By most accounts, MMA didn't see its best year in 2014. For the first time in a long time, the sport had to march forth without any of its biggest stars.
Anderson Silva was mending his broken leg. Georges St-Pierre was taking a leave of absence. Brock Lesnar was busy making history elsewhere, pinning the Undertaker under the WrestleMania lights for the first time in The Deadman's storied pro wrestling career.
Even the stars who fought in their stead couldn't remain healthy enough to carry the load.
But now we embark onto 2015, a year that should already excite most fans—so long as the following fighters have big years of their own. Scroll on as we list the fighters who need to have a big 2015.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2327945-10-mma-fighters-who-need-a-big-2015
Saturday, 17 January 2015
UFC Fight Night 59: McGregor vs. Siver Main Card Betting Odds and Predictions
At UFC Fight Night 59, Conor McGregor will look to take another step closer to the featherweight championship in a showcase matchup against Dennis Siver, who has his sights set on spoiling the party.
With four wins in as many UFC appearances, McGregor has had a meteoric rise in the 145-pound division. His showmanship has expedited his trip toward the top of the featherweight rankings, but the Irishman didn't get there without big wins, as he's coming off a knockout victory over Dustin Poirier.
In October, Siver returned from a suspension and defeated Charles Rosa. It wasn't the type of win that would normally earn a fighter a bout of this magnitude, but Siver might just be a sacrificial lamb of sorts heading into UFC Fight Night 59 and will have to play spoiler to earn some respect.
Also featuring a third meeting between Donald Cerrone and Benson Henderson, Sunday's event is one that MMA fans won't want to miss. Here are the current main card betting odds, via OddsShark.com, along with predictions for each matchup.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2331691-ufc-fight-night-59-mcgregor-vs-siver-main-card-betting-odds-and-predictions
Fight Night 59: Gleison Tibau out to Expose Norman Parke
The UFC's lightweight division is arguably the most stacked collection of combatants under the promotion's banner, and there is no fighter in that group with more Octagon experience than Gleison Tibau.
The Brazilian powerhouse has competed under the UFC banner for the better part of a decade, and along the way, he has made 23 appearances inside the cage. While there have been winning streaks and setbacks alike, the American Top Team product has remained a staple in the 155-pound fold while plenty of other fighters have come and gone.
Nevertheless, Tibau has seemingly found his groove as of late and has been steadily climbing up the rankings of the lightweight division. The 31-year-old Florida transplant has broken out of his "get one, give one" rut and has made substantial progress toward a top-10 spot over the past year, as he's won four of his five showings inside the Octagon—with his two most recent outings both resulting in victories.
He will be looking to keep that momentum rolling when he squares off with highly touted scrapper Norman Parke at Fight Night 59 this Sunday night in Boston.
The Northern Ireland representative has proved to be a talented upstart in the lightweight ranks, and Tibau has every intention of derailing Parke's progress when the cage door closes on Sunday.
"I believe my experience inside the Octagon is going to play a huge factor in this fight when we go into deep waters," Tibau told Bleacher Report with the assistance of a translator. "I've been there many times and I'm going to force him to make a mistake, then I'm going to capitalize on it and apply a submission or get the knockout.
"Everyone keeps talking about his ground game and his jiu-jitsu game. But guess what? He's never faced anyone in his entire career at my level of skill on the ground. I feel it's great that Parke feels confident on the ground. Thank God. Let's go ahead and go to the ground in this fight and find out who is the better grappler. He's going to have a rude awakening when he goes to the ground with me."While Tibau's immediate focus is locked on handing Parke his first defeat in nearly five years, his larger goal is to finally break through into title contention. It has been a long road for the stocky Brazilian, one where finding consistent success has been difficult to come by.
That said, Tibau believes the changes he's made in camp and the adjustments he's implemented in his game will allow him to battle his way to the upper tier of a division that continues to grow more competitive year by year.
Tibau wants to run the proverbial table in 2015, and the first step in that plan lies in his ability to defeat Parke at Fight Night 59.
"After my last loss, we changed a few things in our camp and in training," Tibau said. "We tried to correct mistakes and figure out why we were inconsistent. We tried to figure out why we would win two fights, then lose one and continue to stay in that trend. We tried to minimize as much as we could to address these problems.
"We changed the diet a little bit because that's a huge part of my camp. My weight loss is easier now and I'm more focused than I've ever been before. It is my goal to go through 2015 undefeated.
"I have the most fights and the most wins in the lightweight division. I'm the third-most active fighter in UFC history, but what is missing in all of that is consistency. I win two and lose one, but I'm going to change that in 2015. It is my goal to finish this year undefeated with a good run against tough opponents. When I do that, I will be very close to a top-five ranking or possibly get a title shot by the end of the year."
