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.

EliteXC: Heat Results

Before the fights started it was announced that Ken Shamrock got cut warming up and couldn’t take place in his fight against Kimbo Slice. Seth Petruzelli instead fought Kimbo in the main event.

Seth Petruzelli KO 1st round (0 minutes and 14 seconds) Kimbo Slice
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry, that wasn’t very professional. Still, it was fucking hilarious. Slice got dropped by a light punch and was completely helpless and against a TUF reject. Dana White must have pissed his pants laughing when he heard about it (I’m assuming he didn’t actually watch it). I do like Kimbo, but I don’t like his fans. Kimbo seems like a decent guy who has made a living doing something that he’s good at, but he’s by no means the best in the World. His idiot fans who would go on youtube threads and talk about how he’d beat Fedor and Liddell and Wladimir Klitschko when infact he (was) a big guy who lifted weights and knew how to box a bit fighting stiffs in his backyard. I like it that Kimbo trains properly and wants to make a career out of this, but the fact that he was the face of MMA to the general public is a concern and it was good that he got annhilated by a journeyman on the main event of a nationally televised card in USA. I really think this could be the end of EliteXC, but then again they just announced the Eddie Alvarez-Nick Diaz fight which will be awesome.

Andrei Arlovski KO 2nd round Roy Nelson
The refereeing in this fight was horrendous. What the fuck posseses a referee to stand the fighters up when someone has side control and is looking for a kimura? I don’t think Nelson would have finished the fight from there because Arlovski seemed comfortable but the fact remains; Nelson took Arlovski down, he passed his guard and he was looking to finish but because EliteXC’s target audience has an IQ of -10 and they don’t understand how MMA works they bring it back to their feet because apparently ground fighting isn’t really fighting. As far as I’m concerned, if you don’t like ground fighting you aren’t a true MMA fan. Yeah sometimes it can be boring and stand-ups are required for the lesser shows where they don’t have as much finishing ability but in a fight between two world class heavyweights let the fighters sort it out for themselves. If you get dumped on your back and have your guard passed you’re at a level where you should have to work out of it yourself. It makes me sick watching referees get involved like that.
As for the rest of the fight, Arlovski didn’t look great but then he did take the fight on short notice. I think Barnett has the tools to beat him if he can get the fight to the ground and I think Fedor would ruin him if they fought. The finish though was typical Arlovski with good clean punching and a rarely seen variety of punches in MMA. Roy Nelson fought well and I think with a bit more cardio (I’m not sure if he is just normally out of shape or if the short notice made him more out of shape then normal) then he’d make a good opponent for a lot of decent heavyweights.

Jake Shields submission (armbar) 2nd round Paul Daley
This was a good fight. Much of it was spent with Shields mounting Daley but Daley had his moments as well. Shields was way too anxious to finish the fight and rushed that armbar in the first round which would have proved to be bad if there was more time left because Daley landed some sickening elbows. Shields also seemed to gas rather quickly (that could be because he’s been finishing everyone quickly) which could bring his downfall against better welterweights then Paul Daley. After the fight Shields talked of fighting Robbie Lawler for the EliteXC Middleweight title; with Kimbo’s loss this is the sort of thing EliteXC needs to put on to get more people watching. I’d pick Lawler in that fight, but the winner would be very marketable.

Gina Carano UD3 Kelly Kobald
I only saw the end of this fight. From what I saw, Carano has excellent takedown defence now and throws some vicious strikes. Kobald made a good fight of it though and was in it in the round that I watched. From what I’ve read of the first two rounds it was a good fight and could only help improve the legitimacy of womens MMA. The commentators repeatedly asking the fighters why they fight MMA won’t though.

Benji Radach KO 2nd round Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua
Radach throws some big punches. Ninja seemed old and just couldn’t deal with his stand-up. He had his moments with the attempted leglocks and probably won three and a half minutes of the first round but got beaten up in the other 90 seconds. Radach has the skills to test Robbie Lawler, especially if he can score with his right hand.

EliteXC: Heat Predictions

Another good non-UFC MMA card takes place this weekend with EliteXC: Heat on CBS for all those American fans. In the main event UFC Hall of Famer and the one time so called World’s Most Dangerous Man Ken Shamrock faces so called Undisputed Youtube Bareknuckle Heavyweight Champion Kimbo Slice. Shamrock has lost 8 f his last 9 fights and Slice is relatively untested, however I think this fight will be interesting (more on that later). The rest of the card features EliteXC Welterweight Champion (and about the only non-UFC Welterweight who I think could give the UFC Welterweight division some trouble) Jake Shields defending his title against Paul Daley. Also in a co-promoted fight with Affliction, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski returns to face recently bankrupted IFL’s reigning Heavyweight champion Roy Nelson. Gina Carano is also on the card against Kelly Kobald and even though I’m usually not that comfortable watching women fight (that isn’t intended to be sexist, I just don’t usually like it), I do like watching Carano because her fights are usually entertaining.

