I didn’t think this deserved any attention, but when the fight was changed to MMA rules and Mercer managed to upset the former UFC Heavyweight champion in his MMA debut, I thought I should chime in on it. For those of you who are yet to see the fight, here it is:
First thing I’m going to say is that I’m a huge Ray Mercer fan and I’m glad that he won this fight and ended his career on a bit of a positive. He was a talented although lazy heavyweight who could have made a lot more of his career if he took it a bit more seriously when he was younger and also didn’t fight in an era with such talented guys like Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes. He’s tried to make some money later in his career by taking stupid fights like his K-1 career and fighting guys like Wladimir Klitschko and Shannon Briggs. To see him score a win over someone like Sylvia under Sylvia’s rules was very satisfying for me.
Now, the issue that I want to address (and shoot down) in this post is the Boxing vs MMA one. Basically I see this fight as the one out of fifty occurrence that would happen if a good professional boxer fought an elite MMA fighter in his rules. That occurrence being the pro boxer gets his big punch off before the MMA fighter can either kick his legs out or take him down. The fact that Sylvia is more of a stand-up fighter anyway gave Mercer all the more chance and also the facts that Sylvia had been training boxing and was 310lbs makes that occurrence that much more possible.
The fact is, pro boxers will always have the advantage with their hands and being a good pro boxer is going to give you an advantage over someone in an MMA fight. It’s like being a world class submission artist; if you can keep the fight on your feet you’ll always have a punchers chance. The advantage top submission guys have is that most people naturally have a morons idea how to fight on their feet whereas fighting on the ground requires years of training to be competent in. Plus it’s easier for a submission fighter to keep an inexperienced ground fighter on the mat then it is for a good boxer to keep it standing up because boxing doesn’t train takedowns. Bascially what I’m trying to say is that MMA fans knock pro boxers as fighters a lot but they’re still dangerous fighters if you let them throw punches at you and thats what Sylvia did. If Sylvia shot after the opening bell he’d likely have got Ray down and submitted him with a rookie submission. I really hope Mercer retires on this and Sylvia gets back to fighting MMA seriously.
For the record, this win by Mercer takes zero away from Fedor’s win over Sylvia last year. If you think the Sylvia that fought Mercer was even remotely close to the Sylvia that fought Fedor then you need to unclench your fingers from around Dana Whites nut sack and do it now before you evolve into a nasty growth that he has to have surgically removed.
Fedor Emelianenko KO1 (punch) Andre Arlovski
Fedor Emelianenko won again over another top ranked opponent, knocking Andrei Arlovski out in the first round of their fight for Fedor’s WAMMA Heavyweight title. Arlovski was getting the better of the fight, using a solid one-two combination as well as hard leg kicks and front kicks which kept the former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion off balance throughout the contest. Fedor looked to be strung on a couple of occasions by Arlovski’s power but recovered quickly and fought back. Arlovski was also showing good takedown defence, avoiding going to the mat when the Sambo expert got a hold of him.
However as many other fighters have found, Fedor’s well rounded skills and patience proved Arlovski’s undoing and the one time Arlovski made a mistake Fedor ended the fight suddenly. Arlovski backed Fedor into a corner with a front kick and a right hand and then jumped in with a flying knee only to be caught in mid-air by a short overhand right and knocked unconscious. In a fight that lasted 3 minutes 14 seconds, Arlovski controlled probably 3:10 of that time and yet those few seconds is all that Fedor needed to end matters.
While Fedor did look human in this fight, Arlovski is one of the top fighters in the World and would likely destroy every Heavyweight in the UFC. The way to beating Fedor seems to be standing up but the thing is, no one has the sharp skills Arlovski has on his feet plus the wrestling skills and ground skills to keep Fedor from taking him down. It’s pick your poison with Fedor as he has more then enough stand-up skills to hang with 99% of the World’s Heavyweights and the ground skills to handle probably any of them, plus the takedowns and takedown defence to control where the fight goes. Lesnar is way too green and makes too many mistakes that a true Heavyweight with Fedor’s skills will capitilise on. Mir could catch Fedor on the ground but would likely be knocked out before he got the fight there. Fedor’s next opponent looks to be Josh Barnett and I don’t give Barnett much of a chance at all. His ground game is good, but it’s not at the level where he can catch someone like Fedor. Anyone not giving this guy his props right now is a fucking moron!
