Welcome to a new feature here at MMARecap entitled Highs, Lows, and Oh-No’s where we talk about all the good, the bad, and either an extremely good or bad thing about an event. For our inaugural article we figured we would spotlight UFC 152.

Highs
Jon Jones retains his title with his fourth round submission over Vitor Belfort. The victory marks the eighth straight victory for Jones and fourth successful title defense. He is slowly creeping in on Tito Ortiz’s rein as it seems no one has the answer to stop Jones.

Cub Swanson finishes his third straight fight making a big name for himself in the featherweight division. Right now most people are talking about Jose Aldo and his fight against Frankie Edgar. Others were talking about Ricardo Lamas as he is arguably one of the top guys in the division. And even though Lamas has a victory over Swanson, it is hard to ignore what Swanson has done since earning either a knockout or technical knockout against his opponents.

Lows
The crowd booing during the Demetrious Johnson – Joseph Benavidez flyweight title fight. The fight was non-stop action from start to finish and was twenty-five minutes long. Rogan commentated how it seemed like Johnson was seeing everything before it happened and for most of the fight it was. Benavidez nearly finished after landing a big punch and jumped on with the guillotine choke, but Johnson escaped and the fight went on. How the crowd was booing that fight is beyond me. Even Dana White had something to say to those fans stating “Don’t ever buy another UFC card. I don’t want your money. You’re a moron, you don’t like fighting, you don’t appreciate great talent or heart, if you didn’t like that flyweight fight.”

Oh-No’s
Vitor Belfort almost became the UFC light heavyweight champion just minutes into his fight with Jones. After Jones took him down as part of his game plan, Belfort locked in an armbar that was extremely tight Jones’s elbow popped a bit. Belfort released the pressure just for a second after hearing the pop and that enabled Jones to escape the submission. The mma world would be completely abuzz in a different manner had Belfort actually broken the arm of Jones and walked away the victor.

Ricardo Lamas is arguably the number two featherweight in the UFC after defeating Hatsu Hioki in June. In speaking to Steve Muehlhausen of SportsTownChicago.com today, Lamas revealed the plans that the UFC had for him.

While he was the number two guy, there was a fight already booked for the champ in Eric Koch. Lamas wasn’t one to wait and was actively seeking a fight. When word got out that former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar was dropping to his weight class, he was ready for that match.

“The UFC offered me a fight with Edgar in December and we had accepted. We were waiting to hear back from Sean Shelby on Edgar’s side. We accepted and were waiting for confirmation before we could announce it. This took place about two weeks ago but wasn’t signed.”

When Koch became injured and had to withdraw from the fight, the UFC of course went searching for a replacement fighter. One of the first people they called was Lamas.

“They called me and said Koch was injured. They needed an answer that night if I would fight Aldo. Of course we said yes right away and got everything they wanted in order. Then around 9pm they called me back and said they decided to go a different direction.”

That different direction of course was Edgar stepping in for the injured Koch. Lamas was quick to point out that he could see why.

“I was disappointed that I was out of the fight. I was excited for that fight. That’s an opportunity that guys wait their entire career for. It came out of no where so I can’t be super mad. I wasn’t promised for months and this came in last minute. I can see from the UFC’s perspective where it would be a better fight. he’s a former champ and more well known. Of course people want to see him fight Aldo over me.”

Lamas has been offered another fight for the end of the year, but wouldn’t reveal any other details as it isn’t signed yet.

UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida took place today at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. All fighters made weight (with the exception of CJ Kieth,) and all bouts will take place as planned. The main event event will be a 5 round affair between Gray Maynard and Clay Guida, and in the co-main event Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher will fight for the third time.

(UPDATE: CJ Kieth did not weigh in a second time, and forfeits 20% of his pay to his opponent Ramsey Nijem.)

Below are the full weigh-in results, and the fights can be seen on FuelTV, and FX for the main card (2 bouts featured on facebook as well.)

Lightweight
Gray Maynard 155 lbs
Clay Guida 155 lbs

Lightweight
Sam Stout 155.5 lbs
Spencer Fisher 156 lbs

Welterweight
Brian Ebersole 170 lbs
TJ Waldburger 170.5 lbs

Featherweight
Ross Pearson 146 lbs
Cub Swanson 145.5 lbs

Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Featherweight
Hatsu Hioki 145.5 lbs
Ricardo Lamas 145 lbs

Lightweight
Ramsey Nijem 156 lbs
C.J. Keith  157 lbs*
*Has one hour to lose one pound.

