Monday, March 17, 2014

New York Fight Exchange 2: Mess with the Bull, Get the Horns

NEW YORK


If you mess with the bull, you get the horns. This was the lesson learned by Jonathan Lopez, who took a fight on short notice to challenge New York Fight Exchange welterweight champ Jerome "The Bull" Mickle at Saturday night's NYFE 2: "Ides of March" show.

Observations From My Couch: UFC 171

UFC



  • I'm not going to come out and say Bubba McDaniels sucks, because that would be cruel to a fighter who's dedicated so much to the sport. But he sucks.
  • Dennis Bermudez is now far more successful than Diego Brandao, who beat him to become the winner of TUF 14. Think about that.
  • Kelvin Gastelum won. To those of you who had the TUF winner losing within two Octagon appearances in the "The Ultimate Fighter Stinks" pool, sorry. He's definitely beating the odds.
  • Look at Ovince St. Preux slowly creeping up the rankings. What a sly dog.
  • Hector Lombard is a great two-round fighter. That third round is a tough one, though.
  • Add Jake Shields to the list of fighters who are faded and should retire soon.
  • Oh God, please, no more fights for Diego Sanchez. He's going to die out there.
  • Tough break for Carlos Condit, but I'm still not sold on Tyron Woodley.
  • Johny Hendricks versus Robbie Lawler is the closet an MMA bout has come to re-enacting the fight scene in a '70s kung fu flick. They literally stood in front of each other throwing strikes while blocking and parrying. It was ridiculously awesome.

Flashback: The UFC 159 Herald Square Takeover

UFC


Everyone loves it when the circus comes to town, and for MMA fans, that circus is the UFC. Thanks to archaic New York State law, obviously the closest the UFC can come to staging fights is to have them in nearby New Jersey, but that doesn't mean all the media and fan stuff can't happen here! Take a trip down memory lane for UFC 159, and the Herald Square takeover they did.