Ten Greatest Fights in UFC History

10-  Maurice Smith unanimous decision Mark Coleman (UFC 14)
The UFC 14 main event between undefeated Heavyweight champion Mark Coleman and stand-out kickboxer Maurice Smith was the first time in UFC history you saw an elite level kickboxer who had evolved. Maurice Smith had spent time with Japanese star Tsuyoshi Kohsaka learning how to fight off his back and when Coleman took him to the ground he was prepared for it. After a brief stand-off, Coleman shot in and took Smith to the ground with ease. From there Coleman unleashed with right hands and headbutts as he had done in his previous six UFC contests. Smith though established his guard and began stifling Colemans attacks and making Coleman work to keep him on the ground. Coleman at one stage moved to mount, but Smiths knowledge of grappling allowed him to get back to guard and continue defending. Maurice briefly escaped after about seven minutes but Coleman took him down again. Coleman though was gassing and his efforts from on top became less and less and Smith escaped again just before the 15 minutes was up and landed some solid punches and leg kicks. The following two-three minute over times were all Smith as Coleman was gassed and could barely walk from the leg kicks he was taking. Smith picked his shots and landed at will while stuffing Colemans takedowns. Coleman somehow survived the onslaught, but Smith took the decision and the title in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.

9- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira submission (3rd) Tim Sylvia (UFC 81)
A battle a long time coming with Nogueira and Sylvia at one point holding the PRIDE and UFC Heavyweight titles at the same time. They eventually fought at UFC 81 for the interim Heavyweight championship after Randy Couture ‘retired’ and wouldn’t face Nogueira. Nogueira was out of form having split two fights with Josh Barnett by close decision and barely surviving against Heath Herring while Sylvia was looking to gain back some respect after losing his title to Couture almost a year ago. Sylvia came out with bad intentions, firing his jab and trying to follow it up. Nogueira pulled guard, but Sylvia wisely stood up and showed he had no interest in fighting on the ground with the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu stylist. Midway through the first Sylvia dropped Nogueira heavily with a right hand and move in to finish. Nogueira regained his senses and Sylvia invited him back up. Nogueira scored a takedown in the final seconds, but Sylvia was saved by the bell. Sylvia continued to batter Nogueira during the 2nd round while stuffing his takedowns and standing up whenever he pulled guard. In the third round Nogueira pulled half guard and quickly swept Sylvia. Now on top, he passed Sylvia’s guard with ease and began looking for a submission. Sylvia turned into Nogueira and was immediately caught in a guillotine choke and forced to tap out. It was an incredible comeback from Nogueira who has made a career out of coming back from the brink of defeat.

8- Don Frye submission (11:19) Gary Goodridge (Ultimate Ultimate 1996)
Probably not the fight most people would have put in their top ten, but in my opinion (obviously) one of the greatest fights in UFC history. These two engaged in a gruelling battle of attrition that ended in the first round of the champions tournament of 1996. Goodridge, wearing a gi for some strange reason, and Frye immediately locked horns and started trading shots from the clinch. Frye was using Goodridges gi for leverage and pinned Goodridge against the cage while delivering knees and elbows on the inside. Goodridge repeatedly made room and landed his heavy right hand but Frye simply ate it. This went on for a few minutes before they seperated and started trading bombs from the outside. Frye seemed to be taking control when Goodridge took him down and began to land heavy shots of his own. With both men tiring it was Goodridge who was now able to use his weight advantage and he was landing heavy shots from on top. Frye then showed the newest trick in his game, an ability to fight off his back as he survived Goodridges onslaught and then swept the much larger man. With Goodridge exhausted and now on his back, he conceded the fight and tapped out due to exhaustion. Frye would go on to win two more fights that night, one of them against Tank Abbott which was #23 on this list, to win the tournament.

7- Oleg Taktarov submission (17:47) Tank Abbott (UFC 6)
Speaking of gruelling fights, they don’t get more gruelling then the Final of UFC 6 between newcomer Tank Abbott and UFC 5 veteran Oleg Taktarov. Abbott had walked through John Matua (20 seconds) and Paul Varelans (two minutes) earlier in the evening while Taktarov had a tougher then it sounds 57 second victory over UFC 5 runner-up Dave Beneteau and a 10 second submission win over Anthony Macias. Abbott immediately went on the offensive, rocking Taktarov with vicious bombs before ending up on top in a scramble. Abbott tried to finish, but Taktarov played his guard well and managed to wear Abbott down. Tank would open up from time to time and everytime they stood up he’d rock and bloody ‘The Russian Bear’ but could do little offensively against the Sambo master on the ground. Taktarov though was showing signs of fatigue by 10 minutes into the fight as Abbotts bombs were taking their toll on him. Somehow late in the fight, Taktarov found the energy to move to Abbotts back in a scramble and had just enough strength left to secure a rear naked choke and force Abbott to submit. After the fight both men lay exhausted and Taktarov needed oxygen as he was completely spent.

6- Frank Shamrock submission (4th) Tito Ortiz (UFC 22)
The tactical brilliance of Frank Shamrock was never more on display then when he defeated future  Light Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz in their title matchup at UFC 22. Ortiz was the hungry young contender who had just blown through Jerry Bohlander and Guy Mezger and was gunning for Shamrock and his belt. Tito had a big size advantage as he cut down to the weight limit while Shamrock walked around 5-10lbs below it. The fight started off with them briefly striking before Ortiz took Shamrock down. Comfortable off his back, Shamrock was the one who opened up and began trading with Tito from his back while making Tito work to hold him down. Tito was happy to engage from on top and was throwing heavy shots and Frank was just as happy as his plan was to wear Ortiz out. Shamrock would escape back to his feet only too happy to let Tito take him back down and expend some more energy. By the 4th round Ortiz was gassed but continued to score takedowns. Shamrock knew though that Tito was struggling to hold him down and as he escaped from the bottom at the end of the 4th round, he landed an elbow that hurt Tito and followed it up with a barrage of punches that forced Ortiz to tap out to. It would be Shamrock’s last fight in the UFC having gone 5-0 with all five fights being for the title.

5- Randy Couture unanimous decision Pedro Rizzo (UFC 31)
At the time fighters like Mark Coleman were calling it the greatest fight in MMA history and it probably was. The opening rounds of this fight saw both fighters take punishment that would have stopped most men, but they took it and continued and went the full five rounds. Couture was the champion again after returning to the organisation and defeating Kevin Randleman for the belt. Rizzo was on an impressive run following his loss to Randleman for the belt and was coming off a huge knockout over Josh Barnett. Couture opened fast, taking Rizzo down and relentlessly scoring with hard shots from on top. Rizzo was closed to being stopped in the first round as Couture pushed him up against the fence and unleashed with bombs. Rizzo survived and in round two it was his turn to be the aggressor. ‘The Rock’ scored with numerous hard leg kicks that had Couture limping as well as scoring with hard punches to the face. Rizzo punished Couture for the entire five minutes with mainly his damaging leg kicks. After two rounds of action, I had the fight scored 18-18 with Couture winning the first 10-8 and Rizzo the 2nd 10-8. The last three rounds were all heart as both men were exhausted and battered. Couture’s wrestling game him the edge on my card as he was able to get Rizzo down, but Rizzo did more damage to Couture’s legs which made the decision a 50-50 one. The judges cards read the same as mine and Couture retained his belt by unanimous decision.

