A Round With Joël (UFC 214 Reaction)

The excitement leading up to UFC 214

This Saturday night, the Ultimate Fighting Champion (UFC) is scheduled to deliver a massively stacked card filled with three title bouts and intriguing match ups. 

 A treat for MMA fans

Two elite MMA stars, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler will finally face off. Originally, these two highly talented fighters were scheduled to battle at UFC 205, and again at UFC 213, but due to circumstances and an injury, the fight never happened. Luckily, the MMA world doesn't have to wait any longer because this Saturday night we're in for a treat. Fans of the sport respect these two competitors because they look for ways to finish the fight and never leave it in the hands of the judges. Former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, and former UFC Welterweight Champion, Robbie Lawler has a total of twenty victories via KO/TKO. Former UFC Lightweight Championship challenger, Donald Cerrone has sixteen wins via submission and eight via KO/TKO. I don't see this bout going to a decision. 

Three Title Bouts

Invicta FC Dream Match

The first title bout of the night is in the Women's Featherweight division. Tonya Evinger made her professional MMA debut in 2006. She has competed in the Elite XC, Titan FC, and currently, holds the Invicta Bantamweight Championship. Her upcoming opponent is arguably one of the most dangerous strikers in MMA. Cristiane Justino better known as Cris Cyborg is a former champion in Strikeforce and Invicta FC. Out of her nineteen professional bouts, she has seventeen KO/TKO victories. Both women are looking to make a statement this Saturday night.

KO Power VS. Superb Grappling 

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and #1 Welterweight title contender, Demian Maia is currently on a seven fight winning streak. He is considered one of the best ground-fighters in the UFC. In his previous fights, he displayed his superb grappling skills by utilizing double and single leg takedowns. He always look for submission openings while on the ground. Across the cage from him will be the current UFC Welterweight Champion, Tyron Woodley. Woodley captured UFC gold last year after his KO victory over Robbie Lawler at UFC 201. He is a difficult task for any opponent because he has incredible knock out power along with a NCAA Division I Wrestling background.

Bad Blood/Rematch 
 
The third title contest and the main event will be a rematch in the Light Heavyweight (LHW) division between former LHW Champion and still one of best in the sport, Jon "Bones" Jones and current LHW Champion Daniel "DC" Cormier. Based on the trash talk both in person and online, backstage altercations, and their brawl back at the UFC 178 press tour, it's obvious that both of these elite MMA competitors don't like each other. Their first encounter in the octagon was in 2015 at UFC 182 where Jones successfully retained his title by beating Cormier via unanimous decision. Due to suspension, Jones has only competed once since then. After his loss to Jones, Cormier has captured the UFC LHW belt, picked up wins over Alexander Gustafsson, Anderson Silva, and two over Anthony Johnson. Before entering in this bout, Jones is looking to redeem himself for the problems he caused out of the octagon while Daniel Cormier is also looking redeem himself over his first and only loss in his MMA career to Jon Jones. 

Fight On!

Giotto di Bondone (Italian painter and architect)

Giotto di Bondone was born in 1266 in the village of Vespigano, Italy. At a young age, Giotto has always shown a passion for art and was the apprentice of a known Florentine painter and designer, Cimabue. Rumor has it, after seeing Giotto‘s astonishing rock drawings of sheep, Cimabue asked Giotto‘s father for permission to educate his son. During most of his apprenticeship, Giotto explored Italy with Cimabue which helped Giotto gain a reputation. A notable Italian poet of the late medieval period, Dante Alighieri, congratulated Giotto in poems and even mentioned that he surpassed his mentor, Cimabue. 

Giotto di Bondone was self-taught, and his style was considered both new and unique. He was a major contributor to the rise of the naturalism art movement and was one of the first known artists to contributed to the Renaissance. Giotto worked and lived in Italy, the birthplace of Western civilization and an important part of the history of the Catholic Church. Subjects of his work were based on religious figures such as saints, popes, and angels. Giotto‘s The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a marvelous religious art piece. It’s a tempera painting which is known for being endurable because it consists of utilizing colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder. 

Along with The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary painting, Giotto di Bondone also painted a series of frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel. “Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, commonly called the Arena Chapel, completed around 1305. This fresco cycle depicts the life of the Virgin and the life of Christ. It is regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Early Renaissance.” Giotto was able to distinguish himself from other Italian artists during his time because he was one of the first to break away from medieval painting. Additionally, he created new methods of works which consisted of realistic settings, painting with different colors, and creating the illusion of a three-dimensional space. Instead of the traditional golden background commonly seen in Byzantine work, Giotto replaced the color with blue, which gives the impression of a sky. This art piece also shows various shapes and roundness especially with the women in the scene. 

In 2001, the Scrovegni Chapel underwent consolidation and restoration which included: smoothing of painted surfaces and technological advances. In 2002, the Scrovegni Chapel was then reopened to the public. In addition to visiting the Scrovegni Chapel, visitors can admire Giotto’s work at the Eremitani Museum located in Italy as well. “Since 26 March 2003, a room in the Eremitani Museum has been equipped with 7 workstations, some of which are multimedia, in order to allow visitors to study the frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel and obtain information about the historical and artistic period in which Giotto lived and worked.” Giotto is one of the most important artist of early Italian art because he was able to inspire and capture important moments of history through his work.

                                REFERENCES

"Giotto Di Bondone Style and Technique." Artble. N.p., 07 May 2015. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

<http://www.artble.com/artists/giotto_di_bondone/more_information/style_and_technique>

"Giotto Di Bondone - The Complete Works." Giotto Di Bondone - The Complete Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

<http://www.giottodibondone.org/>

"Great Painting of the Day: Birth of the Virgin by Giotto." Art and Liturgy. N.p., 08 Sept. 2016. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

< https://artandliturgy.com/2016/09/08/great-painting-of-the-day-birth-of-the-virgin-by-giotto/>