Glover Teixeira had two thrills on Saturday at UFC 160 in Las Vegas. Not only did he win with a submission in the first round of his bout with James Te Huna, but he was also congratulated by his hero, boxing legend Mike Tyson.
Teixeira fought the exact…

The next lightweight contender had a chance to make himself known at UFC 160. T.J. Grant earned the spot with dismantling of Gray Maynard on Saturday night.

Grant absorbed a few early shots from Maynard, and then landed a right hand that shook Maynard. He had no time to recover, as Grant continued to swarm with punches and knees. Maynard went down, worked his way back to his feet and then was taken back down again. Finally, the bout was stopped at 2:07 in the first round.

Both Maynard and Grant knew going into the bout that the winner was expected to get the next UFC lightweight title shot. After such an impressive performance, he should get it, but he made sure to ask for it in his post-fight interview.

“I want to fight [UFC lightweight champ] Benson Henderson for the title. I wanna be the champ. I wanna beat the champ,” Grant said.

He’s on a five-fight win streak. Before Maynard, he took out Matt Wiman with a first-round TKO in January.

Henderson fully expects to fight Grant. He tweeted:

Wowser!!! TJ Grant it is…#UFC160

— Benson Henderson (@BensonHenderson) May 26, 2013

With the display Grant put on at UFC 160, Henderson isn’t the only one looking forward to that fight.

To kick off UFC 160, Jeremy Stephens beat Estevan Payan with a 30-26, 20-26, 30-27 decision. The bout was so bloody that it left deep, red-colored stains in the Octagon. It was really, really bloody.
You can see the blood leaking from Payan’s head her…

Velasquez brutalized “Big Foot” in their first fight against each other. Will their rematch be any different?

Considering Fallon Fox won her first two fights in the first round, it was expected for the first openly trans fighter to walk through her next opponent, Allanna Jones at Championship Fighting Alliance on Friday. In her first nationally televised bout, Fox won with a submission in the third round, but it was not the overwhelming win that oddsmakers were expecting.

You can watch the full fight in the video above. Fox and Jones both made mistakes like keeping their hands too low and holding their chin out too far throughout the bout. They looked like two inexperienced fighters because that’s what they are.

Much of the controversy that surrounded Fox was the perception that since she was born a man, she would have clear advantage over her opponents. As Sherdog’s Jordan Breen pointed out, “So, did anyone watch that and think, ‘Wow, what an insurmountable advantage Fallon Fox has, no one could ever beat her!’?” She beat a 2-1 fighter, but not soundly. When she goes up in level of competition, as she will do in the next round of the CFA tournament, she will have a hard time.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Antonio Silva eager to prove he’s a cut above in UFC 160 rematch with Cain Velasquez
• Yahoo! writers, readers make their UFC 160 picks
• Four questions that will be answered by UFC 160

During the UFC 160 weigh-ins, Khabib Nurmagomedov blew weight, wore a wig, started a fight and made Mike Tyson laugh. He had a full day.

Nurmagomedov weighed in at 158.5 for his lightweight bout with Abel Trujilo. He will forfeit 20 percent of his purse, so maybe that’s why he was angry when he faced off with Trujilo. He got in his opponent’s face, first bumping Trujilo’s head and then pushing him back. He was quickly escorted off stage by the UFC’s Burt Watson.

The best part of the scuffle? Mike Tyson was on stage and loved every minute of it. Look in the upper right-hand corner of the video to see his reaction.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Antonio Silva eager to prove he’s a cut above in UFC 160 rematch with Cain Velasquez
• Yahoo! writers, readers make their UFC 160 picks
• Four questions that will be answered by UFC 160

The UFC heavyweight title has been defended just 13 times in a 16-year span.

As another week of MMA comes to a close, let’s take a look at what was hot and what was not so hot.

Hot — Bryan Pedersen: Many legislators have talked about the economic benefits of MMA when the sport is legalized. Few have gone the extra mile to find out what it feels like to be in a cage to fight. Pedersen will do that in Cheyenne, Wyo., this weekend. No matter the result, it’s admirable that he has even gone the distance to train and join the first fights to take place in Wyoming’s capitol.

Not — Renan Barao: The interim bantamweight men’s champ was injured and had to pull out of his main event bout with Eddie Wineland at UFC 161. Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans’ fight is now the main event, and Roy Nelson vs. Stipe Miocic was added.

Hot — John Cholish: After losing to Gleison Tibau at UFC on FX 8, Cholish decided to hang up his fighting gloves. Before he left, he decided to give his fight purse to Oklahoma tornado survivors.