4- Matt Hughes submission (1st) Frank Trigg (UFC 52)
This is UFC president Dana White’s favourite fight of all-time and it was an incredible turnaround in an incredible fight. Hughes and Trigg hated each other and there had been a lot of trash talk after their first battle at UFC 45. Hughes had since lost his title to BJ Penn before regaining it with a submission win over Georges St Pierre after Penn had left the organisation while Trigg had scored wins over Dennis Hallman and Renato Verissimo by knockout. During the final instructions Trigg bumped heads with Hughes prompting Hughes to shove him and Trigg to blow him a kiss. They clinched up and Trigg scored an unintentional knee to Hughes’ groin. The referee missed the illegal blow and Trigg pounced, nearly knocking Hughes out before mounting him, then taking his back and sinking in the same rear naked choke that Hughes had submitted Trigg with in their first fight. Hughes somehow muscled his way out of the choke, picked Trigg up on his shoulder, ran the entire way across the Octagon and slammed him hard into the mat. From there Hughes rained down punches and elbows that bloodied Trigg up. Hughes continued to punish Trigg from on top before Trigg gave up his back. Hughes again looked for the rear naked choke and after a brief struggle forced Trigg to submit.

3- Chuck Liddell unanimous decision Wanderlei Silva (UFC 79)
While this is my all-time favourite MMA fight, I do believe there are two better fights in the UFC, but this is the one I enjoyed watching the most. It was a battle between long time PRIDE 205lb champion Wanderlei Silva and long time UFC 205lb champion Chuck Liddell but it wasn’t for the belts, it ended up coming at a time when both men were on the back of two fight losing streaks. Accurately described by Joe Rogan as ‘two dogs who have been looking through the cage at each other for a long time’ these two let loose with some of the hardest strikes ever traded inside a cage. Both men circled for much of the opening round letting everyone elses anticipations of the slugfest that was about to be delivered boil over. Then just at the time when people might have thought the fight wasn’t going to live up to expectations, they began exchanging. The shots were wild and they were hard nd they were trading almost evenly, but Liddell was landing the harder blows. Wanderlei continued to stand in the pocket though and Liddell even started walking him down but everytime he landed his home run strike, Wanderlei returned fire and they traded bombs. Liddell won the first round and Wanderlei won the 2nd and the fight was up for grabs in the third round. Liddell surprisingly opened with a takedown but Wanderlei quickly escaped to his feet. Midway through the round (which was full of further exchanges) Liddell rocked Wanderlei with a spinning backfist and looked to finish. With Wanderlei pinned up against the cage, Liddell unleashed a barrage that had dropped men like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz, but Wanderlei wouldn’t go down. Wanderlei lasted the third round and even landed some good shots later in the round, but the decision was Liddell’s. The only thing that could have made this fight better would be had they fought over five rounds for the UFC and PRIDE belts. It was almost a shame that they had to stop as both of them looked like they would fight like that all night.

2- Roger Huerta submission (3rd) Clay Guida (TUF6 Finale)
This was the crazy super fast lightweight battle. Clay Guida took on UFC poster boy Roger Huerta who was looking for a win to legitimise the hype around him. Guida had the advantage with his wrestling, but Huerta was the better striker and probably had the better submission game. Guida dominated early with his wrestling and was outworking Huerta on the mat in typical Guida fashion. In the 2nd round Guida rocked Huerta with an uppercut after a scramble and looked to be taking over. After losing the first two rounds, Huerta came out with a psychotic look on his face and went straight to work on Guida, rocking him with a knee. Guida shot in, but Huerta stuffed it and continued to punish him. Guida again shot in and Huerta took his back in a scramble, and began looking for the finish that he needed to win this fight. After sinking in the choke, Guida eventually tapped out and gave Huerta the victory. It was a spectacular comeback and finish from Huerta, who will unfortunately probably have his last fight in the UFC against Gray Maynard in September.

1- Forrest Griffin unanimous decision Stephan Bonnar (TUF1 Finale)
Seriously, have you seen a better slugfest before? This fight made the UFC into what it was today with the mainstream appeal it gave the sport. On non PPV TV, these two waged an incredible war that saw them trade repeated blows for a breathtaking 15 minutes. Back then it was hard for MMA fighters to make a proper living off just fighting and both of these guys needed that six figure contract to be able to keep on fighting professionally and they fought like it. Griffin got the better of the first round, landing the cleaner shots and rocking Bonnar once or twice. The fight briefly hit the mat in the first with Griffin using his underrated Jiu Jitsu game to nearly submit Bonnar with an arm bar. In the 2nd round Griffin gassed and Bonnar began landing heavy shots, one of which broke Griffin’s nose. It looked like the fight could be stopped because of a cut on Griffin’s nose, but the doctor allowed the fight to continue and the final round and a half saw both men leave the little they had left plus a lot more in the cage. It was a bar room brawl inside a cage on National TV and the crowd and TV audience were eating it up. Griffin took a razor thin unanimous decision, but the fight was so entertaining that Dana White declared  there was ‘no loser’ and gave Bonnar the same contract Griffin got. Bonnar unfortunately was thrown into several hard fights against the likes of James Irvin, Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans on Fight Night cards while Griffin was built up on a steady diet of fringe contenders before they were ready to gamble with him. It’s funny to think how such a close decision that could have gone either way could have changed the course of the careers of both men. It could have been interesting to see where both men would be now had Bonnar got the decision, just food for thought…..

See Also:

Part 4 (11-20)

Part 3 (21-30)

Part 2 (31-40)

Part 1 (41-50)

Silva and Shogun score wins at UFC 97

Anderson Silva was extended the five round limit for the first time in his UFC career yesterday as Thales Leites basically adapted the butt-scoot technique in order to survive. Leites offered very little offence during the fight as Silva toyed with him waiting for something to counter off. The fight would probably have been the worse in UFC history had Silva not been so creative with his striking, throwing side kicks to Leites’ knee as well as jabbing at his thigh. The fight was painful to watch at times as Silva was standing within range for Thales to do whatever he pleased to him yet Thales was that reluctant to engage that he didn’t throw anything. The fight was only worstened by one of the judges who somehow thought the fight was up for grabs going into the last round and gave Leites two of the rounds. I was hard pressed to give Leites the 2nd round despite him scoring a takedown and ‘working’ from on top for a good portion of the round.

The question remains, when are the UFC going to give Silva a decent challenge. His last three fights he’s faced guys so clearly out of his league that it’s starting to damage his reputation. We know what he’s capable when he’s put in with a guy who he feels threatened by. He destroyed Rich Franklin twice as well as Dan Henderson and Nate Marquadt in performances that would make most contenders think about changing weight divisions. Actually that’s not a bad idea for Silva, maybe a forced move to 205lbs is what’s needed for his career as he’ll likely find guys in his own league up there. Or maybe should St Pierre defeat Thiago Alves they’ll make that super fight for their end of year show. There’s no one for Silva to fight at 185lbs who makes me think will bring any better a performance out of him. Maia has a chance of pulling off a victory as he’s much more aggressive with his Jiu Jitsu game, but I think we’d see Silva toy with him as he pleased as well. It’s got to be 205lbs or Georges St Pierre for Anderson Silva as far as I’m concerned.