Josh Barnett Sub3 (strikes) Gilbert Yvel Sure he got the job done, but this was a seriously bad performance from Barnett. His ground game just looked sloppy, period. His punches didn’t look to be as devastating as some of the other fighters we see who get to the same positions and his submissions were slow enough for ever Gilbert Yvel to get out of. Barnett has to get back on form or improve if that’s all he’s capable of if he’s going to be fighting Fedor next.
Vitor Belfort KO1 (punches) Matt Lindland Wow! Vitor of old comes back (for now anyway). He blitzed Lindland in the same fashion he blitzed Wanderlei Silva and Martin Eastman and Tank Abbott and the likes those years ago. Lindland was out for a while and it was good to see him leave on his feet under his own control. A knockout like that is a potential career ender especially for a fighter in his late 30′s like Lindland. Vitor though, what a way to crack into the Middleweight elite. Lindland had a lot of hype at Middleweight as one of the top dogs even though he’s been relatively inactive so this is a huge win for Vitor. Rumour has it his Affliction contract has expired and the UFC is in need of top Middleweights. I’d definately be hyped for Belfort-Anderson Silva. Vitor’s never been knocked out before, so it’ll be interesting to see how that fight would go. Unlike Patrick Cote’ who just had a punchers chance, Vitor has that plus a BJJ black belt. Even though his heart can be questioned at times, Vitor’s as dangerous a challenger as anyone out there for Anderson Silva at 185lbs.
Renato Babalu Sub2 (Anaconda Choke) Sokoudjou Sokoudjou looked good early, but gassed out bad and Babalu is not someone you want on top of you know matter who you are. I would really like to see Babalu vs Little Nogueira now as they seem to be the top two 205lbers outside of the UFC. Babalu took some good shots but didn’t get discouraged and finished the fight with a slick choke as we’ve seen him do before. It was also good to see him let the choke go after Sokoudjou tapped.
Antonio Rogerio ‘Little’ Nogueira KO2 (knee) Vladimir Matyushenko Matyushenko surprised everyone including Nogueira by trying to box and he didn’t look too bad. Nogueira seemed tentative when it came to answering back thinking Matyushenko was just trying to get him to open up so he could take him down. The worst thing Matyushenko did was hurt and cut Nogueira because once he did that, Nogueira opened up and things got bad for Matyushenko. He got hurt with a solid knee to the midsection and then one to the head finished him off. The fight was strange as it was a mixture of really bad and really good.
Other Results Dan Lauzon Sub1 (Rear Naked Choke) Bobby Green
Jay Hieron TKO1 (strikes) Jason High
Paul Buentello TKO3 Kirill Sidelnikov
LC Davis UD3 Bao Quach
Alberto Rios UD3 Antonio Duarte
Brett Cooper KO2 (punch) Patrick Speight
Thoughts I’d love for Affliction to be able to stay around because, even though its not the UFC, it’s good to get something different with quality fights on it from time to time. Even if they just put a show on 2-3 times a year when Fedor fights I don’t care. Affliction is about the only way we’ll see Fedor in legitimate fights and they’ve delivered Sylvia and Arlovski, the two best UFC Heavyweights for a period of time already. Those two fights are among the biggest Heavyweight fights in MMA history. I hope there’s a third show, but if they do close down I hope Fedor and the UFC can come to terms so he can prove to everyone (well not everyone because there’s some morons out there) that he is the best MMA Heavyweight of all-time.
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.
Fedor Emelianenko submits Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds And what a 36 seconds it was. Fedor is the baddest man on the planet. I thought maybe he’d slipped a bit with the years of fighting relative no ones (to be fair he fought Mark Hunt at Shockwave 2006 and Hunt’s no mug) but he looked as good as ever against Sylvia. The punches that put Tim down were murderous, his ground and pound when Sylvia was hurt is just typical Fedor, and the fact that he could get that rear naked choke when Sylvia has defended well against that submission in the past in the time he got it in shows how good this guy is at grappling.
