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    • (USA Today Sports Images)At UFC 159 on Saturday night, Phil Davis showed off the best striking of his career. The NCAA Division-I champion wrestler clearly dominated Vinny Magalhaes in all three rounds on the way to a unanimous decision win. However, one of the judges thought Magalhaes won one round, and the score was 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

      It was a surprising score. It didn't take anything away from Davis' win, but it was odd enough that Magalhaes spoke up about it.

      Davis and Magalhaes talked trash to each other for months before their bout. Magalhaes left the bad blood in the cage, and was able to give himself an honest assessment moments after the loss.

      Read More »from Even Vinny Magalhaes can’t believe a judge gave him a round in UFC 159 loss to Phil Davis
    • (Getty)Jim Miller is 5-foot-8, fights at 155 lbs., and has a bushy red beard. Pat Healy is 5-foot-9, fights at 155 lbs., and sported a trimmed red beard at UFC 159. Can you blame UFC announcer Bruce Buffer for mixing them up?

      Healy, who returned to the UFC after spending much of his career in Strikeforce, put Miller to sleep with a rear naked choke in the third round of their thrilling bout. As the two stood on either side of referee Herb Dean to have the fight result announced, Buffer announced the winner by submission was Jim Mill-Pat Healy!

      Healy smiled and corrected Buffer, who rarely makes such errors. It was a lighthearted moment that Healy laughed about after a thrilling bout.

      Miller started out landing leg kicks and used ground and pound to beat up Healy in the first round. Near the end of the round, Healy was saved by the bell as Miller's ground and pound was close to ending the bout before the horn sounded.

      [Also: Two bizarre endings mar UFC 159 prelims]

      It was in the third that Healy turned the bout around. Healy weakened Miller with striking, then took him down and took his back. He sunk in the rear naked choke, and Miller's arms went limp. The fight was stopped at 4:02 in the third because Miller was out.

      Miller wanted to use the bout to convince UFC president Dana White that he was ready for a title shot. Instead, it was Healy who stood out. In his post-fight interview with UFC commentator, he warned other UFC lightweights to watch out because he was "putting them on blast."

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      Read More »from Pat Healy submits Jim Miller at UFC 159, but Bruce Buffer almost announces wrong winner
    • Villante pleads his case. (Getty)The UFC debut of two Strikeforce light heavyweights was spoiled by a odd ending. Ovince St-Preux beat Gian Villante in a majority technical decision after the fight was stopped because of a poke to the eye.

      After a back-and-forth, but not entirely thrilling bout, St-Preux threw a punch and accidentally poked Villante in the eye. Villante stepped back and crouched down, indicating to referee Kevin Mulhall that there was a problem with the eye. Mulhall asked Villante if he could see, and Villante said no, he couldn't see.

      At that point, Mulhall waved his arms and the fight was stopped. Villante protested, but the fight was over. Because the round had started, it had to be judged. The scores were 30-28, 29-28 and 29-29 in St-Preux's favor.

      “I couldn’t see. He did poke me in the eye so I don’t know," Villante said after the fight. "He said the fight was over and I didn’t expect that because I was just reacting to his question. I got poked and my eye was closed up so I thought he would stop it but he didn’t, he just kind of looked at me. I don’t understand how you score thirty seconds of a round and that’s how I lost? We were just getting going and I got poked in the eye. I don’t know what to say.”

      Read More »from Two bizarre endings mar UFC 159 prelims
    • (Getty)

      UFC 159 hype, suspensions ending and a state still not jumping aboard on the MMA train – it was another full week of MMA. See who made the hot or not list.

      Hot – Chael Sonnen: We won't know if he's a winner in the cage until late Saturday night as he takes on Jon Jones for the championship belt at UFC 159. However, this man is already a winner in the financial arena. According to the Los Angeles Times, he took home $8 million for his bout with Anderson Silva. Main event fighters quite often get a percentage of pay-per-view buys, which explains both why he made so much at UFC 148 and why he's working so hard to sell his fight with Jones.

      Not – Nate Diaz: He lost by a TKO to Josh Thomson at UFC on Fox on Saturday night, which was enough to land him on the not list. Diaz took an extra step to make it here by saying that Thomson, who knocked him out, was running from him the entire fight.

      "He didn't come in there and put no [expletive] whopping on me. You know what I'm saying? He didn't

      Read More »from Chael Sonnen, Nate Diaz and the Empire State: Where did they end up on the Hot or Not list?
    • (Getty)The UFC 159 picks are in. Check out how Kevin Iole and I picked the fights, and who Cagereaders said will win. Thanks to everyone who weighed in on Cagewriter's Facebook page. Want to join in on the fun? Like Cagewriter on Facebook.

      Kevin Iole -- Jon Jones TKO2 Chael Sonnen: I've been on a terrible run with my picks in 2013, so my choice might be the thing that helps produce one of the UFC's greatest upsets. But looking closely at the bout, I see no way Sonnen can win it. I expect Jones to get a takedown at some point, cut Sonnen open with an elbow and finish it that way.

      Maggie Hendricks -- Jon Jones TKO3 Chael Sonnen: When you cut through the smack talk and look at their actual skills in the cage, Sonnen is moving up in weight to meet a fighter who is younger, faster and more skilled.

