Ronda. But critically, then wasted heaps of energy trying to take down a former Olympic Judo bronze medallist to the ground.

With Tate having little success other than when the fight was standing, Ronda showed her true skills. Sweeping Tate and landing some powerful takedowns. Once down Ronda looked in her comfort zone and was only a matter of time being the inevitable happened.

Going into the third round with Tate running out of ideas and energy the end was nigh. It wasn't long before Ronda secured the take down and locked in the arm bar forcing Tate to tap right away. There wasn't any danger this time of Tate seeing her arm hyper extended once again.

With the fight over and Tate offering her hand to Ronda in congratulations it was Ronda that snubbed the opportunity to settle the beef and instead turned her back and refused.

I don't want to get into a debate about whether it was good or bad for the sport as that's another topic. Though I do think we as fans get suckered in by a hatred between fighters, only to be put behind them once the fight is over. You know with Ronda, if you piss her off its a grudge match you're going to loss!!

Who's Up First For Ronda?

Shortly after the fight, the UFC were quick to announce that UFC 170 will be headlined by Ronda Rousey and unbeaten fighter Sara McMann (7-0) which will take place on the 22nd February 2014 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay.

With the exception of Cat Zingano, who was originally scheduled to be TUF 18 coach and go head to head with Ronda but was forced to pull out due to a knee injury that needed surgery, forcing Miesha Tate to step in as a late replacement.

This is the next best fight the fans would like to see!

With the champion being an Olympic Judoka bronze medallist and McMann being a Olympic Wrestler silver medallist, both not blessed with the same striking skills. This will be a fight of who can dominate on the ground. Can McMann stop the arm bar? can Ronda take McMann down? who will be the stronger? Or will the fight negate itself and we see a stand up fight for 5 rounds?

All these questions will be answered come 22nd February, though I for one am a lot more excited to see this fight than I was the Tate rematch.

Cat Zinagno:

Cat Zinagno (8-0) has been promised by Dana White, that she will get the chance to fight the winner of the Ronda vs McMann, and rightfully so in my eyes.

She's been very unfortunate with the knee injury that caused her to miss out being a TUF coach. Not only for that, but also for people to see more in the spotlight and get to know her a little better over the weeks of the TUF series to gather more fans.

Being out for this time she is being a forgotten fighter, though I'm sure if she ends up fighting Ronda or McMann we will be in for a real treat.


Finally with Ronda only fighting twice last year, the news she will be back so soon and be more active in 2014 is not only great news for the UFC but also for the fans.

With GSP taking an indefinite leave of absence and Anderson Silva suffering a horrific leg break against Chris Weidman on Saturday night, I can see the UFC trying to push her as hard, and as fast as they can, to be the new face of the promotion.

Kingdom MMA Awards 2013: Upset of the Year

Kingdom MMA Upset of the Year Award 2013: Chris Weidman

by Ben Heather @benheather

2013 has been a great year for MMA, champions have been dethroned and if not have finally looked like they might actually be human after all and can be challenged. Which leads us to present our award for the upset of the year.

Benson Henderson lost his title to long time rival Anthony Pettis. GSP got pushed all the way and took more punishment this year than we have ever seen him take. He ultimately kept his title before giving it up as he took an indefinite leave of absence from fighting and Johny Hendricks will get his chance again to be crowned the UFC Welterweight champion. It has also been the year that Chris Weidman has twice defeated the fighter many thought was unbeatable and rightfully so classified as the greatest of all time in Anderson Silva. Alexander Gustafsson also pushed Jon Jones to the limit but just missed out on defeating the champion and this is only what happened in title fights in the UFC.

In Bellator the biggest upset of the year came in February as Emanuel Newton defeated the massive favourite King Mo. Again just beating him was a massive upset win but the manner in which he did it really was special winning via a spinning back fist halfway through the first round of there fight at Bellator 90. This then set in place a rivalry which came to a head when they faced off for the rematch at Bellator 106 in November. Where again Newton won but this time via unanimous decision after 5 rounds to become the Bellator interim Light Heavyweight Champion.