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2332462-fight-night-59-gleison-tibau-out-to-expose-norman-parke
The Brazilian powerhouse has competed under the UFC banner for the better part of a decade, and along the way, he has made 23 appearances inside the cage. While there have been winning streaks and setbacks alike, the American Top Team product has remained a staple in the 155-pound fold while plenty of other fighters have come and gone.
Nevertheless, Tibau has seemingly found his groove as of late and has been steadily climbing up the rankings of the lightweight division. The 31-year-old Florida transplant has broken out of his "get one, give one" rut and has made substantial progress toward a top-10 spot over the past year, as he's won four of his five showings inside the Octagon—with his two most recent outings both resulting in victories.
He will be looking to keep that momentum rolling when he squares off with highly touted scrapper Norman Parke at Fight Night 59 this Sunday night in Boston.
The Northern Ireland representative has proved to be a talented upstart in the lightweight ranks, and Tibau has every intention of derailing Parke's progress when the cage door closes on Sunday.
"I believe my experience inside the Octagon is going to play a huge factor in this fight when we go into deep waters," Tibau told Bleacher Report with the assistance of a translator. "I've been there many times and I'm going to force him to make a mistake, then I'm going to capitalize on it and apply a submission or get the knockout.
"Everyone keeps talking about his ground game and his jiu-jitsu game. But guess what? He's never faced anyone in his entire career at my level of skill on the ground. I feel it's great that Parke feels confident on the ground. Thank God. Let's go ahead and go to the ground in this fight and find out who is the better grappler. He's going to have a rude awakening when he goes to the ground with me."While Tibau's immediate focus is locked on handing Parke his first defeat in nearly five years, his larger goal is to finally break through into title contention. It has been a long road for the stocky Brazilian, one where finding consistent success has been difficult to come by.
That said, Tibau believes the changes he's made in camp and the adjustments he's implemented in his game will allow him to battle his way to the upper tier of a division that continues to grow more competitive year by year.
Tibau wants to run the proverbial table in 2015, and the first step in that plan lies in his ability to defeat Parke at Fight Night 59.
"After my last loss, we changed a few things in our camp and in training," Tibau said. "We tried to correct mistakes and figure out why we were inconsistent. We tried to figure out why we would win two fights, then lose one and continue to stay in that trend. We tried to minimize as much as we could to address these problems.
"We changed the diet a little bit because that's a huge part of my camp. My weight loss is easier now and I'm more focused than I've ever been before. It is my goal to go through 2015 undefeated.
"I have the most fights and the most wins in the lightweight division. I'm the third-most active fighter in UFC history, but what is missing in all of that is consistency. I win two and lose one, but I'm going to change that in 2015. It is my goal to finish this year undefeated with a good run against tough opponents. When I do that, I will be very close to a top-five ranking or possibly get a title shot by the end of the year."
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2332462-fight-night-59-gleison-tibau-out-to-expose-norman-parke
UFC Fight Night: Irishman Conor McGregor Is Dreaming Big in Boston
O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the world's iconic thruways. Reborn in the late 1990s, it's a beautiful testament to Ireland itself, celebrating the past while also looking forward to a promising future.
Lining the street are statues, representing great Irishmen from years gone by. Most people look at these great men and reminisce, recalling the Eire's many contributions to the world.
But Conor McGregor is not "most people." The budding UFC star, who headlines the UFC's card on Fox Sports 1 Sunday against Dennis Siver, walks O'Connell Street, the signature pedestrian area of his hometown, and sees not just forgotten icons and the dust of history—he sees opportunity.
"I look at that and now I want a statue," he told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. "Now I can't wait to get my own statue up there...we will bring Jose Aldo over to Dublin, we will fill out a 90,000-seat football stadium in Croke Park.
"Croke Park is also a stadium we fought for our independence in. The British invaded the pitch in a tank and opened fire on the players and the fans. So it is a place that has seen blood and seen battle as well. So we will bring Jose Aldo over...and we will do battle once more. And I believe I will raise that belt in my home country. And I will demand a statue post-fight."
While that may reek of delusional grandeur, McGregor is not alone in seeing a very bright future for himself. Suffice to say, the UFC is plenty excited about its new star, elevating him from the prelims to the main event in record time. He has an easy charisma and a gift for trash talk unsurpassed in MMA history.
It's hard to compare him to anyone, because there is no prologue. The closest you can come is Chael Sonnen, but a version of Chael without the ironic detachment. Sonnen was performing, removed ever so slightly from his sometimes buffoonish material. He winked at his audience, letting us all know he was okay with the fact we were in on the act.