Fedor and Couture have to fight each other next. I don’t care where they fight or what it’s for but these guys have to fight. All this talk for years of who would win when the UFC and PRIDE Heavyweight champions fight each other, it just has to happen now. Randy is the UFC champion, and as far as I’m concerned he’ll stay that way until someone beats him. If I was Dane White, I’d swallow my pride, offer Fedor a $5 million one fight contract and have him fight Randy in the UFC. He’s better off to risk Fedor leaving the UFC after winning the title and having the biggest fight of all-time happen on his show (theres still a chance that Randy beats Fedor especially in the cage) then he is letting another organisation take all the glory.
Andrei Arlovski KO3 Ben Rothwell This fight reminded me of Arlovski vs Cabbage except that Rothwell punched back a bit more then Cabbage did. Excellent fight, probably the best of the weekend. Arlovski looked the best he’s looked since he lost his title back at UFC 59. Rothwell was a lot better then I thought he was, but he was just too slow to handle Arlovski. The leg kicks in the first round really slowed Rothwell down as I expected them to but he still fought on. That guy takes an incredible amount of punishment. In my opinion, Arlovski stands the best chance at beating Fedor out of anyone. He can match Fedor’s speed (well sort of) and because he is a former Sambo world champion, he’ll be a bit more prepared for Fedor’s ground game. In saying that, I’d still pick Fedor to beat Arlovski.
Josh Barnett KO2 Pedro Rizzo
I have to say, I’m a much bigger Barnett fan today then I was yesterday. I’ve always had it in for this guy, probably because I’m a huge Couture fan and Barnett has run his mouth in the past about their fight. He impressed the hell out of me yesterday. His stand-up was very good and he kept Rizzo off balance throughout the fight and the finish was top notch. I’d like to see Barnett in against either Sylvia or Arlovski next.
Vitor Belfort KO2 Terry Martin
Belfort looked pretty good. He was moving well and boxing well. He never allowed Martin to get in the fight. I don’t know how people thought Martin won the first round, he was getting jabbed and turned around repeatedly and only landed that one shot on Belfort’s shoulder while he was off balance. I’d like to see Belfort fight Matt Lindland, that would be an excellent fight. As for Lindland, he looked good considering he’d been out for a while. He needs to fight again soon though so he can keep himself in good fighting shape.
Other Comments The main thing that dissappointed me about this card was the quick stand-ups by the referee. For fuck sake, let these guys fight. Fighting on the ground is still fighting. These guys are the top of the food chain, they don’t need to be stood up. Stand-ups should only be used in lesser promotions to keep the fights interesting, when the guys are world class it should be entertaining enough that you’ve got two world class fighters fighting each other without the referee using his stupid arse opinion that stand-up fighting is more exciting then ground fighting. You just have to watch Wladimir Klitschko’s last two fights to know that isn’t always the case!
I like the ring in general (not as much as the cage though), but the Affliction ring definately needs some work. The ropes were way too slack, the table on the outside was dangerous and the referee’s don’t know what they’re doing with it. Why didn’t the referee’s restart them in the middle instead of turning them into the centre? Have these guys ever watched PRIDE before? If someone like me knows that the PRIDE officials used to turn them to the centre before they realised it was retarded and re-started them in the middle instead, then surely these guys in positions of power should know this as well right? As comical as the Japanese MMA is at times, they know how to work the ring. You need the officials on the outside supporting the ropes so the fighters don’t keep going through them, you need tight ropes and you need a referee who knows what the fuck is going on!
Overall, I enjoyed Affliction a lot. It beat the hell out of the UFC card (well on paper it should have). I’ve read people making fun of the back production but this is their second show. Go watch UFC 2 and see how bad that is. Megadeath worked better then I thought, I especially liked the intro with the fighters on the ramp. As you may have guessed I like my Japansese MMA, and this was similar to the PRIDE intros without the crazy Jap dude playing his drums and screaming. The production is only going to get better.