Bigfoot Silva went in to his heavyweight battle with Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 as a massive underdog and the first two rounds looked like the bookies were right to make him the underdog going in to the fight. However, just at the end of the second round Bigfoot caught Overeem. When they came out for the start of the third round it was a completely different fight and Bigfoot picked apart Overeem before the referee had seen enough and Bigfoot got a massive TKO victory which set him up for the a title shot against Cain Velasquez. This was certainly one of the biggest upsets of the year and in any other year may have got the award but not 2013.

2013's award belongs to one man and that man did the impossible and defeated a fighter who was unbeaten in the UFC with a record of 16-0, held the record for the longest championship reign of any champion in the UFC ever and truly looked unbeatable. That was until UFC 162 on July 6th when Chris Weidman faced off against Anderson Silva.

What Chris Weidman did against Anderson Silva may not just be the biggest upset of the year, it has to be up there with the biggest upsets of all time. Chris Weidman knocked out the greatest fighter of all time when nobody predicted that could happen. People were saying Weidman could win but maybe by submission or decision. Nobody other than Weidman's camp said he would knockout the champ.

People can say what they want about the first fight "Anderson was clowning around" "Anderson was playing with Weidman and he got caught with a lucky shot" but in my opinion people who say stupid comments like that after seeing Chris Weidman knock out the greatest fighter on the planet are crazy. Anderson Silva fought Weidman the same way he fought every single fight in the UFC before that day the only difference is Anderson Silva's showboating made him even better because he was winning. As soon as he got caught and knocked out not many people gave Weidman any credit or the respect he deserved but instead said it will be different the second time.

This past weekend they had the rematch, we all know by now the outcome and nobody wants to see a fight finish with such a major injury like that, but up until the injury Chris Weidman was clearly in control of that fight. He nearly knocked out Anderson Silva in the first round and in the second made the changes to his game from the first fight by checking the kicks instead of taking the punishment on his legs. It was one of those checked kicks which resulted in a broken leg for Silva.

After the fight some of those same people who gave Weidman no credit for the first win were calling the injury "a fluke injury" but it was as a result of the changes Weidman had made to his game and if he didn't make those changes Silva would not have a broken leg now.

Weidman not only did the impossible and pulled off the biggest upset of the year once, he did it twice in the space of six months. For that Kingdom MMA's award for Upset of the Year 2013 goes to Chris Weidman.

We salute you Chris and hope that you start to get the respect you deserve for pulling off such a great achievement.

UFC 168 Predictions

UFC 168 Predictions
by Ben Heather @benheather and Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

The UFC is back this weekend, and back in a big way with one of the best cards to take place this year. UFC 168 is sure to send the UFC off in to 2014 in a big way.

For the first time in a long time this weekends UFC event will potentially see two UFC titles change hands with both the middleweight title and the women's bantamweight title on the line. It is also the event which may settle two rivalries as Chris Weidman takes on Anderson Silva in what has to be the most anticipated rematch in UFC history. Also the true grudge match will take place as Ronda Rousey gets back in to the cage to face Miesha Tate and this time its in the octagon. If these fights live up to the hype and so do the remaining fights on the card it could easily be the best event of the year, if not all time.

Kingdom MMA will give you their predictions for the event which is sure to be a cracker!

Chris Weidman vs Anderson Silva

Strong: The fight everyone has been waiting for is finally upon us. Did Silva take Weidman serious previously? I don't think he did. Though he will have tool this time. Silva won't make the same mistake twice and I see Silva putting right when he done wrong in the first fight.

I don't see lightening striking twice!