In the co feature, Mauricio Shogun returned to form with an entertaining first round knockout of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell. The fight was entertaining with both men landing hard shots and scoring takedowns in what was a wild first round. At one stage Shogun dropped down for a leg lock on Liddell who showed (for me anyway) surprising knowledge of how to escape the position. Then in the final minute, Shogun landed a leaping left hook that dropped Liddell and finished him with some of his famous ground and pound. Liddell rose shortly after the stoppage but was unaware of his surroundings or what had just happened.

The fight answered some questions, but left one big one unanswered. Is Shoguns conditioning there yet? He didn’t appear to gas which suggests that it’s definately better then it has been, but we didn’t see him in the 2nd and 3rd rounds where it was painful to watch him against Coleman. The questions it did answer is that Shogun has a world class skill set and it was probably his leg kicks that set up the victory. His ground game is also awesome for those of you who think on that performance that he is a striker. The other question it answered was that this has to be the end of the line for Liddell. It’s three times in his last five fights that he’s been laid out and while they were to three of the best guys in the game, you don’t want to see the guy become a punching bag. I’ve always been a big Liddell fan and while I’m also a big Shogun fan and was happy to see the guy back in form, part of me felt bad for Liddell that he went out like this. Hopefully the guy makes the right decision and retires with his health.

Also on the card, Kryzstof Soszynski scored a first round submission victory with a kimura over Brian Stann. Cheick Kongo battered Antoni Hardonk despite breaking his hand in the first round, finishing the fight with ground and pound in the 2nd round. Luiz Cane and Steve Cantwell engaged in a rather boring striking match that makes me wonder if these guys know that they’re allowed to wrestle? In a bonus fight on the PPV card, Sam Stout and Matt Wiman went to war and fought three very close rounds with Wiman getting the best of the positions and Stout doing more damage. In the end, Stout scored a close but unanimous decision (I thought Wiman won) in front of his home crowd.

On the preliminaries, TUF8 veterans Elliot Marshall and Vinny Magalhaes went the distance in a fight many people thought Vinny should of won (according to a few reports he had Marshall mounted and eating punches in two rounds while Marshall did shit) yet Marshall scored a 30-27 victory on two cards and 29-28 on the third. Canadians Denis Kang, TJ Grant and Mark Bocek all scored much needed wins, while David Loiseau copped a beating from Ed Herman and Jason MacDonald was stopped in the first round by Nate Quarry.

Full Results
Anderson Silva UD5 (50-46, 49-46, 48-47) Thales Leites
Mauricio Shogun TKO1 (punches) Chuck Liddell
San Stout UD3 (29-28) Matt Wiman
Kryzstof Soszynski Sub1 (kimura) Brian Stann
Cheick Kongo TKO2 (punches) Antoni Hardonk
Luiz Cane UD3 (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) Steve Cantwell
Denis Kang UD3 (30-27) Xavier Foupa Pokam
Nate Quarry TKO1 (punches) Jason MacDonald
Ed Herman UD3 (30-27, 30-26, 30-27) David Loiseau
TJ Grant SD3 (29-28, 28-29, 30-27) Ryo Chonan
Mark Bocek Sub1 (Rear Naked Choke) David Bielkheden
Elliot Marshall UD3 (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) Vinny Magalhaes

UFC 97 Weigh-ins

All fighters made weight for the weigh in bar David Bielkheden who had two hours to drop an extra pound (not sure if he did or not). Shogun looked in as good a shape as I’ve seen him since he went to the UFC. Anderson Silva looked to have a good size advantage over Leites despite coming in at 182lbs. The weigh ins went off without any incidents with Liddell getting by far the biggest reception followed closely by returning Canadian star David Loiseau who challenged Rich Franklin for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 58.
The full list of weights:

Thales Leites 185
Anderson Silva 182lbs

Chuck Liddell 206lbs
Mauricio Shogun 206lbs

Antoni Hardonk 249lbs
Cheick Kongo 232lbs

Luiz Cane 206lbs
Steve Cantwell 205lbs

Krzysztof Soszynski 204lbs
Brian Stann 206lbs

Vinicius Magalhaes 204lbs
Elliot Marshall 205lbs

Xavier Foupa-Pokam 185lbs
Denis Kang 185lbs

Jason MacDonald 186lbs
Nate Quarry 186lbs

Ed Herman 186lbs
David Loiseau 185lbs

David Bielkheden 157lbs
Mark Bocek 154lbs

Ryo Chonan 171lbs
TJ Grant 169lbs

Sam Stout 155lbs
Matt Wiman 155lbs

UFC 97 (Silva-Leites, Liddell-Shogun) Predictions

 

I left these a little later then I wanted to and I apologise to all of you who want to look good to your friends by stealing my in form predictions, but the De La Hoya retirement put it back a few days. There’s only really two fights on this card worth going into, actually there’s only one but the other is for a title so this won’t be as in depth as some of my other predictions articles. Basically this card consists of a mismatch title fight between one of the best (if not the best) pound for pound fighters in MMA against a guy who hasn’t really proven himself against top competition. Thales Leites is an excellent fighter, but he quite simply isn;t ready for a title shot against a dominant champion like Silva. Why Okami didn’t get his shot this time around I have no idea as Leites hasn’t been that much more marketed. The real fight on this card is the Chuck Liddell vs Mauricio Shogun battle in the co-feature which sees the former UFC Light Heavyweight champion against the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion. The rest of the card will be entertaining for sure, but nothing with any major implications.

Main Card
Anderson Silva vs Thales Leites
(UFC Middleweight Championship)
Prediction- Silva by 1st round KO
Anderson Silva didn’t look that motivated in his last title defence against Patrick Cote and seemed to cruise through the bout until Cote busted his knee. With another soft touch (compared to Silva anyway) I think Silva needs to and will make an example of Leites to basically say that he needs a challenge and it’s not safe letting these guys anywhere near him. Leites is a solid ground fighter with good power standing up and a good chin, but his stand-up is technically retarded, his wrestling is pretty average and his stamina is questionable. His top game is as good as anyones in MMA. He transitions to the back with ease, his ground and pound is world class and he has very strong submission abilities. In saying that, I really think his stand-up is that bad that if Silva opens with a barrage he’ll take Leites out.

Chuck Liddell vs Mauricio Shogun
Prediction- Liddell by 2nd round KO
I want to try and educate some of those who haven’t seen much of Shogun. The man is a ground and pound fighter. He is not and never will be a Muay Thai gun like so many claim. His hands are awful as evidenced by the fact that Coleman repeatedly caught him with his Great Grandpa jab. Shogun’s strength has always been his knees in the clinch, his striking from on top and his escapes from the bottom. We all know what Liddell’s strengths are; he avoids clinches and takedowns like they’re AIDS and he knocks mother fuckers out. I think this fight is a bad matchup for Shogun stylistically. I’m definately not one of those people who think Shogun was always overrated because the Shogun that brutalised Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 would stand a chance with any man. Shogun I don’t think trains as hard as he used to when he was fighting out of Chute Boxe and his physical strength doesn’t match up to Liddell’s. ‘The Iceman’ should wear him down while avoiding the clinch where Shogun is most dangerous and finish him off in the 2nd round. I’d love to see Shogun return to form and retire Liddell (not because I don’t like Liddell, not at all) so all those Shogun haters can be silenced but this fight is a bad matchup for him.