McGregor has the same gilded tongue, but his bravado is rooted in authenticity. When Sonnen was telling the world that he'd never lost a round, despite 14 career losses, it was understood he was putting us on. When McGregor says he's the best fighter in the world, you get the sense that he really believes it.
"It's more truth-talking," McGregor explained. "I don't speak trash. I speak truth. Occasionally I might throw in a little insult here or there, but this is the Irish way. I speak the truth. If I feel something is the way it is, I will say it. I will let it be known. Some people can't handle the truth. That's not my problem."
That's a subtle distinction—but an important one."There's not really a disrespectful undertone to it," Fox Sports 1 announcer Jon Anik said. "It is refreshing that someone can speak the truth. Even though there is some ego and some arrogance, I really think he's speaking from the heart."
It goes a long way towards explaining why the UFC, normally an exceedingly cautious promotion, has put its collective pedal to the metal. President Dana White calls him the biggest star the promotion has ever seen, outpacing Georges St-Pierre, Chuck Liddell and even Brock Lesnar. UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, not usually as prone to hyperbole, compared the young Irishman to Muhammad Ali. "I was on an Irish talk show, and the presenter compared me to Muhammad Ali. I could not take something like that. He is up there. He is a god. He done what he done in a hostile time. For someone to consider that, because I certainly would not consider that, that is an honor to me," McGregor said. "... He changed the face, not only of this game, but the face of the world. He was outspoken. He fought for what he believed in. He was a legend and a hero. I look up to him...he was a hero of mine, the way he carried himself."
McGregor, being McGregor, has an Ali story of his own, one that started with the kind of street fight that defined his youth.
"I slipped a punch. And I shuffled my shoulders and said 'Muhammad Ali.' And threw a shot," McGregor remembered, recalling the fight as vividly as any of his professional prize fights. "I done the Ali shuffle! I'm only 11 years old and did the Ali shuffle and threw a left hook."
It was a tale that began in glory and ended with McGregor being stomped by five of his opponents friends. But he tells it with a smile. He seems to do most things that way.
Whether he's ready or not, McGregor is here. No longer the future of the sport, at 26, he's the present. He's one of five fighters signed to an individual deal with Reebok, a sign of where he stands as well as the heights UFC hopes he's able to climb.So far, McGregor has had all the answers. Against a middling crop of UFC featherweights, he's looked like the kind of fighter who warrants the outlandish praise. But what happens when they are posed by a higher caliber of foe?
We've seen him venture into the Top 10 once, and make short work of Dustin Poirier. Anik, for his part, is confident that the man who has all the answers in the media will have them in the cage against Siver as well.
"We know he has great mic skills. We know he has great self-belief. But I think a lot of people wonder if he's also an elite fighter. I think he is," Anik said. "He's on the brink of superstardom. I'm a believer. I have been since early on. He thrives under pressure—and there's going to be a whole batch of it Sunday night."
Conor McGregor fights Dennis Siver in the main event Sunday at the TD Arena in Boston. The main card begins at 10 P.M. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Jonathan Snowden is Bleacher Report's Lead Combat Sports Writer. All quotes were acquired first hand. Special thanks to Duane Finley and Pete Tenney for additional reportage.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2332978-ufc-fight-night-irishman-conor-mcgregor-is-dreaming-big-in-boston
Lining the street are statues, representing great Irishmen from years gone by. Most people look at these great men and reminisce, recalling the Eire's many contributions to the world.
But Conor McGregor is not "most people." The budding UFC star, who headlines the UFC's card on Fox Sports 1 Sunday against Dennis Siver, walks O'Connell Street, the signature pedestrian area of his hometown, and sees not just forgotten icons and the dust of history—he sees opportunity.
"I look at that and now I want a statue," he told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. "Now I can't wait to get my own statue up there...we will bring Jose Aldo over to Dublin, we will fill out a 90,000-seat football stadium in Croke Park.
"Croke Park is also a stadium we fought for our independence in. The British invaded the pitch in a tank and opened fire on the players and the fans. So it is a place that has seen blood and seen battle as well. So we will bring Jose Aldo over...and we will do battle once more. And I believe I will raise that belt in my home country. And I will demand a statue post-fight."
While that may reek of delusional grandeur, McGregor is not alone in seeing a very bright future for himself. Suffice to say, the UFC is plenty excited about its new star, elevating him from the prelims to the main event in record time. He has an easy charisma and a gift for trash talk unsurpassed in MMA history.