Prediction: Anderson Silva - TKO RD 2

Heather: I have been waiting for this fight since Anderson Silva was knocked out in the last fight, the reason for that is simple.... Chris Weidman needs to win this fight to finally get some respect. I feel he has not got the respect he deserved for knocking out Anderson Silva and why.... that's simple because Anderson Silva did what Anderson Silva does in every fight the only difference was this time he got caught instead of looking flash.

It was only a matter of time with Anderson fighting the way he does before he got caught and finally Weidman did it.

I also feel that he will do the same again on Saturday night and then he will finally get some respect for the accomplishment which he has achieved. People keep saying how Anderson will be focused for this fight more than the first and will get the win, but I think that's complete rubbish. There is one man who will want to get the win more than anything on Saturday night and that man is Chris Weidman, he has everything to lose and if he does lose will probably not be getting another title shot for a while.

If Anderson changes anything then i believe it will be to Weidmans advantage. He has always thought the same way and so any changes to the way he fights may work against him.

Prediction: Chris Weidman - TKO RD 4


Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate

Strong: This is a real grudge match, with both fighters who truly have a dislike for each other. Though since their first fight in 2012 I feel Ronda is the fighter who's progressed, and Miesha has stood still or even took a step backwards.

Its going to take a special fighter to beat Ronda and feel Miesha's chance has passed. I would love to see Miesha win the title from her fierce enemy, though unless she can keep the fight standing for 3 rounds I don't see her winning.

Prediction: Ronda Rousey - Submission Rd 3

Heather: For me this is very simple... Ronda beats anyone at 135lbs and Tate only has this fight as it is good for business. She is coming in to fight the champ off a loss and nobody seems to be saying anything about it. Yet when other people get title shots when they are not the clear contender everyone bitches about the decision.

I will be surprised if it makes it past the first round and Miesha still has her arm!!

Prediction: Ronda Rousey - Armbar Rd 1


Josh Barnett vs Travis Browne

Strong: I love nothing better than a good heavyweight match up, and this is what we have right here. Both very powerful men who will look to put on an impressive performance to put themselves into the window of title contention.

Barnett will be keen to get Browne to the mat where he can do all the damage, where as Browne will do his utmost to keep the fight standing to put the advantage firmly in his favour.

Prediction: Travis Browne - TKO Rd 1

Heather: This fight has had me going back and forth in my head and to honest I am still not sure how it will pan out. I do believe these guys are right up the top of the division and a win could put them in a potential number 1 contender fight with Werdum if Cain is sidelined for a while.

As Tommy said, I also believe Browne will have the advantage standing up and he has only lost to Bigfoot Silva in a fight he looked great in until he got injured. I think if he did not get injured during the fight, that fight would have been very different. However, Barnett certainly will have the advantage on the ground.

Even as I am writing this I still don't know how it is going to go but it is certainly a fight I am looking forward to watching. I'm gonna take on punt on Browne and say he gets the W on Saturday night.

Prediction: Travis Browne - TKO Rd 3


Jim Miller vs Fabricio Camoes

Strong: Miller will be eager to get back to winning way after his loss to Healy (though later overturned to NC due to Healy's failed drugs test) I think in Camoes he has the perfect opportunity. Camoes is coming into the fight of the back of a defeat to Melvin Gulliard which is no shame, though anything he throws at Miller I can see him dealing with.

Prediction: Jim Miller - Unanimous Decision

Heather: I will not waste too much of your time in the write up for my pick for this fight. Jim Miller has a far greater set of skills to lose this fight. I am unsure of the match making behind this fight.... however a loss for Miller would be very bad for any potential future title shot he still dreams about.

Prediction: Jim Miller - Unanimous Decision


Dustin Poirier vs Diego Brandao

Strong: This is one of the fights I'm looking forward to most. It has fight of the night written all over it! Poirier will be full of confidence of the back of beating Erik Koch in August. But he will be up against it when facing former TUF 14 winner Diego Brandao.

Brandao has a wild style of fighting that will lend itself to Dustin's striking. Though, if Brandao manages to land one of his wild attacks on Poirier we should be in for a real treat of a fight.