To update I just received my fight purse payment of $2,014 from Zuffa. I will be donating 100% of it to charity-Oklahoma Tornado Victims

— John Cholish (@JohnCholish) May 23, 2013

Kudos to Cholish.

Not — Brett Atchley: The manager who specializes in female fighters has been accused of bad behavior by several fighters separately. His alleged improprieties include accosting fighters, telling them he would “blackball them” from Invicta though president Shannon Knapp has denied anyone has the power to do this, and sharing the confidential details of a client’s contract. His response?

“It’s really easy for women to play the victim, especially when they make their mind up that they’re going to do it. Because everyone will believe them,” Atchley said to MMA Junkie.

Stereotyping women is not a smart thing to do, particularly by someone who makes his living off of them.

Still taking temperature — Cain Velasquez: He lost the UFC heavyweight championship belt once, and managed to get it back. Will he defend it on Saturday night against Antonio Silva at UFC 160?

Thanks for reading Cagewriter this week. Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for bonus UFC 160 coverage.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is in Russia this weekend. He met retired great Fedor Emelianenko and tried a McDonald’s that was apparently of a higher quality than ones in the U.S. He also found time to go back and forth with a possible future opponent.

Its on @jonnybones cant wait to get in that cage with YOU!!!

— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) May 24, 2013

Fighting me is not good for your image@alexthemauler FYI

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) May 24, 2013

@jonnybones if you think of what is good for your image, maybe you should continue to fight this 185ers??

— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) May 24, 2013

Ouch! But it’s not worries about their images that will keep this pair out of the cage. The dislocated toe Jones suffered during his fight with former middleweight Chael Sonnen is causing some problems. UFC president Dana White talked it about on Thursday.

“He says he feels great, the toe’s healing good, but the problem is that ligament,” he said. “That ligament popped. Anytime you tear a ligament, blood flow helps repair the thing and heal, and you don’t get a lot of blood flow to the toe. Who knows? This thing could be six weeks, it could be six months.”

Still, if these two are already pestering each other, the build up to a potential fight could be lots of fun.

With UFC 160 in less than two days, it’s time to make picks. Thank you to all the Cagereaders who made picks and voted in polls on Cagewriter’s Facebook page. If you want to join in the fun, check out Cagewriter on Facebook here.

Kevin Iole: Cain Velasquez TKO3 Big Foot Silva — I believe Silva will be more competitive and won’t make the mistake he made last time. But as the fight goes on, it swings even more in Velasquez’s favor, given his vastly superior cardio. I expect him to slowly wear Silva down and stop him around the fight’s midpoint.

Maggie Hendricks: Cain Velasquez W5 Antonio Silva –Velasquez has better wrestling and better cardio than Silva, and it will pay off as he defends his belt.

Cagereader: 92 percent of Cagereaders said Cain Velasquez will win.
Cain has to much heart unless you knock him out he’s not going! And Big Foot doesn’t deserve another shot yet anyway!! — Michael Gabbard

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Kevin Iole: Junior dos Santos Sub1 Mark Hunt — Junior would be a fool to stand and trade with Hunt. I think he’ll look to get it to the ground and finish it there.

Maggie Hendricks: Junior dos Santos W3 Mark Hunt — JDS has the footwork to exhaust Hunt and wear him down.

Cagereader: 68 percent of Cagereaders said Junior dos Santos will win.
Dos Santos will use superior speed and footwork to outclass Hunt. Too much credibility is given to Hunts striking because of the mythological “K1 Striker” label. Truth be told, he won that title with technically sound striking with a lot of power, not exceptionally good striking. Most of his wins in MMA have had nothing to do with his savvy striking but his chin and insane power. Honestly thought those who don’t think Dos Santos is on another level with his speed and footwork are lying to themselves aside from Cain who has touched him? I know this logic isn’t very sound but it took Hunt a while to put away Struve, and JDS took less than a minute and the logic truly is his speed, timing, and explosive nature outweigh the punchers chance Hunt brings to the table. It will be a pick apart clinic Hunt swinging at air getting battered by a fighter who will dart in and out like a heavyweight Machida. — John Hensley

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Kevin Iole: T.J. Grant W3 Gray Maynard — More of a hunch than anything, but Grant has been on a roll and he might catch Maynard looking past him.

Maggie Hendricks: Gray Maynard W3 T.J. Grant — Maynard is very good at neutralizing his opponents’ skill.

Cagereaders: 83 percent of Cagereaders think Maynard will win.
Maynard is going to use lay and pray to get his title shot. I see a boring fight ahead. Maynard via decision. — Christopher Walder

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Kevin Iole: Glover Teixeira TKO3 James Te Huna — It will be tougher than expecrted, but Teixeira’s varied game will win out in the end.