Kryzstof Soszynski vs Brian Stann
Prediction- Stann on points

Antoni Hardonk vs Cheick Kongo
Prediction- Hardonk by 2nd round KO

Luiz Cane vs Steve Cantwell
Prediction- Cane by 1st round KO

Preliminaries
Vinny Magalhaes vs Elliot Marshall
Prediction- Magalhaes by 1st round submission

Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs Denis Kang
Prediction- Kang by 2nd round submission

Jason MacDonald vs Nate Quarry
Prediction- Quarry by 2nd round KO

Ed Herman vs David Loiseau
Prediction- Herman on points

David Bielkheden vs Mark Bocek
Prediction- Bocek on points

Ryo Chonan vs TJ Grant
Prediction- Grant on points

Sam Stout vs Matt Wiman
Prediction- Wiman on points

Post UFC 93 Thoughts

Dan Henderson SD Rich Franklin
I thought Henderson won and I’m glad he did. The winner was always going to move down to Middleweight to fight Michael Bisping and the winner of that was likely going to get a crack at Anderson Silva at the end of the year or early next year. Franklin’s been spanked by Silva twice in extremely one sided bouts while Henderson gave a good account for himself until he pulled guard in his challenge for Silva’s belt. A rematch with Henderson on the back of him beating Bisping (assuming he wins) and Franklin would be much for interesting then watching Franklin’s nose get rearranged by the Spider again.
On the judging, 30-27 for Franklin was retarded. The first two rounds were kind of close, but Franklin definately didn’t win both of them. I thought the 2nd round could have gone either way but the first was definately Henderson’s with the damage he did at the start of the round. Franklin definately won the 3rd but throughout the fight I thought Henderson did better work when he was in a better position then Franklin did when he had the fight where he wanted it. Franklin seemed pissed after the fight (we didn’t get an interview with him because the PPV had no time left) but you would be having not lost a decision before. Losing by close decision sucks and you don’t know how much it sucks until it happens to you. ‘Decision Dan’ strikes again with his 8th split decision won of his career.

Mauricio Shogun KO3 Mark Coleman
I have to say I was extremely impressed with Colemans effort and extremely dissappointed in Shogun. First of all on Coleman, as much as I like to rip on the guy because of his old school approach to a fast evolving sport, I’ll always be a fan of his. He showed an iron chin and an almost unmatched determination in there and it’s great that he got a chance to fight on a big show like this and put in a performance like that. His stamina still sucks (which is part of the reason why I like watching him fight as sick as it does sound) and it’ll always restrict him from beating anyone any good but he continued to fight and it wasn’t over until it was over and you always have to respect that no matter how old school his fighting approach is. That’s not to say I thought it was a great fight because it wasn’t but it would have been a hell of a lot worse had Coleman just lay down in the first round when he got tired.
I really thought the stoppage was bullshit. He was on all fours and he was hurt, but it isn’t boxing; Shogun has to finish him. Let Shogun follow-up and stop it if Coleman doesn’t defend himself from there. Coleman probably would have taken Shogun down again from that position which brings me to Shogun. What the fuck happened to the Shogun who dominated the 2005 Grand Prix? Anyone who says he was always this bad is a fucking moron. The Shogun of 2005 had stamina to fight for 20 minutes at full speed (see his fight with Little Nogueira) and a ground game as good as any Light Heavyweight (again see his fight with Little Nogueira as well as his fights with Randleman, Arona and Overeem).
Shogun’s weak area has always been his boxing and it showed again tonight even though he finished the fight with punches. His strengths have always been his top game and the clinch. After the card it was announced that Shogun will meet Chuck Liddell in the main event at UFC 97. Shogun is going to have to make some serious improvements in his form if he wants to last a round with Liddell. He’s not going to get the fight to the ground and, like Wanderlei Silva, he’ll have a hard time getting a clinch with Liddell where he can deliver his knees. I really hope Shogun can get his old form back because Shogun vs Liddell in 2006 was an MMA fans wet dream.

Alan Belcher Sub2 Denis Kang
What can be said about Denis Kang that hasn’t been said before? The guy has a seriously bad habbit of losing fights he’s dominating by giving his opponents submissions. He’s one of those top grapplers like Jeremy Horn who seem to get submitted a lot by guys they should rape on the ground. Credit to Belcher for finishing with the choke though even if he was getting dominated by a BJJ fighter in his preferred Muay Thai style.

Rampage vs Jardine
It was announced during the broadcast that Rampage will indeed headline the UFC 96 card, but against Keith Jardine and not Rashad Evans. I was skeptical that the title fight would come off so close to the last one, but they’ve come up with a decent main event which tops off the card nicely. Gabriel Gonzaga vs Shane Carwin was never going to sell and Rampage is one of the UFC’s biggest stars. I won’t be looking forward to it as much as I’m looking forward to UFC 94, but it’s a lot better then UFC 95.

Angry Match Maker
New Feature. It might not last but what the hell. After every UFC I’m going to do a list of matchups that could be made based off the results.

Henderson vs Bisping- Makes sense if both guys are coaching on TUF9.
Franklin vs Luiz Cane- A good way for Franklin to bounce back from a loss and a good chance for Cane to prove he belongs in the big time.
Shogun vs Liddell- Already made, it makes sense as both guys were scheduled to fight last year but were both injured. With Liddell coming off a loss a win over Shogun would be a good bounce back for him.
Coleman vs Wanderlei Silva- No one wants to see a repeat of Coleman-Cro Cop or Coleman-Fedor II. He has to fight a 205lber who can be taken down easily and who is still marketable. Wanderlei Silva would be this fighter. There’s bad blood there with the Hammer House vs Chute Boxe rivalry and both guys need a win. Put it on the UFC 97 undercard and then match the winners (hopefully Liddell vs Wanderlei) in a main event later in the year or as a feature attraction on the year end card.
Belcher vs Palhares- Both of these guys are up and comers in the UFC and it’d be a good way to see which one of them belongs in the upper end of the 185lb division.
Lytle vs Davis II- Watch the first fight, these guys could fight three times every year and I wouldn’t care.

2008 Angry Fight Fan MMA Awards

These are also late, but even more then boxing these had to be left until the new year so all the events could be done and everything taken into consideration. As it turns out, a few of the last few events of the year won some awards.

