Maynard had his revenge
UFC Fight Night 20 stormed into the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.
The main event saw Gray Maynard narrowly edge out a split decision victory over fellow TUF 5 alum Nate Diaz.
Maynard and Diaz exchanged words and posturing throughout the bout, but Maynard used superior striking to ultimately out-point Diaz. The win avenges what Maynard considers to be his only loss; a submission to Diaz on the Ultimate Fighter reality show.
Also on the card, Evan Dunham weathered an early strom from TUF winner Efrain Escudero before submitting Escudero with a modified armbar in the third round. The loss is Escudero’s first, while Dunham remains undefeated.
The full results are as follows:
- Nick Catone def. Jesse Forbes via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Gerald Harris def. John Salter via TKO (strikes) at 3:24 of round 3
- Rafael dos Anjos def. Kyle Bradley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rory MacDonald def. Mike Guymon via submission (armbar) at 4:27 of round 1
- Thiago Tavares and Nik Lentz draw (29-27 Lentz, 28-28, 28-28). Tavares was deducted a point for a shot to the groin
- Ricky Story def. Jesse Lennox via majority decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-28)
- Chris Leben def. Jay Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Amir Sadollah def. Brad Blackburn via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Aaron Simpson def. Tom Lawlor via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Evan Dunham def. Efrain Escudero via submission (armbar) at 1:59 of round 3
- Gray Maynard def. Nate Diaz via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
damn i fell asleep at the star of escedeuro fight,the first 2 fight were awesome,amir showed that mixing kicks with strikes beats boxing anyday,amir should have took him down abit more.well they were 2 good fight i saw and that little red head leben won to save his bacon,i think he should try ww,im sure he can make it.
lawlor and simpson was like griffin vs bonnar 1,sick sick action just taking turns on each other then battling it out grappling,loved it.
Daley, you’re right Amir looked great in that fight. It’s funny, because when he was on TUF, he seemed like the kind of Big Nog/Forrest Griffin fighter who gets his ass beat but comes out on top. Now that we’ve seen him win a couple fights, it’s more like he can really bring the hurt, especially fighting against tough-ass guys like Phil Baroni and Brad Blackburn.
I don’t know if dropping to WW would solve the problems Chris Leben has been having. First of all, he got choked out by Jake Rosholt coming off a layoff since October of 2008 for steroids suspension. Not to make excuses for Leben, but I think ring rust played a factor in that loss, because Rosholt isn’t as experienced and really isn’t that good. I guess he got outpointed by Bisping at 89, but it wasn’t a devastating, dominant loss by any means. Personally, I think Leben needs to find a new camp if he wants to get better. His problems come from people being better boxers and better grapplers. He obviously ha a great chin and heavy hands, but those mean shit if you can’t win a technical fight. Anderson destroyed him because of his horrible technical deficiencies. If he doesn’t fix the big wholes in his game, it doesn’t matter how much weight he can cut, especially since welterweight is every bit as tough and competitive as middleweight, as guys like Mike Swick, Amir Sadollah, and Martin Kampmann have already learned.
8-3 for my UFN 20 picks bitches!!! That means I stay the Madness Champ. What’s the next big card? Strikeforce? We posting picks for that? I’m hungry for a challenge!
true kimura on everything you said on leben.i think roshholt can do that to alot of fighters though,i watched that fight and he has a strong wrestlers build to him and if he gets your neck i think a whole lot of people would be in trouble,i call it bear strength.leben has never really done too well in the ufc apart from 2 ko’s i think it is,i belive his record before tuf was built so well because his hands are so powerfull that if a weekend fighter or some guy at the event fancied jumping in the king of the cage mat with leben for a laugh or something to tell his friends then tasted the power and leben constantly coming at him then they all quit.there aint many in the ufc that will quit after a hard shot.i think leben is a tough gritty opponent for alot of people and give a good scrap wherever but i think his ufc days are running real thin.like you said kimura it’s not like he can go down because there are animals in that pit even if i would like to see swick vs leben 2.
Swick/Leben II (even though it probably won’t ever happen) would depend on Swick’s ability to take Leben down I think. Leben has very heavy hands and may not be quite as technical ass Swick, but there are two things about Swick I want to point out: 1. He’s an overrated striker…he explodes on mediocre kickboxers, but he took Marcus Davis down the whole fight, had considerable trouble with Josh fucking Burkman of all people, and just got beat up by Dan Hardy, meanwhile the guys he knocks out are the Jonathan Goulets, Ben Saunders, Joe Riggs, and Gideon Rays of the world. 2. Leben is the kind of guy who can walk through cominations of light punches and smash a more technical fighter with a huge bomb.