UFC: Silva vs Irvin Results
Anderson Silva KO1 James irvin When I said that Fedor is the baddest man on the planet before, thats only because he’s bigger then Silva. Pound for Pound, I think Silva is number one (although its very close) mainly because of the manner he’s destroyed the number 2 and 3 guys. Fedor is yet to beat Randy Couture who in my opinion is the number two guy in the World. If he goes through him like Silva went through Franklin and Henderson then I think he’ll take Silvas pound for pound title away. Oh yeah, Silva destroyed Irvin with the first heavy shot he landed, did anyone think he’d do differently?
Other Fights Vera looked sluggish, but that should be expected the first time he cut weight. Not to mention he was coming off back to back losses. He’ll be stronger next time he fights at 205lbs. Edgar fought a great fight, but I think he should go down to featherweight. Guys like Sean Sherk and Gray Maynard (who already beat him) are just going to outmuscle this kid if he stays at this weight. Jake O’Brien got bashed and I couldn’t be more happy. This guy doesn’t belong in the UFC, so they should get rid of him. He’s not a fighter, he’s a sexual deviant who likes to molest people. CB Dollaways submission was top notch and Burns should have been disqualified. Overall, it was a decent fight night, but not close to what Affliction was.
One last thing for those UFC nuthuggers who aren’t real MMA fans, Fedor beat Sylvia a lot better then Mir did and he beat a better version of Sylvia. He dropped him and made Sylvia tap out, he didn’t get taken down and have the ref stop it from an armbar (I very much believe that you have to tap for the fight to be stopped, if you’re crazy enough to fight with a broken arm then thats up to you). Not to mention Sylvia wasn’t straight off the roids yesterday like he was when he fought Mir. If you want to compare Fedor’s performance to anyone’s over Sylvia, then Arlovski is your man. But then again, Arlovski isn’t in the UFC anymore so that means he’s shit. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of competition, infact it will only make the sport better. Build a bridge and get over it!
I love it that the UFC responded in this fashion. Even though I won’t be watching this show live or anything, the UFC putting this show on is great for the fans and also great for Anderson Silva. I’m a big fan of champions having keep busy fights at higher weight classes. Considering how quickly this card was put together, this is a pretty good card, although it’s no where near as good as the Affliction: Banned event. If I had the choice between paying to watch Affliction and watching this for free, I’d pay for Affliction. This isn’t just some no name brand putting on a decent show with unknown fighters. Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Andre Arlovski and Josh Barnett (just to name a few) ate great fighters and the card rivals any UFC Pay Per View. Anyway, onto the fights.
James Irvin vs Anderson Silva Prediction- Silva by 1st round knockout Anderson Silva is the pound for pound best fighter in the World. There’s a couple of guys who are close to him, but as far as I’m concerned if you don’t agree with me on this then there’s something wrong with you. Anyone who can destroy the number two and three fighters in their respective weight class in the manner that Silva did (not to mention Henderson was also a top 5 205lber) has to be the top guy. Penn and GSP have both been dominant recently, but they haven’t been as dominant as this guy.
Silva should knock Irvin out, and he should do it pretty easily. Irvin is the hardest puncher that ‘The Spider’ would have faced, but Silva is going to make him look like he’s fighting underwater. Silva should dominate the stand-up with his awesome variety of knees, kicks, elbows and punches, and if Irvin gets the fight to the ground I think Silva will submit him. I’ll be surprised if this fight goes past the first five minutes.
Frankie Edgar vs Hermes Franca Prediction- Edgar on points
I like Franca, I’ve always been a big fan of his, but traditionally he’s had trouble with really good wrestlers and that’s what Edgar is. Edgar should be able to keep this fight on the ground and avoid Franca’s crazy submission attempts. The longer this fight goes, the less chance I give to Franca. If the fight stays standing I think Franca has a chance at catching Edgar and knocking him out. In fact, despite being known for his BJJ, I think Franca’s best chance in this fight is standing up. Edgar shouldn’t have any problems taking Hermes down and if he keeps it standing he’s playing with fire as Franca has awesome power in his right hand.