Fight of the Year- Eddie Alvarez TKO 1 (7:35) Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM.5)
This fight took place in the semi finals of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix and a cut suffered by Alvarez in winning this fight left him unable to continue in the tournament marking the way for alternate Joachim Hansen, the man Alvarez beat in the Quarter Finals, to fight in and win the Final against Shinya Aoki. Both fighters traded heavy shots on their feet throughout the fight and both fighters were knocked down. Alvarez dropped Kawajiri with a left hook-right cross about three minutes in but he used good survival skills to get himself out of trouble. After the doctors ruled Alvarez’s cut was okay to continue, Kawajiri dropped him heavily with a right hand and then passed his guard and mounted him. Alvarez escaped the mount and got back to his feet where both guys traded heavy shots and hurt each other more then once. Alvarez then pinned Kawajiri against the ropes and dropped him again, took his back and finished him with heavy strikes to the head. I picked this fight over some of the other ones on the list because it was fast paced for the full distance of the fight unlike some of the other candidates this year and because the whole way through the fight you had no idea who was going to win. If you haven’t seen the fight, here it is:

Honourable Mentions- Miguel Torres TKO3 Yoshiro Maeda (WEC 34), Forrest Griffin UD5 Rampage Jackson (UFC 86), Eddie Alvarez UD (15 mins) Joachim Hansen (DREAM.3).

Fighter of the Year- Gegard Mousasi
This might come as a strange pick to some people, but the big factor in this pick was that he went 6-0 this year (plus his victory under K-1 rules against MUSASHI) and four of those wins were against decent opposition in winning the DREAM Middleweight Tournament. After winning two fights early in the year (one over PRIDE veteran Evangelista Cyborg), Mousasi entered the Grand Prix as one of the dark horses. Matched up against PRIDE 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Runner-up Denis Kang in the first round of the tournament, Mousasi’s triangle choke victory came as a big upset to most people. A workman-like decision win over Dong Sik Yoon in the Quarter Finals earned him his spot in the Final Event where he had to face Melvin Manhoef in the Semi Finals, and then fight again on the same night to win the title. Most were expecting a Manhoef-Ronaldo Jacare final, but Mousasi had other ideas, scoring a victory again via triangle choke in 88 seconds over the feared striker. Facing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert Jacare in the Final, Mousasi ended up on his back early, but at the 2:15 mark of the first round a dramatic upkick followed up by punches with Jacare in his guard left his Brazilian opponent unconscious and made Gegard Mousasi the new DREAM Middleweight Champion. Some of the other fighters (particularily in the UFC) scored bigger wins this year, but all of them fought only twice this year and you can question the level of some of their wins. While some of Mousasi’s opponents certainly wouldn’t make it in the UFC, going 6-0 against that sort of competition is very impressive stuff. I definately don’t think he’d beat Anderson Silva or anything like that so save your time from writing some idiotic comment saying Silva would crush him or whatever because that’s not what this is about. It’s about which fighter accomplished the most in the calendar year and it was in my opinion Gegard Mousasi.
Honourable Mentions- Frank Mir, Rashad Evans, Georges St Pierre.

Knockout of the Year- Rampage Jackson KO1 (left hook) Wanderlei Silva (UFC 92)
This knockout just edged out Rashad Evans knocking out Chuck Liddell. I almost made it a tie, but then I measured my closet and realised I wasn’t big enough to fit into it so I could come out of it after making it a tie and acted like a man and made the pick. I think the deciding factor was the importance of the knockout for Rampage in this fight after avenging two brutal KO losses to Silva from their PRIDE days with an equally if not more devastating KO win himself. I would put a clip of the KO up, but ZUFFA are pricks about this sort of thing and don’t allow any of their fights to be on youtube so I’ll have to describe it. Wanderlei attacked Rampage while he was near the fence and threw a left hook-right hook combo. Rampage countered the left hook with a tighter one of his own and caught Wanderlei square on the jaw with his own hook putting him out cold right away while he was in the middle of throwing his own shot. Rampage then followed it up with two or three shots while Wanderlei was out. Both Rampage and Rashad will likely fight for the belt later this year and hopefully we’ll see another KO of the year candidate (and hopefully it’s Rashad who is on the receiving end).
Honourable Mentions- Rashad Evans KO2 (overhand right) Chuck Liddell (UFC 88), Wanderlei Silva KO1 (rape choke + right hands from mount) Keith Jardine (UFC 84), Anthony Johnson KO3 (left high kick) Kevin Burns (TUF8 Finale).

Submission of the Year- Shinya Aoki Sub1 (5:12)(Aokiplata/Gogoplata from mount) Katsuhiko Nagata (DREAM.4)
I watched this about 50 times in a row after I saw it. It was so cool it has to be given it’s own name and I will from now on refer to this as the Aokiplata no matter how much my friend who has done Jiu Jitsu longer then me tells me that the gogoplata was originally done from the mount before the guard and that the one he did on Hansen should therefore be the Aokiplata because I think he’s wrong. Anyway, unlike KO of the year, I have a clip, so I’ll shut up and you can enjoy:

Honourable Mentions- Dustin Hazelett Sub2 (Flying Armbar from Whizzer) Josh Burkman (TUF7 Finale), Dustin Hazelett Sub1 (Cutting Armbar against his own leg) Tamdan McCrory, Demian Maia Sub2 (Triangle Choke from Mount + Punches) Ed Herman (UFC 83).

Event of the Year- UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 (December 27th)

The UFC stacked their last show and it proved to be the best event of the year. On the card we had two title fights between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir for the UFC interim Heavyweight title and Rashad Evans challenging Forrest Griffin for the UFC Light Heavyweight title in the main event. Also on the card was a fight featuring one of the best grudges in MMA between Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva; one that has been around for more then five years since before their first bout at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003. Thw two other fights that filled up the main card saw an excellent knockout by Cheick Kongo over Mustafa Al Turk as well as a great Middleweight battle between CB Dollaway and Mike Massenzio. The UFC put six of it’s top starts against each other in fights that had plenty of impact on their respective divisions as well as plenty of impact in future fights that can be made. This card had great matchups that turned into great fights, upsets plus some great finishes and you really can’t ask for anything more (other then the odd submission).
Honourable Mentions- Affliction: Banned, UFC 81: Breaking Point, UFC 84: Ill Will.

Performance of the Year- Fedor Emelianenko Sub1 (36 seconds) Tim Sylvia (Affliction: Banned)
There was a lot of hype around Fedor’s return to US soil and him fighting his (apparent) first ‘real’ opponent in former Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Plenty of people thought that Fedor was all hype and no skill and the new promotion he represented, Affliction, depended on him to prove them wrong in order to succeed. That he did. After a brief feeling out process off about 10 seconds, Fedor dropped Sylvia with a series of big punches, battered him on the ground with even heavier punches, took his back and made him tap with a rear naked choke. It was easily the most you could dominate someone in just 36 seconds. Anyone who wasn’t impressed by Fedor in this fight is an idiot and I really don’t care what anyone has to say about it. Fact of the matter is he’s the best Heavyweight in the World until someone beats him. Guess what, I found a clip of it as well:

Honourable Mentions- Anderson Silva Sub2 Dan Henderson (UFC 81), Frank Mir TKO2 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 92), Georges St Pierre TKO2 Matt Serra (UFC 83).

Upset of the Year- Mike Brown TKO1 Urijah Faber (WEC 36)
Faber was easily the top Featherweight in the World and was considered miles ahead of anyone else. He was a top pound for pound fighter as well and no one expected him to lose anytime soon. Mike Brown was a former UFC competitor (he had one fight and got tapped out by Genki Sudo) who had only lost to top fighters and usually fought at Lightweight. While a respectable fighter no one really thought he standed much of a chance with Faber. Two minutes 23 seconds later he had caught Faber with a big right hand as Faber attempted a spinning elbow and rained down punches until the referee pulled him off. I didn’t even bother watching this fight until I saw the result (plus I would have had a hard time finding it online because they broadcast fuckall down under in terms of MMA) because I thought this would be business as usual for Faber. None of the other upsets this year come close to that one.