Maggie Hendricks: Glover Teixeira TKO2 James Te Huna — It’s been an impressive start in the UFC for Teixeira, and that won’t stop on Saturday. His power will be on display.

Cagereaders: 76 percent of Cagereaders think Teixeira will take it.
The well-rounded skill set and chin will allow him to weather the storm, get Te Huna to the ground and grind him out. — John Hensley

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Kevin Iole: Donald Cerrone W3 K.J. Noons — It should be an explosive fight, but if Cerrone remains under control, he’ll handle Noons.

Maggie Hendricks: Donald Cerrone W3 KJ Noons — Cerrone will be looking to come back after his loss to Anthony Pettis.

Cagereaders: 87 percent of Cagereaders say Donald Cerrone will win.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Antonio Silva eager to prove he’s a cut above in UFC 160 rematch with Cain Velasquez
• Yahoo! writers, readers make their UFC 160 picks
• Four questions that will be answered by UFC 160

UFC 160 is just days away. What questions will be answered by Saturday’s fights?

Who is the greatest heavyweight in all of the land? Cain Velasquez dominated Antonio Silva in their first bout, but that was a Silva who had just lost to Daniel Cormier. Now, coming off the shocking knockout of Alistair Overeem, will we see an improved Silva or will Velasquez hold onto his belt?

Will Benson Henderson’s next opponent impress? The winner of T.J. Grant’s bout with Gray Maynard is supposed to get a title bout with Benson Henderson. But as we know from experience, title shots can be taken away if Maynard and Grant don’t deliver on Saturday night.

Can Donald Cerrone get past the mental problems he has had in the cage? There’s no questioning Cerrone’s talent. He has the skill to be a force in the cage, but then why did he lose to Anthony Pettis? He visited a sports psychologist after that January loss.

“It’s trying to figure out, what do I do in the cage that I don’t do in training?” Cerrone said to MMA Junkie. “Because in training, I don’t lose a round.”

Since he trains at Jackson’s MMA, this is no small feat. Can he translate that training into performance in the cage against Strikeforce import K.J. Noons?

Which up-and-coming lightweight will win? Khabib Nurmagomedov is 19-0 and needed just two minutes to take out Thiago Tavares in January. Abel Trujillo is 10-4, but won his last five fights. His TKO of Marcu Levesseur was one of the more memorable finishes of late last year. Which of these lightweight up-and-comers will come out with a win?

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Antonio Silva eager to prove he’s a cut above in UFC 160 rematch with Cain Velasquez
• Mark Hunt revels in the role of underdog
• Donald Cerrone braces for showdown with K.J. Noons

An early mistake and a nasty cut sunk Silva in his first fight against Velasquez

When interviewing UFC president Dana White after fights, media usually want to know about title fight opportunities, implications of wins or losses, and where the UFC is headed next. Press conferences rarely present opportunities to get White to talk …

In an interview with Newsday, former UFC champ Matt Serra said he is walking away from fighting. He wouldn’t quite say the retirement word, but his last fight was in September of 2010. Blood clots have affected his health, and he doesn’t want to be an aging fighter.

“An aging fighter?” Serra said. “You know, it’s like an aging stripper, but not as funny. Not a lot of people want to see that.”

He should also consider walking away from interviews after delivering that choice line. How will he ever top it? His candor in interviews always made Serra a fun person to cover.

Serra finishes with a record of 11-7, but will be most remembered for being one of the two men who beat UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. At UFC 69, Serra fought the perfect fight against GSP. He was aggressive and won with a TKO in the first round. Serra surrendered the belt back to GSP in their next bout, but his legacy was set. He had taken out the king.

Outside of his own fight career, Serra has touched the MMA world by being one of its teachers and advocates. He has two BJJ schools on Long Island, and has coached several UFC fighters, including UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman.

Thanks for the memories, Matt.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• There’s no quit in UFC heavyweight Junior dos Santos
• Photos: Junior dos Santos eyes comeback
• Antonio Silva out to prove his loss to Cain Velasquez was a fluke

Early Wednesday morning, an FBI agent shot and killed someone they were questioning for his connections with the Boston Marathon bombers. Ibragim Todashev, the suspect, was an MMA fighter with a 1-0 professional record.
Todashev, who was reportedly a f…

The former UFC heavyweight champ took the beating of his life in his last fight, but don’t think that’ll stop him.

