With that being said Cerrone 2nd round submission!
I think Jeremy is gonna change his mind about the leg kicks during and after this fight. Stephens has a lot of close SD wins on his record, but this one won't go his way unfortunately.
and with those words Stephens just lit Cerrone's flame.
Cowboy wins a decision by staying on the outside and stuffing Stephens takedowns IMO 
Van City 604 - and with those words Stephens just lit Cerrone's flame.
Then it was a good strategy because that will make it less likely Cerrone shoots for TD's where he has the advantage. On the feet, Stephens has the advantage. He beat Stout and Guillard on a high majority of the media cards. He held his own against Pettis. Those are superior overall strikers to Cerrone. Cerrone's striking defense has always been garbage and it has gotten him lit up in many fights during his career. That's not a good tendency to have going into a fight with Stephens. I'm not sure even Cerrone's granite chin can't be cracked if he's hit by that guy enough, and even if he doesn't they score toward a striking decision. If this fight spends a significant time on the ground, Stephens could be in trouble. Although he's not exactly Mel Guillard in that area either.
FixedPartialArts - Van City 604 - and with those words Stephens just lit Cerrone's flame.
Then it was a good strategy because that will make it less likely Cerrone shoots for TD's where he has the advantage. On the feet, Stephens has the advantage. He beat Stout and Guillard on a high majority of the media cards. He held his own against Pettis. Those are superior overall strikers to Cerrone. Cerrone's striking defense has always been garbage and it has gotten him lit up in many fights during his career. That's not a good tendency to have going into a fight with Stephens. I'm not sure even Cerrone's granite chin can't be cracked if he's hit by that guy enough, and even if he doesn't they score toward a striking decision. If this fight spends a significant time on the ground, Stephens could be in trouble. Although he's not exactly Mel Guillard in that area either.
Marcus Davis at the end of his career almost KTFO of Stephens...not saying that that's a guarantee that Cerrone will do the same, just saying that he can't just walk through everything.
Big fan of both these guys... They always come to fight, never look for a shitty Decision and are both great dudes! Gunna be an exciting fight, I see fight of the night bonuses be handed out!
GriffinQ - FixedPartialArts - Van City 604 - and with those words Stephens just lit Cerrone's flame.
Then it was a good strategy because that will make it less likely Cerrone shoots for TD's where he has the advantage. On the feet, Stephens has the advantage. He beat Stout and Guillard on a high majority of the media cards. He held his own against Pettis. Those are superior overall strikers to Cerrone. Cerrone's striking defense has always been garbage and it has gotten him lit up in many fights during his career. That's not a good tendency to have going into a fight with Stephens. I'm not sure even Cerrone's granite chin can't be cracked if he's hit by that guy enough, and even if he doesn't they score toward a striking decision. If this fight spends a significant time on the ground, Stephens could be in trouble. Although he's not exactly Mel Guillard in that area either.
Marcus Davis at the end of his career almost KTFO of Stephens...not saying that that's a guarantee that Cerrone will do the same, just saying that he can't just walk through everything. <img src="/images/phone/droid.png" alt="Phone Post" border="0" style="vertical-align:middle;"/>
Marcus Davis is a straight boxer. The opponents Stephens has looked better against, i.e.: Stout, Guillard, and Pettis (even though he deserved to lose); are all kickboxers like Cerrone. Stephens has good kick defense and counters off them well. He also fares better offensively against opponents who he knows where they're going to be. Davis' movement was more troubling. Pettis' and Guillard's movement was somewhat troubling. Stout not as much. Cerrone barely moves at all.
I sincerely hope Cerrone viciously knocks out Stephens and I believe he will. Stephens has power and decent footwork, but he does not have the complete skill set necessary to take Cerrone out.
Cerrone's standup is definitely good enough to compete with and probably defeat Stephens, but if not his ground game his vastly superior. Plus Cerrone's greatest attribute is his mental strenghth; he's not afraid of anyone and his fights reflect this. He approaches his opponents the way most MMA fans desire all fighters to approach their opponents, intelligent and technical yet without trepidation or hesitancy. The fact that he was outclassed by Nate Diaz in his last outing says more about Diaz than it does about Cerrone. In fact, the way Diaz dismantled an incredibly talented and well rounded Jim Miller shows that Diaz will give any fighter fits at 155.
Cerrone's still among the best in the division and should have little trouble destroying Jeremy Stephens on his way back up the 155 lbs. ladder.
FixedPartialArts - Van City 604 - and with those words Stephens just lit Cerrone's flame.
Then it was a good strategy because that will make it less likely Cerrone shoots for TD's where he has the advantage. On the feet, Stephens has the advantage. He beat Stout and Guillard on a high majority of the media cards. He held his own against Pettis. Those are superior overall strikers to Cerrone. Cerrone's striking defense has always been garbage and it has gotten him lit up in many fights during his career. That's not a good tendency to have going into a fight with Stephens. I'm not sure even Cerrone's granite chin can't be cracked if he's hit by that guy enough, and even if he doesn't they score toward a striking decision. If this fight spends a significant time on the ground, Stephens could be in trouble. Although he's not exactly Mel Guillard in that area either.