Honourable Mentions- Junior dos Santos KO1 Fabricio Werdum (UFC 90), Rashad Evans KO2 (UFC 88), Frank Mir TKO2 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 92).

Before I get onto some of the lesser more comical awards, I’m going to explain my lack of a round of the year award. I prefer the Japanese 1 10 min/1-2 5 min rounds because I think MMA is a sport that doesn’t need rounds. It’s a proper fight and while I don’t care about having rounds as much as I care about say stand-ups and while I understand that they allow more fights to get sanctioned and make some fights more exciting, I still prefer the fighters to go for as long as they can for a round or two then a couple of shorter rounds at the end so I will not include a round of the year. If I did have one I’d give it to Alvarez-Kawajiri because it ended in the first round even though that round was 10 minutes long.

Now, seeing how MMA isn’t as old as boxing, these are all going to be completely new and made up awards named after whoever wins them as I go remembering some of the funnier moments of the year.

Shonie Carter Award for Best Referee Stoppage/- Shonie Carter (Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker)
Bryan/Parker Award for Double KO of the Year- Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker
And here it is:

Just a prior warning, the next few awards go to EliteXC for their ‘Heat’ show, so make sure you have a bucket handy.

Shamrock/Kimbo Award for Most Entertaining Weigh-in of the Year- EliteXC: Heat
This weigh-in had two big feuds that almost flared up as well as some nudity from someone not quite as ugly as Kimbo Slice. Undercard attraction and probably the most well known female MMA fighter Gina Carano failed to make weight for like the 4th time in her MMA career but instead of letting it go like what has happened in the past, EliteXC officials made her strip all the way to see if the limited clothing she was wearing accounted for extra weight that she was over. Somehow it did. About four towels covered Carano (and from what I read on a few message boards the wet dreams of many fight fans) that were being held up by her handlers and a very embarrassed Carano made the contracted weight for her fight with Kelly Kobald. After the Arlovski-Nelson weigh in went off without any problems, EliteEX Welterweight Championship competitors Paul Daley and Jake Shields had to be seperated after Shields blew Daley a kiss during the staredown. The main event for this fight was between UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock and Youtube star Kimbo Slice (well at that stage it was) and going with his usual style, Shamrock decided to start some shit before the fight. While posing for the media in attention, Shamrock for absolutely no logical reason (Shamrock thinking he’s been disrespected isn’t a logical reason) pushed Slice in the back and caused the second near brawl of the weigh-in. This one took a lot longer to calm down though as both fighters had bigger entourages then Daley and Shields. Unfortunately, the actual card was no where near as entertaining as the weigh-in.

Jared Shaw Award for Worst Matchmaking of the Year- Kimbo Slice vs Seth Petruzelli (EliteXC: Heat)
Kimbo Slice Award for Most Pathetic Knockout of the Year- Seth Petruzelli KO1 (14 seconds) Kimbo Slice (EliteXC: Heat)
Ken Shamrock somehow got himself cut warming-up for the fight and EliteXC needed someone to step in and fight Kimbo Slice in their main event. After an offer from commentator Frank Shamrock was turned down because Shamrock, despite being 50lbs lighter then Kimbo, has some serious skills and would likely have beaten Kimbo anywhere the fight went and EliteXC couldn’t risk their main drawcard getting beaten by a Middleweight. Instead Jared Shaw came up with former TUF2 competitor Seth Petruzelli who was fighting in a Light Heavyweight bout on the preliminary card. Petruzelli was an unorthodox but fairly handy striker who also had some wrestling ability and Shaw tried to make sure it was his striking skills that he would be using against their apparent ‘top 10 Heavyweight boxer in the World’ by asking that Petruzelli stand with Kimbo. What Shaw didn’t know is that there is a difference in levels of striking between your good street fighters and your trained fighters. It took only 14 seconds for him to be wishing that he picked Frank Shamrock. Kimbo rushed across the cage in his usual fashion and backed Petruzelli against the fence. Petruzelli flicked out a jab while off balance and to his and everyone else’s surprised it dropped Kimbo onto all fours. Petruzelli pounced and landed several shots while on Kimbos back, then rolled him over and landed a barrage from, side control that forced the referee to stop the fight at just 0:14 of the first round.

Bob Sapp Award for Biggest Mismatch of the Year- Jan Nortje vs Bob Sapp (Strikeforce: At the Dome)
Some people might be surprised that I picked this fight over the Kinniku Mantaro fight against Sapp at the end of the year. Well the answer is obvious, that fight was competitive, this fight wasn’t. Jan Nortje was receiving a lot of hype for his 1-5 record that earned him a spot in the Strikeforce main event. They brought in monster of a man Bob Sapp to fight him because that wanted to see what happens when Nortje picks on someone his own size. The fight ended quickly after Nortje landed several hard blows that forced Sapp to run away, then chased him down and finished the job 55 seconds into the first round. It truly was a mismatch and the matchmakers at Strikeforce deserve an enquiry much more then EliteXC officials for bringing in someone as poor as Bob Sapp to fight a stud like Jan Nortje.

YAMMA Award for Worst MMA Show of the Year (maybe ever)- YAMMA Pit Fighting
Seriously this was just horrendous. The creators of the UFC tried to bring back eight man-one night tournaments and make MMA ‘more exciting.’ The tournaments were impossible to do like they used to be done, so they had to compromise. Because fighters could only fight five rounds a night, the first and second rounds of the tournament would be one round of fighting each with the Final fight being three rounds. YAMMA also had a ‘revolutionary’ new fighting surface in which the area of the mat around the edge of the fence would go up on an angle so that the wrestlers couldn’t just pin you up against the cage and drop elbows on your head. Basically YAMMA wanted their organisation to be striker friendly. Instead, the wrestlers backed their opponents onto the ‘ramp’ then took them down with ease because they were off balance and because the fights were only one five minute round, the fight was over right there and then. The tournament consisted of every match being won by lay and prey (including the three round final). The only slightly entertaining part of this event was the super fights between Butterbean and Patrick Smith (mainly because Butterbean got royally fucked up) and Oleg Taktarov vs the man who ate Mark Kerr (Taktarov won by kneebar about one minute in). The event was bad from the fights to the Ring Announcer, who was so bad I’ve named an Award after him.

Scott Ferrall Award for Worst Ring Announcer of the Year- Scott Ferrall (YAMMA Pit Fighting)
Scott Ferrall was funny but I wasn’t laughing with him. The guy was way too weird to be allowed to have his thoughts expressed on a microphone. He first announced referee Dan Miragliotta as “Big Dan Miragliotta STOMP YOU OUT!” and then “Big Dan the Man, How can I be the man if you’re the man, Dan Miragliotta (to which Dan shook his head in disgust).  Pulled off a terribly lame call in “Travis ‘The Diesel’ Gimme a room with a Wiuff.” One fighter he said “hadn’t eaten in a week because he’s going to the electric chair.” Referred to the YAMMA Championship belt as ‘the strap-on’ and probably the weirdest call he made was “Kevin Mulhall will be the referee for this beautiful matchup of warriors and freaks ready to pound and dance…”

Gone but not Forgotten
It’s sad that I have to do one of these for MMA. Boxing has been around for over 100 years and past champions are going to pass away each year and I feel it’s important to remember them. MMA on the other hand has been around for just 15 years and this year my favourite fighter, Evan Tanner, passed away way earlier then he should have.