Romance isn’t normally what you think of when you think of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but it happened for Justin Saikaley, a BJJ student in Canada. He was grappling with his girlfriend when he found the perfect time to pop the question with the help of some…

Rumors began to swirl on Friday that UFC men’s bantamweight interim champion Renan Barao was injured and out of his UFC 161 main event bout against Eddie Wineland. The UFC confirmed the news today, and promoted Dan Henderson’s bout with Rashad Evans to the main event.

Both fighters are former champions who are coming off losses. Evans, who was once the UFC light heavyweight champ, loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Jon Jones in his last two fights. One-time Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Henderson lost to Lyoto Machida at UFC 157. With their fight happening in just a few weeks, the bout will be three rounds instead of the usual five for main events.

Barao’s injury means that both champions of the UFC’s men’s bantamweight division are now injured. Dominick Cruz hasn’t fought since October of 2011 due to knee injuries. If Barao can’t return soon, will there be an interim interim belt?

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• UFC 160 could be launching pad for Canadian T.J. Grant
• Shane Mosley shuns retirement, plans to chase another world title
• Fallon Fox: The Ultimate Fighting Conundrum

UFC president Dana White put out his first video blog for UFC 160, and it’s a behind the scenes look at the UFC’s last pay-per-view event. The moments not to miss:
– Bryan Caraway and Pat Healy discussing Healy’s submission. Caraway, who had the only…

The rising lightweight, who is from the same city as hockey superstar Sidney Crosby, is trying to forge his own path to fame.

UFC 160 is Saturday in Las Vegas, and we want to know how you think it will go down. Give us your picks and we’ll run some of them here on Cagewriter. Here’s how to do it. Check out the Cagewriter Facebook page to vote on a winner. Tell us why you thin…

Fox has been widely derided since becoming a professional MMA fighter, but is she getting a fair shake?

As a state legislator in Wyoming, Bryan Pedersen helped author the bill to legalize and regulate MMA in his home state. This weekend, he will test that bill by fighting at the Colosseum Fight Series, the first fights in Cheyenne since the bill passed.

Pedersen, who is 38 years old, has trained in MMA for the past four years. Like many fighters, he originally tried out the sport for fitness reasons only. But once MMA was allowed in his state, and Cheyenne was set to host fights, Pedersen couldn’t help but say yes to an offer to fight on the CFS card.

“This is not something I normally do,” he said to the Wyoming Star-Tribune. “But I really believe in the sport.”

He served for six years in the Wyoming state legislature. Now a financial consultant, he plans on making this both his debut and retirement bout. The weigh-ins will take place at a familiar venue for Pedersen — the steps of the Wyoming State Capitol Building.

Pedersen is taking the fight seriously, as he drives an hour and a half daily to Easton Training Center in Colorado, the training home of UFC veteran Eliot Marshall.

“I have a goal,” he said. “Without a goal, you wouldn’t do it. It creates a sense of urgency and panic. Because every day I’m not training, my opponent is probably getting better. And I’m not.”

He’s the latest government official to set his sights on the cage, though Pedersen appears to be taking his fight more seriously than the two mayors in south Florida who are planning a bout. Perhaps MMA should become part of the legislative process.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Gray Maynard is back in UFC lightweight title picture
• Transgendered fighter Fallon Fox’s struggle a journey in itself
• Shane Mosley shuns retirement, plans to chase another world title

Who stood out in Saturday night’s fights?

No. 1 star — Vitor Belfort*: We will be watching highlights of that knockout for years to come. The timing, explosion and landing spot of the kick were just perfect. The knockout was so great the UFC didn’t even have to say who they were talking about when they announced who the $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus was awarded to.

#UFConFX8 Fight of the Night, Martins vs. Larsen; Sub of the Night, Jacare. KO – c’mon now, be reasonable. 50K each.

— UFC (@ufc) May 19, 2013

Then why the asterisk? Because it’s hard to look at what Belfort did and not wonder if the testosterone replacement therapy he used throughout his camp played a part. His late-career resurgence doesn’t pass the smell test.

No. 2 star — Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza: Did Chris Camozzi even realize he was in the arm triangle choke that Souza so expertly applied? Souza’s performance on Saturday night served notice to the UFC middleweights. It also earned him a $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus. All in all, it was a pretty good start in the UFC for the Strikeforce veteran.

No. 3 star — Fabio Maldonado: Perhaps it wasn’t the prettiest win of the night, but it got the job done against some tough odds. Maldonado withstood a kick to the groin that made even me wince and came back to win by decision. That’s more than enough to earn a star.

Who stood out for you? Speak up on Facebook or Twitter.