By Dwight Wakabayashi
It was a bittersweet night for the Canadians at UFC 157 in Anaheim, as two of the country’s most popular fighters competed but only one emerged victorious.
London, Ont., lightweight Sam Stout gained a tightly fought split decision win over newcomer Caros Fodor using his trademark stand-up, as well as some diverse new skills, to edge out the game former Strikeforce fighter. Stout spoke with MMAfighting.com’s Ariel Helwani immediately following the fight and commented on his close win.
“I thought I won, but there’s times in those close fights where you don’t know what the judges saw and it’s hard to tell when you’re the one in there so I was keeping my fingers crossed and didn’t want two losses in a row on my record,” Stout told Helwani.
“I thought I had the first and the second, and then I think maybe they gave him the third. He was initiating those clinches and throwing some good knees in the clinch but I felt I was keeping his back to the cage and controlling where the clinch went. I knew what he was going to do and he did a good job of getting into that clinch, I knew that was where he wanted to be. He was good, he was tough.”
Fodor pressed in immediately to close the distance and Stout was forced to show some new and improved grappling skills and was able to land an inside trip and gain dominant position on the ground. He sat out for an armbar and made a mild attempt at a kimura submission at the end of the round, something we have not seen out of Stout for his entire fighting career. He commented to Helwani on his growing confidence in his all-around game.
“Yeah I’ve worked on my jiu-jitsu a lot and I’m getting more comfortable using it. The fight with Spencer (Fisher) I started to take him down a little bit it kind of opened my eyes, like ‘Okay, I can do this stuff.’ I’ve been training in this stuff for 10 years and haven’t been showing it in my fights. I feel confident on the ground and my confidence just keeps growing.”
Stout bounced back from his loss to John Makdessi and avoided the UFC bubble that comes with two losses in a row, something that was clearly on his mind going in to this fight.
“Definitely, you know when they have close to 150 guys more than the roster allows for so I know everyone’s head is on the chopping block if they have too many losses in a row even the vets so, it was in the back of my mind going into this fight so I’m really glad I came out with the win.”
Aside from getting back on the winning track, the win had special meaning for the Adrenaline Training Center fighter — it was his dad’s 61st birthday.
“Happy birthday Roy boy!” Stout said. “So that was a cheap gift for him. He’s out in the crowd so I will head out there and be able to have a beer with him.”
Stout should be a lock to fight on a Canadian card in the summer.
Tristar veteran Ivan Menjivar wasn’t quite so fortunate. In a main card battle between bantamweight contenders, Menjivar immediately greeted an aggressive Urijah Faber with a nice judo throw that landed the fight on the ground. Unfortunately Faber completely took over from there, gaining dominant position and raining down elbows before securing the rear naked choke submission at 4:43 of the first round.
It was an underwhelming performance and a disappointing result for “The Pride of El Salvador,” and the veteran family man failed to show that he belongs with the very best of the 135-pound division. In the twilight of his career, Menjivar still has all the physical skills to hang with many UFC fighters, but he lacks the real killer instinct and mental hunger that is needed to battle and beat guys like Faber, Renan Barao or Dominick Cruz.
Menjivar simply did not show enough urgency in his defence and approach and his lack of movement let Faber dictate the outcome once the fight went to the ground. Faber confirmed as much in his post-fight interview with Ariel Helwani, stating that he and his coach knew that, unlike many other fighters Faber has faced, Menjivar would allow him to play the ground game. Menjivar is very confident in his submission skills, but was too static and let Faber get the upper hand very easily.
“I talked to my team, Fabio Prado especially our BJJ coach and he said this guy is perfect for you because he allows you to play the ground game.” Faber told Helwani.
Faber is too good on the ground to stay still for a second, and Menjivar must now decide if there is anything left for him to accomplish in this sport, or if it is time to call it a day in the UFC. He is still good enough to entertain and beat almost anybody in the world south of Faber, Cruz and Barao, but at 30 years of age he must assess the risk and reward left for him if he remains in the sport. If he does decide that his time in the cage is near an end, it would be nice to see him sign up for one more fight on a Canadian card later this year, so that Canadian fans can give him the send off he deserves.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report UFC and regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s UFC section. Follow him on Twitter @wakafightermma.