      [Also: The secret of Jon Jones' success]

      Cagereaders -- 68 percent of Cagereaders said Jones would win:
      I believe that Jones has more of an arsenal and can keep sonnen guessing as to what is coming next. - Fred Mull
      Sonnen never deserves this title shot. Jones by KO in 2nd by GNP elbows, or Sonnen simply quits before getting knocked out when he realizes he has no business in the octagon with Jones. - Chris Dryden

      ***

      Kevin Iole -- Michael Bisping TKO3 Alan Belcher: Both men are inconsistent and both badly need a solid win. I think Bisping gets it by staying on his feet and going back to his kick boxing background.

      Maggie Hendricks -- Alan Belcher W3 Michael Bisping: This is a tight fight, but Belcher will take it by bringing the fight to the ground.

      Cagereaders -- 50.8 percent of Cagereaders said Bisping will take this bout:
      Belcher is more well rounded than Bisping -- Trampas Lee Fleming

      Read More »from UFC 159 picks from Kevin Iole, Maggie Hendricks and Cagereaders like you
    • (Getty)UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione was suspended on April 8 for his transphobic comments about trans fighter Fallon Fox. At the time, the UFC said they were "appalled" by his comments and said his words were "wholly unacceptable."

      Yet now, on April 25, Mitrione is off suspension and has a fight scheduled. Mitrione will fight fellow "The Ultimate Fighter" castmember Brendan Schaub on the July 27 UFC on Fox 8 show.

      122 days passed between Mitrione's last two fights. By the time he gets in the cage with Brendan Schaub at UFC on Fox 8, 112 days will have passed since his knockout of Philip de Fries. How is that a suspension?

      Here we have the problem with MMA and suspensions. This isn't like football or basketball, where every athlete has the same amount of events, and a suspension of five games means the same thing for everyone. In MMA, some fighters fight once a year. Some fight four times a year. For a suspension to mean anything, it has to be for several months, and a fighter's ability to get in the cage must be affected.

      Read More »from Matt Mitrione’s suspension is already over
    • Can never use this picture enough. (Getty)UFC 159 is just over 48 hours from now. What questions will be answered by Saturday's fights?

      Does Chael Sonnen have any real chance at beating UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones? Sonnen's moving up to 205 lbs. after spending his entire UFC career at middleweight. He is 2-3 in his last five fights, with both losses coming to Anderson Silva. Two of those wins were decisions, including a close one with Michael Bisping. Though Sonnen talks a good game, he just isn't on the same level as Jones. Every fighter has a puncher's chance in the cage. Will Sonnen find that one punch to get it done?

      Will any punches be thrown in Phil Davis and Vinny Magalhaes' bout? When a Division I NCAA champion wrestler and a world champion jiu-jitsu player face off, will their ground game be neutralized? Watching their match will be like a chess match unfold.

      Read More »from Four questions that will be answered by UFC 159
    • (Getty)While on Laurence Holmes podcast on the Score on Monday night, he asked me how it was being a woman covering such a male-dominant sport as mixed martial arts. I answered that while there were some problems and I did come up against some jerks from time to time, MMA was fantastic to me. I pointed out that the few jerks were rarely fighters.

      So imagine my surprise when I heard from women's groups that I've long respected that the sport I cover is full of negative attitudes against women. As New York debates legislation sanctioning MMA, women's groups have protested because of the "violent nature of MMA."

      "Due to the violent nature of mixed martial arts and the surprisingly high incidence of unchallenged sexism and misogyny displayed by certain fighters, commentators and other public figures associated with this sport, the prospect of legalization in New York state raises legitimate concerns about the increased exposure of our children to this new and potentially very negative influence," stated a bill introduced Friday by state Sen. Liz Krueger, who represents much of Manhattan's east side.

      Have MMA figures said and done terribly misogynistic things? Absolutely. But so have NFL players. So have NHL players. Both football and hockey also feature violent collisions and catastrophic injuries. Where are the protests to evict the Buffalo Bills or New York Rangers from the state?

      Read More »from Lorenzo Fertitta says women’s groups are being used as a pawn by unions in fight for MMA in NY
    • (Getty)

      Usually, it's retired UFC fighter Kenny Florian who draws comparisons to Derek Zoolander. But when I was looking for a picture of UFC light heavyweight contender Chael Sonnen next week, I noticed that he cannot take a normal picture. Almost all UFC fighters have some sort of picture on file that doesn't involve posing or hamming it up for the cameras. Not so much for Sonnen. Check it out:

      (Getty)(Getty)Is he mean-mugging 50 Cent?

      (Getty)(Getty)And of course:

      (Getty)It's good to know that Sonnen can fall back into the world of modeling if this fighting thing doesn't work out for him.

      Read More »from Is Chael Sonnen the next Derek Zoolander?
    • UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre stopped by the "UFC Tonight" studio and talked about the challenges he sees on the horizon. While everyone is clamoring for an Anderson Silva-Georges St-Pierre bout, he thinks there are still plenty of challenges for him to tackle at welterweight. And as he's claimed many times, St-Pierre said a move up to fight Silva at middleweight would have to be a permanent move because he doesn't want to cut back down. GSP also talked about his new book, his week of Hollywood glamor, and the reasoning behind that hair. Check it out.

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