Ken Shamrock vs Kimbo Slice
Prediction- Shamrock by 1st round leglock submission
I’ve mentioned this in another post, I think Slice will be put on his back and exposed. Shamrock might suck these days but he has the wrestling ability to put Kimbo with his non existant takedown defence on his back, open his legs and submit him with a heel hook. Shamrock’s submissions are old school, Kimbo’s grappling is probably mostly new school so I think he’ll be surprised by some of the ways Shamrock will attack him. If Slice has improved his takedown defence I think he’ll batter Shamrock and knock him out quickly. Either way this fight won’t go past a few minutes.

Paul Daley vs Jake Shields
(EliteXC Welterweight title)
Prediction- Shields by 2nd round submission
As I said, Shields is the best non-UFC Welterweight out there. Daley is a good fighter but I think he’s outclassed here. Shields is coming off three first round wins over three quality opponents and I think that his experience against good fighters will play a big factor in this fight. Daley probably has the better stand-up but I think Shields will be able to get the fight where he wants it and finish him, I’m going to say with a rear naked choke after busting him up with some punches in the first round.

Andrei Arlovski vs Roy Nelson
Prediction- Arlovski by 1st round knockout
Nelson is a big guy, but Arlovski’s speed should prove too much for him in this fight. Arlovski will break him down with leg kicks and right hands until he can’t take anymore. There will be a big advantage to the Pitbull in terms of reach and he has by far the better stand-up. Also I’m not sure what Nelson has been up to lately while Arlovski has been training for a fight with Josh Barnett that was meant to happen in a few weeks. Nelson has heavy hands so I’ll be nervous watching this fight.

Other Fights
I can’t see Carano losing just yet, it’d be bad for business for them to match her with someone who will beat her. Kobald is meant to be good but I think Carano will win inside the distance.
Murilo Ninja fights Benji Radach (I’d be more then happy to watch him pound two shades of shit out of the World’s Biggest Douchebag Tony Bonello again but thats probably just me and everyone who’s heard him open his mouth before) as well and should win that fight, probably by strikes sometime in the first two rounds. The rest I don’t care that much about to be perfectly honest. It should be an entertaining(although pointless in terms of watching the best fight the best) card anyway.

Kimbo Slice takes on ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’

Kimbo Slice will headline EliteXC’s third CBS card taking on UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock on October 3rd. Shamrock has won one out of his last ten fights so on paper he looks to be a stepping stone for Kimbo who has won all of his victories inside the distance including a first round knockout win over David ‘Tank’ Abbott and a 3rd round stoppage over James Thompson.

This fight is a step down from Thompson no doubt, but I really think this is a good fight for EliteXC and for Kimbo Slice. Thompson may be better then Shamrock now, but he has no where near the credibility that the former UFC Heavyweight Champion has (Shamrock was the first to hold the Superfight title so in my books that makes him the first heavyweight champion). If Kimbo knocks Shamrock out, it will attract a larger audience because people know of Shamrock because of the Ultimate Fighter and because of his years in Professional Wrestling. Despite the difference in name value, the thing that Shamrock has that no one else Kimbo has fought had is good submission skills.

Not only does Shamrock know how to put a submission on, he’s old school with his grappling and has a wide variety of unorthodox submissions; in particular his leglocks. Shamrock will catch any man alive in a leg lock if they don’t know how to defend one. Thompson could wrestle and put Kimbo on his back, but he doesn’t have the devastating ground and pound of a Fedor Emelianenko or an Igor Vovchanchyn which means he was going to struggle to finish Kimbo. If Shamrock puts Kimbo on his back and passes to half guard, I can really envision him spinning around into a kneebar and tapping Kimbo. I can also see Shamrock dropping back and tapping Kimbo with a heel hook given the oppurtunity. This is a dangerous fight for Kimbo if it hits the ground. The question that needs to be answered is whether or not Shamrock can put Kimbo there. Going off Kimbo’s last fight I think that there’s a good chance of it happening.

In my opinion this is a good fight. It’s certainly not a fight I would pay to watch, but for a card on free to air television I’d definately tune in if they showed it in Australia. This is a good step in the right direction for Kimbo and will answer a few questions of him. Basically the way I see this fight is that if Kimbo wins it in fashion, he will prove that he is better then a mid-level fighter from 2000-2001 because thats basically what Shamrock is right now. Shamrock really looked bad against Robert Berry, his wrestling looked weak and his stand-up was poor. I’m hoping he can turn back the clock a bit and make a fight out of it because I’d love to see him go out with a win. Despite the shit he talks I like watching Shamrock fight.