Evan Tanner- Former UFC Middleweight Champion. Challenged Tito Ortiz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title at UFC 30 but lost. Defeated Dave Terrell for the UFC Middleweight title at UFC 51 and won with strikes in the first round. Lost the title to Rich Franklin on a doctors stoppage in his first defence at UFC 53. None of this was why I liked Evan Tanner. He kept a blog on his website which I read for over a year about everything that went on in his life, including all his adventures and even his battle with alcohol which he beat in order to return to the UFC this year. I admired not so much the way the man led his life but the way he was completely honest with himself about who he was and who he wasn’t. He died in September of this year from heat exposure after his motorbike broke down in the desert and he ran out of water. He was 37.

Evan Tanner (1971-2008)

UFC 89 Results

These are late but I only just got to sit down and watch the card in full. Despite there not being any big names on this card, all of the fights I watched were good in some way or another and this was a very good event. The UFC really are headand shoulders above the competition when they can put on a quality show like that without really even trying and organisations like EliteXC can go for broke and put on an event as nauseating as the Heat event the other weekend.

Michael Bisping Dec Chris Leben
I really thought both guys weren’t as good as their last showings where I thought both guys looked the best they’d ever looked. Leben’s striking went back to being one dimensional and Bisping was fighting like he was at light heavyweight where he seemed like he needed as much room to work as possible so he doesn’t get ragdolled. I really don’t know why Leben doesn’t throw more kicks like he did against Sakara. The kicks won him that fight because Sakara was in two minds about what was coming and Leben then found a home for his left hand. Bisping in my opinion needs to improve if he is to handle Franklin or Henderson who are his likely opponent in his next fight. I’d be surprised if he lasted three rounds with either of them.

Keith Jardine Dec Brandon Vera
I really don’t know whats happened to Brandon Vera. He no longer throws combinations, he no longer throws punches with any snap on them and he no longer looks like he has the hunger to win a tough fight. Vera was destroying good fighters at heavyweight, yet now he’s being outmuscled and outworked by light heavyweights. Keith Jardine deserves a lot of credit. His style is ugly to watch at times but he finds a way to beat good fighters and he is once again back in the mix. While the likely next title shot at Light Heavyweight will go to the winner of Rampage-Wanderlei, Jardine wouldn’t be too far behind them. If Rashad is to beat Griffin, I think there’s a good chance we’d see Griffin-Jardine II and I think Jardine has a very good chance at redoing what he did at UFC 66.

Luiz Cane 1st round knockout Sokoudjou
Luiz Cane is definately one of the top guys in this division. He has power to spare in his hands and from what I hear about his ground game, people are likely better off standing with him and risking getting knocked out. While I think he has shown that he will struggle against a good kickboxer (Sokoudjou isn’t a good kickboxer), Cane has the power to take any man out. Sokoudjou seems to be a Chuck Liddell style fighter in that he’ll outstrike any grappler who wants to take him down, but against someone with good strikes themselves he’ll look bad. I would like to see Sokoudjou show some of his Judo that he’s famous for at some stage, but I think the knockouts of Little Nogueira and Ricardo Arona have gone to his head, because there are plenty of better strikers out there then him.

Chris Lytle Dec Paul Taylor
What a fight! Easily fight of the night. Two things happened in this fight that I didn’t expect to happen. First of all, Lytle seemed to have the edge standing up even though taylor is a better technical striker. Second, Taylor was a lot better on the ground then I thought he’d be. While neither of these guys is going to beat Georges St Pierre, I don’t think anyone wouldn’t want to see these guys fight again.

Marcus Davis 2nd round Submission Paul Kelly
Kelly was absolute rubbish in this fight. I really don’t know what his strategy was but if it was throwing the same combination over and over again from outside of range then getting choked out the one time he took it to the ground then he accomplished his goal. Davis looked the best he’s ever looked in my opinion. He showed good boxing skills and good Jiu Jitsu when the fight hit the ground with a good guard pass in the first round as well as the finishing guillotine choke in the second round. I think the way to go with these last two fights (this one and Lytle-Taylor) is to match the winners (Davis vs Lytle) and the losers (Kelly vs Taylor II) of the respective fights. Davis vs Lytle is main card material and it would be a great fight as both guys have good boxing skills as well as good ground games although both of their wrestling sucks and Kelly vs Taylor II is a fight that would be easy to sell on the next British UFC.

Shane Carwin 1st round knockout Neil Wain
Carwin’s a beast of a man with huge power. The big test will be if he faces a good kickboxer or when he gets put on his back, but anyone he can take down who isn’t Nogueira or Werdum will be in a lot of trouble very quickly.

Post UFC 88 Thoughts

Rashad Evans KO2 Chuck Liddell
What else can be said other then HOLY SHIT!!!!! I’m still in shock over that result. That was like when Gonzaga Cro Cop’d Cro Cop because Rashad Liddell’d Liddell. Evans fought an extremely smart gameplan and frustrated the hell out of Liddell and made him open up and then showed surprising punching power and scored maybe the best one punch knockout I’ve seen in MMA. Dana White has apparently said that Evans will get the first shot at new champion Forrest Griffin. I really never thought we’d see the day when these two are the top two light heavyweights in the World. To be honest, as big as this win is, I’d be more interested in seeing Wanderlei Silva get the first shot at Forrest but with that impressive win it’s hard to argue with Evans getting his shot.
That very well could be the last we see of Chuck Liddell. I’d like to see him comeback and I think he might just so he doesn’t go out on that note. I think a rematch with Keith Jardine would be a good fight for him because if he can’t beat Jardine he won’t be getting anywhere in the future in this division. Liddell, like Matt Hughes, seems to have a target on his back and all these guys really analyse what is needed to beat him and they execute it. I’m still in shock over the fact that Rashad Evans could knock out Liddell yet Wanderlei Silva couldn’t. Despite this loss, in my opinion it doesn’t take away from the fact that Liddell is probably the greatest 205lber of all-time.

Rich Franklin KO3 Matt Hammill
Franklin is just in a totally different league. Hammill is a wrestler with very limited stand-up and against someone as well rounded as Franklin you’re going to pay the price. I’ve said it before (not on here though) that Hammill is ridiculously open for a body kick the way he holds his hands up. Honestly, the guy needs to learn some proper stand-up if he’s going to get anywhere because that stupid hands covering you’re head crap doesn’t cut it in a world class fight. I think Franklin could do alright at this weight, and I’d like to see him rematch Lyoto Machida who for anyone who doesn’t know is the other guy apart from Anderson Silva to beat Franklin.