Featherweight
Steven Siler 145.5 lbs
Joey Gambino 145 lbs

Welterweight
Rick Story 169.5 lbs
Brock Jardine 170.5 lbs

Middleweight
Nick Catone 185.5 lbs
Chris Camozzi 185.5 lbs

Welterweight
Matt Brown 170.5 lbs
Luis Ramos 170 lbs

Preliminary Card

Welterweight
Dan Miller 170.5 lbs
Ricardo Funch 170.5 lbs

Bantamweight
Ken Stone 135.5 lbs
Dustin Pague 135 lbs

Ricardo Lamas talks about his upcoming fight against Hatsu Hioki and how he thinks Hioki made a mistake by not taking the title shot and wants to fight him instead

An interesting featherweight bout has been scheduled for UFC on FX 4. The man many thought would be next to challenge Jose Aldo, Hatsu Hioki, has instead opted for one more fight inside the octagon. Stepping across the cage from him will be Team Top Notch’s Ricardo Lamas.

Hioki made his UFC debut at UFC 137 where he won a split decision over George Roop. Hioki didn’t look anything like his former self in that fight but decided to turn the heat up in his next fight at UFC Japan. There he took on Bart Palaszewski and showcased his skill set better than any of his previous fights before. After the victory, many had pegged Hioki to challenge for the featherweight title as the win put him on a two-fight win streak in the UFC and six-fight overall.

Lamas meanwhile is looking to just take the fight that is in front of him until there is nothing but the champion left for him to fight. Since dropping to the featherweight division, Lamas has put together a two-fight win streak with finishes over Matt Grice and Cub Swanson. Lamas was supposed to fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 143, but had to withdraw due to injury.

UFC on FX 4 is headlined by Gray Maynard versus Clay Guida and will take place in Atlantic City, NJ.

Address: 226 Stone Rd.  Villa Park, IL 60181
Phone: (630) 439-6870
Business Hours: 11am-9:30pm Monday-Saturday, Closed Sunday

Classes Offered:
Classes are offered for both fighters and non-fighters. Classes offered include Muay Thai kickboxing, boxing, no-gi jiu jitsu, and wrestling.

Kids ages 8 and up are welcome.

Other programs:
Private lessons are available

Cost:
Contact Matt for any special promotions currently running

Review:
In the movies you always see gyms that have these great fighters but seem like little holes in the wall.  Team Top Notch Fitness is likely the inspiration for these.  Yes when you walk in there is a nice sitting area and a small kitchen, but just past the two rooms lies the heart of the team; the gym.  When you enter the gym you see nearly wall-to-wall green wrestling matts, both on the floor and up two walls.  On one side are shelves of equipment, both for the fighters and the non-fighters.  The entire area is surrounded by heavy bags of varying sizes and shapes.  Continuing around there is a large ring to get work in.  This is unusual for an mma gym, but with a primary focus on Muay Thai, it makes perfect sense.  On the other side of the ring are some weights and cardio machines completing the workout area.  Strung around the ceiling are flags of nearly every country, likely with a story of training in each location.

On any random night there will be upwards of fifty students crammed in, kicking pads, working combinations and sweating.  It’s hard not to want to just punch or kick a bag when you see this many students all doing just that.  There’s a reason they are all there, putting in hard work, and it makes one question why they aren’t participating along.

Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas talks about his injury, his fights against Matt Grice and Cub Swanson and more.

Ricardo Lamas is becoming a hot commodity since joining the UFC after the WEC was absorbed by the former. With Erik Koch out of his bout with Dustin Poirer, a replacement was sought and one found with Lamas.

Lamas has made a big impact on the featherweight division since dropping down. Coincidentally he didn’t drop down from lightweight until his UFC debut back in June against Matt Grice. He finished Grice in the first round by TKO that was set up with a brutal head kick.

Lamas was then given Cub Swanson at UFC on Fox, a fight many thought was going to be an easy fight for Swanson. Even with the tragic loss Lamas suffered earlier in the week, he still came out and gave it his all. While the first round of the Swanson fight didn’t go his way, it woke him up for the second round where he started to take control. Lamas baited Swanson to attempt a guillotine submission like Swanson had been going for all night, only this time Lamas used it to secure an arm triangle choke for the victory.