As for Rosholt, yeah he does have bear strength and a good collegiate wrestling pedigree, but that’s exactly what I’m talking about. If Leben can’t outwrestle a better wrestler, than he should be able to survive on the ground. He shouldn’t have been choked out cold by Jake Rosholt. I don’t care how much Rosholt has been training with Marc Laimon, he can’t be that good at BJJ if he gets guillotined by Dan Miller while going for a double-leg takedown (something I was taught to defend against in my first year of no-gi grappling) and getting brutally triangled by Kendall Grove.
What I’m saying is that Leben’s inability to defend a third round takedown from Rosholt is a moot point. Leben was winning that fight. He needs to get better at submission grappling and boxing. If the wrestling he should of picked up at Team Quest isn’t helping him against a Jake Rosholt, he needs to leave Quest and find a camp that will show him how to defend submissions once he gets taken down or even TAP A GUY OFF HIS BACK…what a crazy idea!!! Furthermore…Leben is known for having said “box a brawler and brawl a boxer.” This is fucking retarded. Brawl a boxer? Brawls are why boxing exists. If you brawl a boxer you get destroyed. Sure, you might be able to knock a more tchnical puncher out if he’s throwing lazy punches and doesn’t have great footwork, but against a true boxer, you get fucking smashed. The first forty seconds of his fight with Anderson silva, where Spider landed like ten punches to his dome with lightning speed and ease, should have taught him that.
Escudero has the heart of a lion, but hey, you have to survive to fight another day. Glad he wasn’t hurt, and I’m sure he’ll learn from this loss.
Lawlor/Simpson was a slugfest, but I thought Lawlor should have closed that deal.
Agree with K-fan and Daley, while Leben won the other night, I think we’re seeing the evolution of our sport to the point where if you don’t keep improving your game, and develop the areas where you’re weak, you’re not going to become an elite fighter. Leben has a cement jaw, and I’ve always liked his kill or be killed attitude. Maybe a change of camp is warranted.
Also thought Sadollah looked great for a guy with so few fights.
I agree with u guys…in particular Amir. Man he looked polished and kicked so hard. A Very precise version of Forrest Griffin. He could be the future of the welterweight division if some moves are made this could really happen IMO.
Yeah it’s pretty crazy to think Amir can beat up a tough guy like Blackburn theway he did when less than two years ago he didn’t have a single professional fight. He looked extremely technical, he had a leg or body kick to counter the vast majority of Bad Brad’s straight punches. His hands looked better too, I’d personally love to see the Hendricks rematch, both because the stoppage was shit and because I’m convinced that Amir has what it takes to not only offer more in that situation, but to come out of that fight with a win. Hendricks does have the takedowns to put Sadollah on his back repeatedly I think, but I think AMir is the kind of guy who can indeed take a beating while still working to attack of his back and create good scramples where he can stand up or throw submissions out there. I’m definately excited to see Amir’s next fight.
yup..i’m excited to se Amir fight again too.
Man, is it me or has this site slowed waaaay down when it comes down to articles. Come on madness I hope you guys can do better than this. Still no forums and it seems like that’s a long gone fantasy.
Cisco, more changes at Madness, got e-mail from Hector that he’s leaving to pursure other things. Madness will need to sign a new director/managing editor to get their production happening again. Agree with you, thought the forums made Madness unique, and drew a lot of good guys to post here…
Mushin, thanks for the heads up I appreciate it! We can only wait and see how the change affects madness and hope for the best! Also hope for the forums!! Maybe Ben will make a comeback!!Lol!
man, hope madness doesn’t just go under…yo, what do you guys say we try and make our own forums or something? haha can’t be that hard can it? (i actually have no idea hahaha)
im glad he has gone,he made this site crap,promises that couldnt be kept,this was a great place then against our wishes turned it dull and loads have left.i have signed up to a new forum place with a actual discussion thread and other cool stuff.i hope they can bring the stuff back or come join me on my new site,id like you guys to be on there to chat.
What’s the new site Daley? Been posting some on 5oz, of pain, some good stuff, but lots of whack jobs too…
http://www.cameldog.net. they have forum for mma,k-1,muay thia, boxing. they have video post’s and cool games to play and competitions. alot like old madness but better,you can add people as personal friends for 1 on 1 chat’s.come on over and invite me as your friend.
very quick to register,takes you a min to fill in the stuff then go to your emails then click on the link they send and your on real quick. i have had so much fun on there the past 2 day’s and it shows how limited madness has become.hopefully madness new director can pick this back up then we can hook it up on here but you really need to check cameldog out,you wont regret it.
sounds good daley, you have the same nickname on cameldog?
yeah.i just posted on there not too long ago,i hope more madness guys come over there there we can talk like we used too.