Piorier has fought some of the best fighters within the division, Brandao hasn't fought anyone to the level of Poirier, I feel this might be the key!

Prediction: Dustin Poirier - Unanimous Decision 

Heather: Firstly Dustin Poirier is one of my favourite fighters to watch, he always comes to fight and always turns up. That being said I can guarantee to you right now that two things will happen on Saturday night.

1) Diego Brandao will come out quickly with some big shots in the first round
2) Diego Brandao will then gas..... badly!!

What happens next I believe Dustin will take care of business and weather the early onslaught before finishing a gassed Brandao in the third round and probably by pulling off another highlight reel submission.

Prediction: Dustin Poirier - Submission RD 3

Please let us know what your predictions are for this event and if you agree with both of ours.

Fighter vs Writer - UFC 168 Calderwood vs Heard

Fighter vs Writer: JoJo Calderwood - UFC 168
by Ben Heather @benheather

Welcome to another Kingdom MMA fighter vs writer challenge.

For this feature we challenge some of the biggest names from the world of MMA to give us their picks and fight outcomes for specific MMA events. Then they will be challenged by one of our writers, who will make their own predictions. Previously we have challenged the likes of Dustin Poirier, Luke Barnatt, Jim Alers, Mike Wilkinson, Phil Harris, Cathal Pendred and Michael Wootten.

This weeks opponent was the perfect woman for the job. After recently taking her MMA record to 8-0 at Invicta 7 with a unanimous decision win over Katja Kankaanpaa she was back in the news when Dana White told the world that the UFC will now have a 115lb womens division and that she was one of 11 women to have signed for the UFC. She is of course Jojo Calderwood and this weekend she will compete against our newest writer Sam Heard.

The Scoring
If you predict the correct winner of the fight you will get one point and if you predict the correct method of victory you will get an extra point. However, if the fight ends in a stoppage and you predict the round as well the method you could earn a third bonus point. If the fight goes the distance you can only earn a maximum of two points.

The Predictions

Chris Weidman vs Anderson Silva

Calderwood: I think Silva will be back to his best for this fight with a point to prove.

Prediction: Anderson Silva - TKO Round 3 

Heard: The moment we’ve all been waiting for! I believe we will see a more serious, focused Anderson Silva who will keep the clowning to a minimum. Until he got caught in the first fight, Anderson seemed quicker than Weidman and was landing hard leg kicks at will. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if Anderson was able to “give back” the KO to Weidman.

However, as much as it pains me to say it, I think Weidman has the edge here. Historically, championship rematches have never failed the older fighter and though Silva is without doubt the GOAT there is no escaping the fact that he is nearing 40. Weidman is a relentless wrestler who happens to also have decent stand-up and even better submissions; everyone knows that wrestlers are the worst matchups for Anderson. He nearly got that heel hook in the first round of their first clash and I believe we could see Anderson, who could well just have accepted the rematch he initially showed no interest in for the big cheque, tap out.

Prediction: Chris Weidman - Submission Round 4

Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate

Calderwood: I'd love to see this go a bit but Ronda is pretty determined and it's going to go the way everyone expects.

Prediction: Ronda Rousey - Armbar Round 2

Heard: The bookies would have you believe this fight is certain to end with Ronda’s hand raised. I really think that they’re undervaluing Miesha Tate here. In their first match Miesha looked like she had an edge on the feet and displayed some brilliant counter-grappling to resist Ronda’s first attempt at the Armbar and even take the Bantamweight Champion’s back.

So what’s changed since then? Ronda seems to be spending an increasing amount of time on her acting career. There’s no doubting Tate seems more focused on her MMA career at this stage. Added to this, Rousey’s nature as a fighter who’s ultra-specialised in one very focused area means that training and a game plan can be focused on countering her speciality; namely that awesome Armbar of hers. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that not only does Miesha take Ronda into the uncharted territories of the 2nd and 3rd round put that she pulls off the upset.

