It's official! Canadian lightweight TJ Grant (shown punching Gray Maynard in the picture above) has been awarded the next shot at Benson 'Smooth' Henderson's 155-pound title. Dana White was quick to award the title shot to Grant following his devastating performance against perennial contender Gray 'The Bully' Maynard.
Grant was sporting a 20-5 record and riding a four-fight win-streak heading into the UFC160 bout against Maynard and was able to dispose of his opponent quickly, knocking him out at around the 2 minute 10 second mark of the very first round.
The 'TJ Grant vs. Benson Henderson' title fight hasn't been given a set date but has is being considered for the UFC's debut card on the new Fox Sports 1 channel on August 18, according to UFC President Dana White. If the fight gets added to the Fox Sports 1 card, then it'll join already-named bouts: Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne (Heavyweight Division), Matt Brown vs. Thiago Alves (Welterweight Division) and Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson (Lightweight Division) as well as other yet-to-be-named bouts.
Personally, I hope this fight gets set for August 18th, as it would only increase the appeal of the Fox Sports 1 card which is already shaping up to flaunt a pretty interesting mix of fights from a number of different weight classes.
Either way, I'm not gonna miss the fight even if it's on pay-per-view. I'm intrigued as to whether or not TJ Grant is on Henderson's level.
I guess we'll just have to wait see...
Until next time,
Peace!
After taking an extended hiatus from the world of 'blogging', i have finally been led back to this medium with somewhat of a renewed vigor and a new focus. For those who are wondering, it was my fanboy-like attitude towards the MMA world (and in particular the 'UFC') that caused this prodigal son to return home.
So... The best way to kick things off is to jump straight into the UFC's most recent event - UFC160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2.
UFC160 saw three Top 10 ranked heavyweights accompanied by division champion Cain Velasquez go to battle at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The co-main event (which was arguably just as hyped if not more than the main event) featured former K1 Kickboxing world champion and Pride FC Veteran Mark 'The Super Samoan' Hunt take on Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior 'Cigano' Dos Santos in a three-round slugfest. Cigano claimed victory with 42 seconds remaining in the final stanza by way of a spinning wheel kick KO which had Hunt unconscious before he hit the canvas.
The main event saw the second installment of the series between defending champion Cain Velasquez and former EliteXC heavyweight champion Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva. The pair had faced off twelve months earlier in Silva's UFC debut, when Velasquez was looking to make a statement after earlier losing his strap to Junior Dos Santos. This time around however, was reminiscent of their first battle, with Velasquez flaunting his superior footwork and striking skill to claim his second straight KO/TKO victory over Bigfoot to successfully defend his belt.
The rest of the card saw the results fall the way of:
- Glover Texeira def. James Te Huna by way of 1st Round Submission.
- T.J. Grant def. Gray Maynard by way of 1st Round KO/TKO.
- Donald Cerrone def. KJ Noons by way of Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
- Mike Pyle def. Rick Story by way of Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
- Dennis Bermudez def. Max Holloway by way of Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
- Robert Whittaker def. Colton Smith by way of 3rd Round KO/TKO.
- Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Abel Trujillo by way of Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
- Stephen Thompson def. Nah-Shon Burrell by way of Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).
- George Roop def. Brian Bowles by way of 2nd Round KO/TKO.
- Jeremy Stephens def. Estevan Payan by way of Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27).
The $50,000 Bonuses were as follows:
- Fight of the Night: Junior Dos Santos/Mark Hunt.
- KO of the Night: T.J. Grant.
- Submission of the Night: Glover Texeira.
Anyways, this is it for now, however the next few posts will take a deeper look into some of the events/happenings surrounding UFC160 (and the UFC at large) as well covering the lead up to UFC on Fuel TV 10: Nogueira vs. Werdum.
Until next time,
Peace!