Reese Andy vs Brandon Vera Prediction- Vera by 1st round knockout There’s no way Vera is losing three in a row, especially when the third guy is Reese Andy.
Kevin Burns vs Anthony Johnson Prediction- Johnson by 2nd round knockout Despite submitting Carneiro, I don’t think Burns will be around in the UFC too long. I could very well be wrong and I’m sticking my neck out here, but I think Johnson will batter him.
CB Dollaway vs Jesse Taylor Prediction- Dollaway on points Both guys have a lot to prove here. I think Dollaway’s wrestling will be the deciding factor. I think this fight could end early as well if Taylor is as bad off his back as I suspect he is as Dollaway’s submissions are goog as are his strikes from on top. I also give the edge to Dollaway in the stand-up. My impression of Jesse Taylor is that he wins a lot of his fights through his physical strength, and that won’t work on someone like Dollaway. Taylor should be in peak condition and I think he’ll survive the three rounds, but lose comfortably.
Jake O’Brien vs Cain Velasquez
Prediction- O’Brien on points I hate Jake O’Brien. Fighters like him (often referred to as blankets) are exactly like John Ruiz in boxing (for those of you who don’t know, Ruiz held part of the Heavyweight Boxing title through hitting someone then wrestling them before they punch back). I prefer to watch fighters who actually try and inflict damage on their opponents (ie actually fight) rather then ride out a decision win because they’re afraid of what their opponent can do. In saying that, I can’t see Velasquez stopping O’Briens takedowns. Hopefully the ref stands the fighters up repeatedly (I usually hate stand-ups, but its fighters like these that make them necessary) so Velasquez has a chance at chinning O’Brien.
Tim Credeur vs Cale Yarborough
Prediction- Credeur by submission 1st round My pick hasn’t changed since these two were scheduled to fight on TUF7 Finale. I don’t rate Yarborough at all, Creduer to get on top and finish him with whatever he feels like.
Besides these fights, the UFC is giving a few guys their UFC debut on the preliminary show. I can’t recall having seen any of these so I won’t predict any of those fights. Many of them are ex IFL guys which adds support to a rumour that the UFC is going to purchase the IFL.
I’m really looking forward to this event! This has to easily be the single greatest event (on paper) that isn’t either a PRIDE or UFC event. Fedor vs Sylvia puts two of the top five heavyweight fighters in the world against each other, plus the undercard has a number of top fighters on it. Arlovski vs Rothwell is a great fight, as is the Barnett vs Rizzo rematch. Big props to Main Event for showing this fight to Australian fans, and I don’t even care that this is Pay Per View because the main event alone is worth the price! Anyway, onto the fights.
Main Card
Fedor Emelianenko vs Tim Sylvia
(WAMMA Heavyweight Title)
Prediction- Emelianenko by 2nd round submission
A lot of people (especially American fans who have only seen American promotions) are yet to see the phenom that is Fedor Emelianenko. I’ve seen all but 2 or 3 of his fights, this guy is for real! His stand-up is explosive (although sometimes not overly technical), his takedowns are up there with the very best in MMA, he has the best top game out of any fighter I’ve ever seen, and he has nasty submissions and in my opinion the best sweeps from his back out of anyone in MMA.
However, I give a slight edge to Sylvia in the stand-up because of his reach. Fedor is yet to fight someone this tall with the takedown defence Sylvia has. In saying that though, Fedor will only need one takedown to win this fight. He’ll either pound Sylvia unconscious or pass his non-existant guard and end the fight with an arm lock. I’m not convinced Sylvia can keep the fight standing for 25 minutes when lesser wrestlers have gotten him down easier. If Fedor gets on top once in this fight and has a minute to work with he’ll end the fight. In saying that, I’m not 100% confident that Fedor wins this fight. His lack of quality opposition in recent years as well as Sylvia’s awkward style gives Big Tim a chance in this one, but I’m convinced Fedor will be at his best and he’ll announce his presence in the USA with a dominating display. I’ll be interested to hear Dana White’s comments on Fedor after he destroys Sylvia.