Prediction: Miesha Tate - Unanimous Decision

Josh Barnett vs Travis Browne

Calderwood: I think Barnett is one of the best heavyweight submission guys, he's dealt with tall opponents before and I think once he gets past Browne's range I think the sub will come.

Prediction: Josh Barnett - Submission Round 2

Heard: Despite coming off two huge wins, I’m not entirely sold on Travis Browne. Though he went on to KO Overeem with that brilliant front kick, I think Overeem did enough to get the stoppage as there were stages where Browne seemed defenceless and have seen referees jump in for far less. Yes, he did beat Gonzaga but Barnett is a very different beast to the Brazillian, having competed at the top level throughout his whole career and has only ever lost to the very best.

I don’t think Barnett will manage to get the finish against Browne but I think he has an advantage in all areas. Browne’s experience is mainly limited to the first round while Barnett has gone all the way in a five round main event so expect Barnett to show better conditioning.


Prediction: Josh Barnett - Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Jim Miller vs Fabricio Camoes

Calderwood: I don't know too much about Camoes, I like watching Jim Miller fight and I'm pretty sure he's coming off a loss so he will be even more dangerous.

Prediction: Jim Miller - Unanimous Decision 

Heard: I believe this is a showcase fight for Miller with Fabricio being fed to the lions a bit. Camoes is 1-1 in the UFC and coming off a loss to inconsistent Melvin Guillard while Miller is arguably one of the best lightweights to have never had a shot at the title and is coming off a loss which he very nearly won ( and which was eventually overturned) to Pat Healy.

I think Miller has the tools to win comfortably.

Prediction: Jim Miller - Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30, 27)

Dustin Poirier vs Diego Brandao

Calderwood: Looking forward to this fight, I think it will be competitive for a round or two but Brandao will gas leaving Poirier to win on points.

Prediction: Dustin Poirier - Unanimous Decision and FOTN

Heard: There’s no doubting that Brandao’s kamikaze aggression makes for entertaining fights but it makes it very difficult to have any faith in him as a pick. He has a tendency to rush out all guns blazing for the first round only to slow down ridiculously in the latter two thirds of the fight. This bad fight IQ won’t fair well against an athlete like Poirier.

Poirier survived and overcame the elite striking skills of Erik Koch in his last fight so should be able to weather the early storm of Diego Brandao. When Brandao inevitably gases I think Poirier should be able to implement his slick submission skills and get the win in the latter part of the fight, probably by armbar or his signature d'arce choke.

Prediction: Dustin Poirier - Submission Round 3


So that's our predictions for the fights, we will be live tweeting on Saturday night as always and we will keep you all informed as to how the challenge is going with latest scores throughout the main card.

Thanks again to JoJo for providing us with her picks for this weekends fights and it just leaves me to say.... May the best man or woman win!!

Diego Brandao Interested in Fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 168

Diego Brandao Interested in Fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 168
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Diego Brandao earlier told MMAFighting.com earlier today that he is interested in a fight with Conor McGregor.

Noted journalist Ariel Helwani reported earlier this week on US TV talk show UFC Tonight, that Mcgregor trainer, John Kavanagh, hopes to return to the Octagon on Dec. 28 in Las Vegas in a bout against TUF 14 winner Brandao; a bout that Brandao has confirmed he is interested in.

"I’m in the UFC to fight the best," Brandao told MMAFighting.com earlier today. "Everybody knows that my dream is to become the UFC champion. I already won The Ultimate Fighter, now I’m going after the title."

"I always liked challenges, and I believe a fight against McGregor would be a good challenge for me," he said. "If he wants to fight me, I also want to fight him. Hey, McGregor, let’s make it happen. It would be perfect for UFC 168 in Vegas. I wanna do a great show."

Stay tuned to Kingdom MMA for all the last UFC 168 rumours