Yo dirty, I can’t say I’m crazy about the site. No offense, but they just have a lot of childish people on there. The format is good though just too many immature people on there. Seems if u disagree with some one too much they just call u a faggot. I like Mmanews’ forums myself. Why don’t we all make a suggestion, check em out and go from there? Maybe take a vote and if this site makes a comeback we bring it back over here? Thoughts?
ive not really spoke to the people on there much,i have read alot of post’s and they do seem abit silly some of them but i just though it was because i was used to chatting to you guy’s and got your humour.look’s like the madness crew has no choice to disband,good chatting to you guy’s and i do hope madness gets back on it’s feet with a forum and i will keep checking because id rather stick with you guys.
Yo dirty, check out mmanews.com it’s forums are formatted almost like camels, but I haven’t seen too much of the childish behavior that a lot of sites have. I’m gonna check out 4oz , if mushin posts there it must be decent. See y’all around I hope.
5oz, my bad. Went back and reread mushin post and read the whack job part, but I’ll check it out anyway. I’ll check back in with a report!!
I’ve been on 5 oz for quite a while now, but I never liked it as much as Madness. I like that there are a lot of people posting there, but I’ll take fewer guys who know what they’re talking about over a bunch of big-mouth trolls and keyboard warriors anyday…
true that kimura,these punk’s are just offering each other out and posting that a fighter is a “fag” or “shit”.i can have a good discussion on here with you guy’s and i think we all respect what we have to say.let’s hope madness aint done because the guy’s on cameldog are starting to make me feel im in a class with a bunch of 14yr old’s.while cameldog has video’s,forum and arcade games it dont have the member’s.madness 4 life boy’s.
another good site to check out is http://www.mmacrypt.com its new so they don’t much but it’s a suggestion
i like that site raging bull,remind’s me of the old madness with arcade games,you on there ragingbull?
hey thanks for the tip raging bull,i am a member of crypt and it is lie the old madness.way better than that cameldog,the guy’s dont seem like shit talkers and they actually know what they are talking about.you guy’s have to check it out.
Daley im not a member yet i only go there to read the articles
Good find ragingbull, I’m in I’ll see you guys there!
Just posted at the Crypt, will see how they like what I have to say. Will keep checking Madness, as we have had a good thing here, but seems to be dead in the water at the moment. 5 ozs. is good for day to day news, lots of articles and opinions, but I’ve always liked the small knowledgable group here at Madness. Will look for familiar names over there at the Crypt, and just posted in “Is Fedor As Great As His Fans Think He Is?”, to which I’d answer yes…
mu shin this is very eeirie…( i think that’s how it’s spelled)…I have been checking daily nas i always do but like most of us are probably thinking and mu shin has said, we’re “dead in the water” at Madness lately. Gray Maynard’s pic has been up for 2-3 mweeks now and I can’t remember when we were let in on the real MMA happenings here last. It’s sad because I love how we talk smack and then deliver great points, hate each others opinions, almost seem like some of us would actually being sparring if we could here! It’s all done in great fun and I would love to start up somehwere else with ALL of us going there to continue our thing we have here. I’m gonna check out 5 oz. today. I brought up a facebook page for us so I wanna throw it out there again and see if anyone has more suggestions from the MADNESS clan.
jc cota im sure you used to be j cota,well thats what ive been calling you all this time,haha sorry bro. he you got to check out this crypt,it is real good,me and raging are on there and mu shin is a member although he said he is testing the water there but im sure mu shin can tell you his views on it or check it out yourself.when madness went down i didnt think i would enjoy discussing mma with anyone else especially after cameldog but this place is the buisness.it’s nice,quite,cool stuff,forums and AVATARS.oh yes we got a avatar over there,i felt bare here.look me and bull up,im posting on there regular and there is a couple of know it all’s so show them what the madness boy’s know.they are very welcoming over there aswell,it like a community not a place where any dickhead jumps on and start’s talking shit.
Diaz never stand a chance. Maynard much more faster and stronger and plus the rage of the last fight’s defeat have made him extremely motivated and aggressive of this fight.
I’m on there as well, it’s a good site. I’ll be bouncing between there and mmanews.com, also a decent sites as far as forums go.
Alright boys, and Chaps ( for Dirty!!!)…I’m on the Crypt. I really like it so far. It’s real nice looking and I found all U guys too so I added all of You ( Daley, Cisco, Mu Shin, Raging Bull). Let me know if there’s anybody I missed…god bless guys, talk to soon, J.C.
come on kimura,are you coming checking crypt out?
Yo bitches just joined the Crypt, I see you’re all on there, Daley I just called you out on the boxing forum son! haha
just give you a reply kimura.
Someones gotta get a hold of red and boo and let em know what’s up. Did I miss anyone?
jst spark’s.
I just talked to Red today and I told him we all signed on the Crypt and shit. I can’t speak for Boo though, he’ll come on here sooner or later and figure it out though
Mother fuckers whats this Crypt about? Sorry not been intouch,been moving house and been in Australia!!
What’s up fellas? It’s been a while since I’ve been on here, not really diggin the new setup… what’s this crypt you speak of?
check it out smash,i havent seen your 4 shit long.