Andrei Arlovski vs Ben Rothwell Prediction- Arlovski by 1st round knockout
Arlovski hasn’t looked himself in his last few fights, but I think that has more to do with his opponents then his skills. In his last three fights he’s fought two pure BJJ fighters who had an inability to get the fight to the ground which made Arlovski look bad, and a wrestler who does nothing but lie on people until the final bell rings. Rothwell will stand-up and fight with Arlovski and it should be an entertaining fight. Rothwell has dangerous stand-up, but I think he’ll have a lot of trouble with Arlovski’s speed. I don’t think this fight will go a round whichever way it goes, but I think Arlovski will use speed and angles and punch holes in Rothwell, knocking him out in the first.
Josh Barnett vs Pedro Rizzo Prediction- Barnett on points
This fight is a rematch of a UFC 30 fight that was a war. In that fight both fighters exchanged heavy punches until Rizzo knocked Barnett out with a pair of right hands in the 2nd round. Since that fight both guys have gone in different directions. Rizzo suffered two losses to Randy Couture for the UFC title and has been inconsistent since, while Barnett beat Couture (he later tested positive for steroids and was stripped of the title) and then went on to have a successful PRIDE career. Barnett should win this fight, he’s the more consistent fighter and has improved a lot since their 2001 fight. I think Barnett will give as good as he gets in the stand-up and control the ground fighting, winning a clear unanimous decision.
Matt Lindland vs Fabio Negao
Prediction- Lindland on points I’m not sure why this fight made the main card, there’s three better fights on the preliminaries involving bigger names in the sport. Matt Lindland is boring and I’m not sure he has any friends either. I hope Negao beats him but I doubt it, Lindland to win with lay and prey.
Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral vs Mike Whitehead
Prediction- Sobral on points
This should be a good fight, and will really test where Mike Whitehead is as a fighter. I was a big Babalu fan but his antics at UFC 74 turned me off him a bit. Babalu has a big edge in submissions and striking, but Whitehead is the better wrestler of the two and thats where I think he could give Babalu trouble. However, Babalu is also a good wrestler and should be able to control where the fight goes. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a finish in this fight, but I think it will probably go the distance with Babalu winning clearly.
Preliminary Fights
Paul Buentello vs Aleksander Emelianenko Prediction- Emelianenko by 1st round knockout
Aleksander should take him apart. Once he finds his range in this one Buentello will be reduced to a punching bag. Buentello has a strong punchers chance in this fight, but Aleksanders game is on a different level. Aleksander to kick Buentellos legs out from under him and end the fight towards the end of the first round with some strong punches.
Edwin Dewees vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Prediction- Nogueira by 1st round submission
I would have preferred to see Vernon White in this fight because he at least has the size to compete with Little Nog. Dewees has been submitted by smaller guys in the past, and those guys aren’t anywhere near as technical as Nogueira is. This fight will be like the Dan Henderson-Big Nogueira rematch without the submission defence.
Vitor Belfort vs Terry Martin Prediction- Belfort by 1st round knockout
Both fighters have had some real highlight reel knockouts in the past. Belfort has spectacularily knocked out Tank Abbott, Tra Telligman, Wanderlei Silva and Marvin Eastman just to name a few. The trouble that Terry Martin has is that he’s always the one getting knocked out in the highlight reel. I expect this to be no different. Belfort to come out with hands blazing and catch Martin inside the first few minutes. However, if Martin can impose his wrestling on Belfort we could see sad Vitor come out and do all he can to survive a storm of nothing.
Mark Hominick vs Savant Young
Prediction- Hominick by 1st round knockout I’ll admit, I don’t know anything about Young. My rule with predicting unknown fighters though is never expect too much out of them. Hominick to go through Young pretty quickly.
JJ Ambrose vs Mike Pyle
Prediction- Pyle by 2nd round submission I always like a battle of submission guys (as long as it doesn’t end up being decided on the feet). Pyle should be too experienced, and I think he will catch Ambrose with a rear naked choke in the second round.
Justin Levens vs Ray Lizama
Prediction- Levens on points Two guys on losing streaks. Levens has been in with the much better opposition despite a five fight losing streak, so I’m picking him based on that.