It's hard to compare him to anyone, because there is no prologue. The closest you can come is Chael Sonnen, but a version of Chael without the ironic detachment. Sonnen was performing, removed ever so slightly from his sometimes buffoonish material. He winked at his audience, letting us all know he was okay with the fact we were in on the act.
McGregor has the same gilded tongue, but his bravado is rooted in authenticity. When Sonnen was telling the world that he'd never lost a round, despite 14 career losses, it was understood he was putting us on. When McGregor says he's the best fighter in the world, you get the sense that he really believes it.
"It's more truth-talking," McGregor explained. "I don't speak trash. I speak truth. Occasionally I might throw in a little insult here or there, but this is the Irish way. I speak the truth. If I feel something is the way it is, I will say it. I will let it be known. Some people can't handle the truth. That's not my problem."
That's a subtle distinction—but an important one."There's not really a disrespectful undertone to it," Fox Sports 1 announcer Jon Anik said. "It is refreshing that someone can speak the truth. Even though there is some ego and some arrogance, I really think he's speaking from the heart."
It goes a long way towards explaining why the UFC, normally an exceedingly cautious promotion, has put its collective pedal to the metal. President Dana White calls him the biggest star the promotion has ever seen, outpacing Georges St-Pierre, Chuck Liddell and even Brock Lesnar. UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, not usually as prone to hyperbole, compared the young Irishman to Muhammad Ali. "I was on an Irish talk show, and the presenter compared me to Muhammad Ali. I could not take something like that. He is up there. He is a god. He done what he done in a hostile time. For someone to consider that, because I certainly would not consider that, that is an honor to me," McGregor said. "... He changed the face, not only of this game, but the face of the world. He was outspoken. He fought for what he believed in. He was a legend and a hero. I look up to him...he was a hero of mine, the way he carried himself."
McGregor, being McGregor, has an Ali story of his own, one that started with the kind of street fight that defined his youth.
"I slipped a punch. And I shuffled my shoulders and said 'Muhammad Ali.' And threw a shot," McGregor remembered, recalling the fight as vividly as any of his professional prize fights. "I done the Ali shuffle! I'm only 11 years old and did the Ali shuffle and threw a left hook."
It was a tale that began in glory and ended with McGregor being stomped by five of his opponents friends. But he tells it with a smile. He seems to do most things that way.
Whether he's ready or not, McGregor is here. No longer the future of the sport, at 26, he's the present. He's one of five fighters signed to an individual deal with Reebok, a sign of where he stands as well as the heights UFC hopes he's able to climb.So far, McGregor has had all the answers. Against a middling crop of UFC featherweights, he's looked like the kind of fighter who warrants the outlandish praise. But what happens when they are posed by a higher caliber of foe?
We've seen him venture into the Top 10 once, and make short work of Dustin Poirier. Anik, for his part, is confident that the man who has all the answers in the media will have them in the cage against Siver as well.
"We know he has great mic skills. We know he has great self-belief. But I think a lot of people wonder if he's also an elite fighter. I think he is," Anik said. "He's on the brink of superstardom. I'm a believer. I have been since early on. He thrives under pressure—and there's going to be a whole batch of it Sunday night."
Conor McGregor fights Dennis Siver in the main event Sunday at the TD Arena in Boston. The main card begins at 10 P.M. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Jonathan Snowden is Bleacher Report's Lead Combat Sports Writer. All quotes were acquired first hand. Special thanks to Duane Finley and Pete Tenney for additional reportage.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2332978-ufc-fight-night-irishman-conor-mcgregor-is-dreaming-big-in-boston
10 Players to Watch in World Football This Weekend of January 16-19
Another weekend in world football is fast approaching, with several big games of interest set to take place around the globe—and plenty of players attracting attention within those matches.
As well as the Premier League, European winter breaks already ended in Spain, France and Italy, and now, we welcome back the Dutch Eredivisie, too. It's not all about the clubs, though, as with two international tournaments on the go at present, we've got a mixed look at the early stages of 2015.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2330717-10-players-to-watch-in-world-football-this-weekend-of-january-16-19a
As well as the Premier League, European winter breaks already ended in Spain, France and Italy, and now, we welcome back the Dutch Eredivisie, too. It's not all about the clubs, though, as with two international tournaments on the go at present, we've got a mixed look at the early stages of 2015.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2330717-10-players-to-watch-in-world-football-this-weekend-of-january-16-19a
Tactics Insider: Arsenal and Man City Set for Attacking Feast at the Etihad
Between international duty, injuries and suspensions, Sunday's matchup between the Gunners and the Citizens is set to be a goalfest.