Poirer is another tough opponent who is currently riding a four-fight win streak. After losing his WEC debut to Danny Castillo, Poirer finished Zach Micklewright in just under a minute at WEC 52. He continued his winning ways with decision victories over Josh Grispi and Jason Young.

Poirer, like Lamas, fought at UFC on Fox 1 taking on Pablo Garza in the fight after Lamas’s. Poirer was nearly finished in the first round with a knee bar, but was able to escape and landed massive damage to Garza to end the round. In the second round Garza slipped and looked for a leg, but Poirer sprawled and waited his time until he could lock in a D’arce choke for the victory.

While both fighters had submission at the UFC on Fox card, it was Lamas who came away with the Submission of the Night award.

The two will do battle at UFC 143, but is unknown if it will be part of the pay per view broadcast or the prelims airing on FX.

Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas will be our guest tonight on RecapRadio.  Join us at 8pm CST as hosts Brent Todd and John Petit talk about the Strikeforce & TUF cards as well as XFO 37 and more.

The player below should stream the show live, but if not, visit blogtalkradio.com/mmarecap  Before the show airs, the player will play any of our previous shows.

Last night, World Extreme Cagefighting held their 50^th show entitled “Cruz vs. Benavidez”.  The night’s action took place at The Pearl inside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada and the main card was televised on Versus.  Read on for the night’s televised recap as well as full results of the event.

The first night of the fight saw Chicago-based fighter Bart Palaszewski take on Zach Micklewright.  After a back and forth opening round, Palaszewski’s corner told him to wake up.  Palaszewski listened to his corner as he needed just 31 seconds in the second round to earn the TKO victory over Micklewright.

Scott Jorgensen continued his winning streak and more than likely picked up a fight of the night bonus against Brad Pickett.  The three round war saw both fighters landing big punches that hurt the other.  But neither fight would go down and unlike many opponents, the two of them pushed forward after being rocked instead of backing away.  Jorgensen’s wrestling and takedowns proved to be the difference as he would use them to secure the scores on the judges’ score cards.

Cub Swanson wanted to keep his fight standing against Chad Mendes, and it looked like Mendes would comply.  But after eating a couple of shots from Swanson, Mendes went back to his superior wrestling roots and used takedowns and ground and pound through out the three rounds.  With less than a minute left, Swanson threw massive punches to try and earn the victory, but Mendes just scooped him up and took him down to earn the judges’ decision.

Another exciting matchup was next between Anthony Pettis and Shane Roller.  Pettis who is known for his flashy attacks let some fly in the fight.  A great spinning hook kick landed on the back of Roller’s neck briefly wobbling him in the first round.  At the end of the first Pettis nearly scored again with a spinning kick from the ground.  In the second round Roller was able to put Pettis on his back, but Pettis would quickly escape.  The third round Roller took Pettis to the ground and worked some great ground and pound before Pettis was able to get up.  With just seconds left in the fight Roller attempted an arm-in guillotine, but Pettis was able to roll out of it and secure a triangle choke of his own.  Under ten seconds and Pettis squeezed the choke forcing Roller to tap.

The main event featured a rematch between Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez, only this time it was for the belt.  The five round fight was non-stop from the beginning bell to the closing bell.  Cruz worked his light and quick feet to attack Benavidez from multiple angels, but Benavidez did his homework, as he was able to counter many of his opponent’s attacks.  Cruz would score takedowns sporadically through out the fight to help ensure he would get the points for the round.  After the five round fight MMA Recap had it 48-47 for the champion but the judges were slightly different as they were split in who should win.  In the end though, the champion defended his belt with judges’ scorecards of 47-48, 48-47 and 49-46.

Quick Results:

• Champ Dominick Cruz def. Joseph Benavidez via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 49-46) (retains bantamweight title)
• Anthony Pettis def. Shane Roller via submission (triangle choke) – Round 3, 4:51
• Chad Mendes def. Cub Swanson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Scott Jorgensen def. Brad Pickett via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Bart Palaszewski def. Zach Micklewright via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:31
• Maciej Jewtuszko def. Anthony Njokuani via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:35
• Javier Vazquez def. Mackens Semerzier via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:35
• Ricardo Lamas def. Dave Jansen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Fredson Paixao def. Bryan Caraway via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Danny Castillo def. Dustin Poirier via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)