Dan Henderson decision Rousimar Palhares, Nate Marquadt KO1 Martin Kampmann
Henderson can be very hot and cold and it shows how great he is when he can fight as far from his best as he was today and still win a wide unanimous decision. Palhares definately has a future in the UFC and I’d love to see him take on Demian Maia. There aren’t too many guys in the UFC who I think could avoid his ground game. His transitions are amazing and people who can’t appreciate that sort of ground fighting need to go and follow another sport because that was top notch BJJ.
A good fight that could be made now would be Henderson vs Marquadt. Even though Marquadt lost to Leites in his last fight, this fight would determine a highly rated contender in the middleweight division. I really didn’t rate Marquadt’s stand-up that highly before this fight but he showed great versatility in his strikes and good finishing instincts against an apparently top level kickboxer. It’s great to see MMA fighters punching to the body and it was the body punch that really finished off anything Kampmann had left. Marquadt-Henderson would be a great fight and while I wouldn’t like to see Marquadt-Silva II, I’d definately be interested in a Silva-Henderson rematch. Henderson is a legend of the sport and if he can beat someone like Marquadt in his next fight then I think he deserves another crack at Silva.

Dong Hyun Kim split decision Matt Brown
Strange fight. I scored it for Kim yet Brown seemed to be the one who did better. Its a good example of why the 10 point must system doesn’t really work over short fights and one of the reasons why I prefer the idea of PRIDE’s scoring system over the 10 point must system. Both fighters looked good and I’d like to see a rematch. I’m a big Matt Brown fan, mainly because he knocked out Jeremy ‘Douche Bag’ May but also because he’s a proper fighter who just likes to fight.

Preliminary Fights
I’ve only seen two of these so far, I’ll probably edit this post when I see Pellegrino-Tavares which is on UFC.com apparently.
Lambert doesn’t belong in the UFC as far as I’m concerned. Really, what does this guy do well? He’s lost three in a row now so its time for him to take his man tits and go fight on a lesser show. That guys body type just disgusts me, he looks like he came off the Biggest Loser.
Boetsch looks like he could be a handful in a few fights, but I doubt he’s going to get too high up. He’s strong and he hits hard, but against guys he can’t ragdoll or bully he’s going to fall short like he did with Matt Hammill.

Overall I got 5/9 fights right on this card. Round that down to 5/8 because NO ONE picked Rashad Evans and then add the razor thin decision with the Matt Brown-Dong Hyun Kim fight and I did ok. Anyone who got 7/9 today did very very well because there were some upsets and some close fights.

UFC 88 Predictions

The UFC is back this weekend with what looks to be another entertaining card headlined by former Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell. Liddell takes on TUF 2 Heavyweight winner Rashad Evans in the main event with Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson fighting (not each other) on the undercard.

Note- Karo Parisyan has pulled out of his fight with Yoshiyuki Yoshida with an apparent back injury. The Matt Brown-Dong Hyun Kim fight has been moved up from the preliminariy card to fill up the main card.

Main Card
Rashad Evans vs Chuck Liddell
Prediction- Liddell by 1st round knockout
I really don’t see how Evans can win this fight. This isn’t what I’d call a mismatch because both fighters are contenders and are around the same level, however Evans is tailor-made for Liddell. Liddell excels at fighting wrestlers with limited stand-up who have to get the fight to the ground in order to win the fight. Liddell is what Mark Coleman is to Ground and Pound or what Royce Gracie is to BJJ in MMA for Sprawl and Brawl fighters. He keeps these wrestlers standing up with him and uses his unorthodox but extremely effective style to knock these guys out. I think Evans could last to the 2nd or 3rd round, but he’s going to get knocked out at some stage. Liddells faced far better fighters who fight like Evans in the past and handled them with ease, you couldn’t have picked a better fighter for Liddell to fight right now.

Rich Franklin vs Matt Hammill
Prediction- Franklin by 2nd round knockout
It has to be said about this UFC, the worst two matchups on the card are the two main events. The same with Evans vs Liddell, I’m not sure what Hammill can do to Franklin that he hasn’t seen before. Hammill is improving with every fight, but even with his natural size advantage he won’t be able to handle Franklin. Franklin will pick him apart on their feet until he knocks him out. Hammill might get a takedown or two but he won’t do much damage while he’s there and Franklin may even submit him from his back. Hammill has a long way to go before I see him as anything but just a wrestler. Franklin by knockout.

Dan Henderson vs Rousimar Palhares
Prediction- Henderson by 2nd round knockout
I’m a little nervous about this fight. I’m a big Henderson fan and Palhares is a dangerous guy who might just match-up badly for Dan. Palhares has top notch submission wrestling skills but thats really where it ends for him. Henderson is a two-time Olympic wrestler with heavy hands and good submission defence. However, Henderson has this annoying habbit of giving his opponent the takedown instead of keeping it standing and utilising his boxing. It’s got him in trouble in the past and it could get him in trouble this weekend. I think he’ll be too smart and too strong in this fight and he’ll catch Palhares with a big right hand at some stage and put him to sleep. I won’t be in the least bit surprised if Palhares wins by submission though. If you were going to bet on an upset this weekend, this would be the fight to put your money on. I’m playing it safe and picking Henderson.

Martin Kampmann vs Nate Marquadt
Prediction- Kampmann on points
This is a good match-up. I really can’t think of better opponents for either of these guys right now. Kampmann needs a win over a big name middleweight and Marquadt needs a good win to bounce back from his disappointing loss to Thales Leites. I think both of these guys will cancel each other out on the ground, but I give the edge to Marquadt because he has better wrestling. I give Kampmann a big edge if the fights stays standing up and I think he’ll pick Nate apart to take the decision should be be able to avoid the takedown. I’ll be very susprised if this fight ends before the final bell.

Matt Brown vs Dong Hyun Kim
Prediction- Brown by 2nd round knockout
Matt Brown and Dong Hyun Kim get their chance to shine on the main card thanks to Karo Parisyan pulling out of his fight with Yoshida. I like Brown to win this fight, he’s a little pitbull in there and I think he’ll overwhelm Kim in this fight and knock him out. Its a tough one to call though because both guys are untested at this level and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kim submits him. I think this will be fight of the night.

Preliminary Card
Kurt Pellegrino vs Thiago Tavares
Prediction- Pellegrino on points
Pellegrino’s wrestling advantage will be the deciding factor in this fight. Both guys are well schooled enough to be able to avoid being submitted and both guys are fairly useless standing up. Pellegrino will control the top position and grind out a unanimous decision.

Jason Lambert vs Jason MacDonald
Prediction- MacDonald on points
Lambert makes his middleweight debut against Jasom MacDonald (who fought and lost on the last UFC card). I think Lambert will struggle in this fight because of all the weight he’ll have had to cut, not to mention he’s been knocked out in his last two fights. MacDonald will outwork a fatugued Lambert in the second half of the fight to take a close points win.

Tim Boetsch vs Mike Patt
Prediction- Boetsch by 1st round knockout
I don’t know a whole lot about Patt so I’m predicting out of my arse a little here.

Roan Carneiro vs Ryo Chonan
Prediction- Carneiro on points
After blue belt Kevin Burns tapped him out, I think Carneiro will be in tremendous shape for this fight with the intentions of putting that performance behind him. Chonan will make a fight of it as usual, but Carneiro will be too skilled and win a fight that will take place mostly on the ground by a wide decision.