Watch Bleacher Report tactics insider Sam Tighe and Ryan Bailey break down the tactical matchup between these two squads
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2331694-tactics-insider-arsenal-and-man-city-set-for-attacking-feast-at-the-etihad-luis-enrique-will-lose-the-battle-at-barcelona
Watch Bleacher Report tactics insider Sam Tighe and Ryan Bailey break down the tactical matchup between these two squads
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2331694-tactics-insider-arsenal-and-man-city-set-for-attacking-feast-at-the-etihad-luis-enrique-will-lose-the-battle-at-barcelona
Lionel Messi Not the Sole Reason Luis Enrique Will Lose the Battle at Barcelona
If there’s one thing we know more than anything about Leo Messi, it’s that this is a player who prefers to do his talking on the pitch, not off it.
So when he appeared on the official FC Barcelona television channel following the team’s performance of the season against Atletico Madrid on Sunday, you realised immediately this was a man with a lot to get off his chest.
And in a carefully orchestrated question-and-answer session (via Sky Sports), he came out all guns blazing to quash varying rumours, whispers and general tittle-tattle which have been seeping out from the Camp Nou.NO, he had not called for the resignation of the coach, Luis Enrique or any member of his staff.
NO, he had not made great demands on the club so he would stay and he’d never had any intentions of moving to Chelsea or Manchester City.
NO, he had not in the past orchestrated the departure of players like Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bojan Krkic.
NO, he had not had a bad relationship with Pep Guardiola nor should we look for a rivalry between himself and Luis Enrique where none existed.
And finally—and perhaps most tellingly—he added that, while he was accustomed to any number of spurious accusations emanating from a hostile press in Madrid, what really hurt him was that these accusations were coming from Barcelona, and worse, from people who claimed to love the club.
For a man out of his comfort zone, this was brilliant stuff and as clinical as any of his sweetly struck goals. What we saw is a man who can step up to the plate off the pitch as well as on it when called upon to do so.In management terms they don’t come much bigger than Pep Guardiola, and he realised immediately that for the club’s—and therefore his own—success, Messi had to be the leader, the very focus of what happened on the pitch.
“Build your team around him, give him the ball, and never, never substitute him,” was the short but sweet advice offered by Guardiola to the incoming Argentina manager Alejandro Sabella.
By not taking that on board, essentially what Luis Enrique seems to be doing is almost preparing for his new job when he can tell everyone that in a previous life he took on Messi and, lest we forget, also Francesco Totti when he was at Roma.
He would do better to listen to the wise words of a former, and far more successful incumbent in the Camp Nou hot seat, but being the man that he is, of course he won’t and it will cost him dear.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2330946-lionel-messi-not-the-sole-reason-luis-enrique-will-lose-the-battle-at-barcelona
So when he appeared on the official FC Barcelona television channel following the team’s performance of the season against Atletico Madrid on Sunday, you realised immediately this was a man with a lot to get off his chest.
And in a carefully orchestrated question-and-answer session (via Sky Sports), he came out all guns blazing to quash varying rumours, whispers and general tittle-tattle which have been seeping out from the Camp Nou.NO, he had not called for the resignation of the coach, Luis Enrique or any member of his staff.
NO, he had not made great demands on the club so he would stay and he’d never had any intentions of moving to Chelsea or Manchester City.
NO, he had not in the past orchestrated the departure of players like Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bojan Krkic.
NO, he had not had a bad relationship with Pep Guardiola nor should we look for a rivalry between himself and Luis Enrique where none existed.
And finally—and perhaps most tellingly—he added that, while he was accustomed to any number of spurious accusations emanating from a hostile press in Madrid, what really hurt him was that these accusations were coming from Barcelona, and worse, from people who claimed to love the club.
For a man out of his comfort zone, this was brilliant stuff and as clinical as any of his sweetly struck goals. What we saw is a man who can step up to the plate off the pitch as well as on it when called upon to do so.In management terms they don’t come much bigger than Pep Guardiola, and he realised immediately that for the club’s—and therefore his own—success, Messi had to be the leader, the very focus of what happened on the pitch.
“Build your team around him, give him the ball, and never, never substitute him,” was the short but sweet advice offered by Guardiola to the incoming Argentina manager Alejandro Sabella.
By not taking that on board, essentially what Luis Enrique seems to be doing is almost preparing for his new job when he can tell everyone that in a previous life he took on Messi and, lest we forget, also Francesco Totti when he was at Roma.
He would do better to listen to the wise words of a former, and far more successful incumbent in the Camp Nou hot seat, but being the man that he is, of course he won’t and it will cost him dear.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2330946-lionel-messi-not-the-sole-reason-luis-enrique-will-lose-the-battle-at-barcelona
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