DREAM.4 and EliteXC Results

DREAM.4 Results

Shinya Aoki vs Katsuhiko Nagata
I didn’t even realise a gogoplata from the mount was possible. Aoki has to be the most creative fighter I’ve seen since Kazushi Sakuraba. With this win Aoki becomes the 2nd fighter to finish two MMA fights by gogoplata and the first one to finish one from the mount. I agree with Adam Morgan of fiveouncesofpain.com that this finish should be renamed ‘the Aokiplata’ out of respect to his creativity. If you get the opportunity to see this fight, it’s a must watch. Aoki is definately one of my favourite fighters to watch in any MMA organisation and is my pick to win the DREAM lightweight Grand Prix.

Gegard Mousasi vs Dong Sik Yoon
Mousasi looked very impressive en route to a unanimous decision win. He has excellent wrestling and grappling abilities for a striker, avoiding the takedown numerous times and also passing Dong’s guard. Yoon almost pulled off his trademark ‘Dong-bar’ (what he calls a straight arm bar) and it even looked like Mousasi tapped before escaping the submission attempt but if he did tap I don’t think he would have stopped tapping and then suddenly escaped. Mousasi is my pick to win the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix although I think Jacare will submit him if the fight hits the mat.

Zelg Galesic vs Taiei Kin
Not much to say about this fight because of the freak ending. Kin broke his arm after being taken down by Galesic after about a minute of fighting. This fight appears to be cursed after the freak cut from the first fight last year in K-1. I’m not sure what to think of Galesic, but I don’t think he’ll reach the final two.

Ronaldo Jacare vs Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller
This was the most entertaining fight of the card, with Jacare winning a decision after 15 minutes of top level grappling. Jacare locked in two heel hooks that would have forced most sane men to tap out, unfortunately for him Mayhem is one of the most insane fighters I’ve ever seen and all he did was smile and put his thumbs up. Mayhem came back strong in the final round but his guillotine choke attempt cost him any chance at winning. I think Jacare will make the final two as long as he doesn’t run into Mousasi in the semi finals. His stand-up is a little suspect and Mousasi’s takedown defence should keep the fight standing.

Melvin Manhoef vs Kazushi Sakuraba
Unfortunately I picked this fight correctly and Melvin Manhoef destroyed Sakuraba in little over a minute. Sakuraba is one of my favoutite fighters ever and it was sad to see him take a beating like that. That referee should be shot for letting him take the punishment he did, the fight should have been stopped after the high kick. Sakuraba is a legend of the sport and this defeat doesn’t tarnish his legacy, although he really should retire. He physically can’t do what he used to after years of fighting larger men. Mousasi I feel will be in trouble if Mousasi gets his wish and they fight in the first round of the Final.

EliteXC: Return of the King
KJ Noons looked extremely impressive, destroying Yves Edwards in about 30 seconds. The final flurry was something to witness, he looked like a normal ground and pounder in fast forward. Nick Diaz looked alright, although not making weight by 9lbs took any shine off his performance. Tony Bonello was completely in over his head against Ninja Rua.

Prediction Results
I had a good weekend, scoring 5/6 out of the fights I thought were worth picking (I got all of the others right, they were pretty one sided though) and getting four out of those five with the correct outcome. The only fight I got wrong was the EliteXC main event, and I underrated Noons’ boxing ability.

DREAM.4 Predictions

I’m a little strapped for time, so I’m just going to throw up picks for the main fights this weekend. I’m looking forward to the DREAM event as I’m a big fan of Japanese MMA shows, although I’d like to have seen Sakuraba fight someone who isn’t going to bash his head in. I also really like the tournaments even though the best guy usually doesn’t win it. The two DREAM tournaments currently taking place aren’t the greatest lineups of talent out there, but they both have some good fighters in there.

DREAM.4 Predictions

Shinya Aoki vs Katsuhiko Nagata
(Lightweight Grand Prix)
Aoki by decision after 15 minutes

Ronaldo ’Jacare’ de Souza vs Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller
(Middleweight Grand Prix)
Jacare by decision after 15 minutes

Yoon Dong-sik vs Gegard Mousasi
(Middleweight Grand Prix)
Mousasi by decision after 15 minutes

Zelg Galesic vs Taiei Kin
(Middleweight Grand Prix)
Galesic by knockout inside 10 minutes

Melvin Manhoef vs Kazushi Sakuraba
(Middleweight Grand Prix)
Manhoef by knockout inside 10 minutes

EliteXC: Return of the King

Yves Edwards vs KJ Noons
(EliteXC Lightweight Title)
Edwards by submission in the 2nd round
I can’t see Edwards letting his chance slip now that he has finally got himself a title shot. Noons is a good stand-up fighter but I think Edwards can match him standing up and will destroy him when the fight inevitably hits the mat.