Stephen's is a gr8 striker, but he lost the Stout fight imo opinion and in fight metrics opinion as well, so they posted the results and Guilliard beat Stephens on the judges cards, but thought the decision was close. Stephens is a power striker, but lacks the footwork and sub defense needed to be considered more than a tough, hard hitting mma fighter with a big heart. This fight should be FOTN and will deliver for the fans pleasure.
twodragunns - FixedPartialArts - Van City 604 - and with those words Stephens just lit Cerrone's flame.
Then it was a good strategy because that will make it less likely Cerrone shoots for TD's where he has the advantage. On the feet, Stephens has the advantage. He beat Stout and Guillard on a high majority of the media cards. He held his own against Pettis. Those are superior overall strikers to Cerrone. Cerrone's striking defense has always been garbage and it has gotten him lit up in many fights during his career. That's not a good tendency to have going into a fight with Stephens. I'm not sure even Cerrone's granite chin can't be cracked if he's hit by that guy enough, and even if he doesn't they score toward a striking decision. If this fight spends a significant time on the ground, Stephens could be in trouble. Although he's not exactly Mel Guillard in that area either.
Stephen's is a gr8 striker, but he lost the Stout fight imo opinion and in fight metrics opinion as well, so they posted the results and Guilliard beat Stephens on the judges cards, but thought the decision was close. Stephens is a power striker, but lacks the footwork and sub defense needed to be considered more than a tough, hard hitting mma fighter with a big heart. This fight should be FOTN and will deliver for the fans pleasure.
Actually, Fight Metric scored the Stout fight for Stephens.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/5/9/1464480/fightmetric-reports-for-sam-stout Like the blogger asserts, I'm not really sure what people were watching who say Stout won. That was pretty clear cut in favor of Stephens. He was crushing Stout with power strikes. Maybe the Canadian crowd had some influence on perception, but it was really telling that even they didn't boo the decision.
As for the fight against Guillard, 5 of the 6 media cards included in the MMA Minority Report favored Stephens, some by multiple points.
http://mmadecisions.com/decision.jsp?id=1848Really the only opponent who has fared a little better than him on the feet, is Pettis, whose striking is superior overall to Cerrone's.
About Stephens' sub defense, it's hard to say it's an issue when he was last subbed at 22 years old, and has since received excellent BJJ training at his gym.
Stephens is underrated, and that's as a result of debuting in UFC on his 21st birthday, and some suspect judging. If he'd have gotten the nod against Guillard the perception of him would be drastically different. Everybody who beats Guillard gets overrated afterward.
FixedPartialArts - twodragunns - FixedPartialArts - Van City 604 - and with those words Stephens just lit Cerrone's flame.
Then it was a good strategy because that will make it less likely Cerrone shoots for TD's where he has the advantage. On the feet, Stephens has the advantage. He beat Stout and Guillard on a high majority of the media cards. He held his own against Pettis. Those are superior overall strikers to Cerrone. Cerrone's striking defense has always been garbage and it has gotten him lit up in many fights during his career. That's not a good tendency to have going into a fight with Stephens. I'm not sure even Cerrone's granite chin can't be cracked if he's hit by that guy enough, and even if he doesn't they score toward a striking decision. If this fight spends a significant time on the ground, Stephens could be in trouble. Although he's not exactly Mel Guillard in that area either.
Stephen's is a gr8 striker, but he lost the Stout fight imo opinion and in fight metrics opinion as well, so they posted the results and Guilliard beat Stephens on the judges cards, but thought the decision was close. Stephens is a power striker, but lacks the footwork and sub defense needed to be considered more than a tough, hard hitting mma fighter with a big heart. This fight should be FOTN and will deliver for the fans pleasure.
Actually, Fight Metric scored the Stout fight for Stephens. http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/5/9/1464480/fightmetric-reports-for-sam-stout Like the blogger asserts, I'm not really sure what people were watching who say Stout won. That was pretty clear cut in favor of Stephens. He was crushing Stout with power strikes. Maybe the Canadian crowd had some influence on perception, but it was really telling that even they didn't boo the decision.
As for the fight against Guillard, 5 of the 6 media cards included in the MMA Minority Report favored Stephens, some by multiple points. http://mmadecisions.com/decision.jsp?id=1848
Really the only opponent who has fared a little better than him on the feet, is Pettis, whose striking is superior overall to Cerrone's.
About Stephens' sub defense, it's hard to say it's an issue when he was last subbed at 22 years old, and has since received excellent BJJ training at his gym.
Stephens is underrated, and that's as a result of debuting in UFC on his 21st birthday, and some suspect judging. If he'd have gotten the nod against Guillard the perception of him would be drastically different. Everybody who beats Guillard gets overrated afterward.
Wow, great post Fixed. Can't argue with any of that.
^ lol... that sure was a wet fart