UFC: Rio shaping up, Shogun-Griffin II to co-main event

The card for UFC’s return to Brazil is starting to take shape and is looking to be one of the more entertaining cards of the year, on paper at least. Middleweight king Anderson Silva is expected to take on the last man to hold a victory over him in Yushin Okami (as bogus as that win was, another story for another day) in the main event of the night, a fun rematch between former Light Heavyweight champions will co-feature. Recently disposed of UFC Light Heavyweight champion and former PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua takes on the man who ruined his UFC debut in Forrest Griffin. These two previously met at UFC 76 in September of 2007 with Griffin winning in a war via rear naked choke in the closing seconds of the fight.

I really think this is a bad matchup for Shogun coming off the battering he received from Jones. Griffin is another big guy with solid fundamentals who has the ability to shut down Shogun’s game with his size, plus he is a much more polished fighter then he was when he took on Shogun in 2007. That fight was the fight that Griffin showed what he had in and he’s only improved since. In saying that though, Shogun didn’t have much in the way of cardio in that first fight and Griffin’s chin has since been exposed a few times so it’s a hard fight to call. Rematches in MMA are often so hard to predict especially when you have two top guys fighting four years after they first fought. Fighters and fighting evolve and change so much in four years that it’s hard to picture how the fight will go the second time around. One thing I think this fight won’t be is boring, the way these two fight (especially if Shogun brings cardio this time) it’s going to be a high tempo dog fight with either Shogun’s cardio or Griffins chin giving out. I am leaning towards Griffin though, I think he’s a bad style matchup for Shogun and it may be the push Shogun needs to think about dropping to 185.

Also on this card is another fun slugfest featuring PRIDE 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix champion Takanori Gomi against rising Brazilian Edson Barboza. Barboza is 2-0 in his UFC career and 8-0 overall, coming off a points win over Anthony Njokuani at UFC 128. Gomi’s coming off a loss to Clay Guida and will need to put the prospect away in order to stay relevant in the division. Add to this the possible return of Royce Gracie and it should be an entertaining card (if not the most important one of the year).

UFC 104: Machida vs Shogun; why Shogun shouldn’t be ruled out

UFC 104 is now just a few hours away and despite any lack of depth to the card, the main event gives an almost boxing-like feel to the card with the magnitude of the fight. I write this article mainly because of the lack of a chance people seem to be giving Shogun to win. Having seen a lot of Shogun’s MMA career, I know for a fact that he stands an excellent chance and while I think he’ll have to fight a near perfect fight to win this fight, I honestly think he will win it. No one is invincible and that includes Lyoto Machida and I feel style wise that Shogun has the best chance to win this fight and here’s why:

Muay Thai
Shogun brings something that is yet to be seen by Machida in his MMA career in terms of Shogun’s excellent Thai Boxing skills. Shogun is the stereotypical Muay Thai fighter in that his knees and kicks are far better then his hands (don’t let the Liddell left hook KO fool you, that was set up with the numerous leg kicks he had landed earlier in the round). Leg kicks, if properly utilised, will be a big factor in this fight for the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix champion as Machida relies heavily on his foot speed to work the unorthodox angles that he uses to avoid strikes. If Shogun finds a home for a few well placed low kicks early in the fight, Machida’s foot speed should slow allowing for Shogun to work his top level clinch game and takedowns as well as being able to better capitilise on Machida’s hands down approach. With his legs unable to move him out of range at the speed he likes, fighting with his hands down will be a dangerous approach and something that history in combat sports has told us is that the fighters with the better defensive game are usually over compensating for a weaker chin.

Foot Speed
Machida’s uncanny agility for a man of his size is what has given everyone he’s faced problems in their fights. Shogun’s foot speed was also legendary back in his PRIDE days where he could trap even the most fleet footed opponents up against the ropes. The difference here is the size of the UFC Octagon and the PRIDE ring aren’t even comparable. However, a recent quote from Shogun says that he is now comfortable with the Octagon size and has altered his game to adjust to the larger fighting surface. I think with Shogun’s mobility he’ll be able to cut the distance quicker then anyone Machida has faced and land those leg kicks or get that clinch where he can do damage to Machida.

Conditioning/Durability
Machida is used to fighting at the pace he likes to fight at. I really think he has to get Shogun out of there in the first two or three rounds if he wants to win this fight because of the pace Shogun sets. Shogun set a world class pace in his glory days in PRIDE and either he’s going to get caught early or his pace will wear on Machida. Apart from the odd hiccup in his fights, Machida has fought his entire career at the pace he wants to and has never been through a long war into the late rounds. Shogun sinks opponents with the pace he sets as he is relentless and as soon as they slow down a little bit he becomes overwhelming. With so many questions being asked about his conditioning due to the Coleman and Griffin fights, the question people should also be asking is what happens if Shogun is in shape (which considering the magnitude of the fight is the more likely scenario) and he gets Machida into a dog fight that lasts past the 2nd or 3rd round? Shogun has been into the late rounds in tough fights, Machida hasn’t. Can Machida handle the pace if he’s actually pushed? Shogun also has a solid chin and while Machida is an excellent puncher, I think he’ll have to batter the former Chute Boxe member in order to finish him.

Ground Game
Most noted for his Muay Thai game, people who watched Shogun in his PRIDE days know that the best aspect of his game is probably his ground game. Shogun’s top game is as dangerous as anyone due to his unorthodox ways of striking from the guard as well as his escapes from the bottom (something UFC fans would have seen against both Coleman and Griffin) and his submissions, in particular his leg locks, are deadly. Should this fight hit the ground you’d have to give Shogun a huge advantage. While Machida is a black belt himself and has won by submission, I really don’t think his ground game is at the level of Shoguns and considering the fight is unlikely to hit the ground unless Shogun has enforced his game on Machida somewhat. In that case I think a tired Machida will struggle to deal with a fired up Shogun on top of him.

In saying that…..
There’s a lot that has to go right for Shogun to win this fight. Machida’s hands are far superior and he’ll be the crisper fighter early on in this fight. Plus we really don’t know how good Shogun is off the back of a knockout win over a (seemingly) over the hill Chuck Liddell (to be fair to Liddell, all of his KO losses have come to guys who have gone on to be UFC champions). The last two times Shogun has been into the late rounds he has struggled with his fitness and it even cost him in his fight with Forrest Griffin. But with this being the biggest fight of Shogun’s career, you have to assume it will be the best Shogun we’ve seen and for those of you who have seen what he was capable of in his 2005 run to win the PRIDE Grand Prix you’d all know that this guy is a serious threat. All these so called experts on some of the sites have written Shogun off because Machida is the more hyped fighter of the moment and has looked unbeatable and have even gone to the extremes to say this is a meaningless title defence. To them I say, do your homework, learn the history of the sport and don’t go jumping on every bandwagon that comes along. As a long-time Shogun fan, I’m going out on a limb and predicting that Mauricio Shogun will win by 4th round TKO after kicking Machida’s legs out early and imposing his deadly clinch and top game on him in the later rounds.

Fifty Greatest Fights in UFC History Part 1/5

With the UFC running their top 100 fights of all-time in celebration of the UFC 100 card next weekend (and doing such a shit job with some of the fights they selected), I thought I’d go to a certain amount of effort and come up with what I believe is the best 50 fights in UFC history. I’ve gone over and watched plenty of old fights in the past two weeks which is one of the reasons I’ve made few updates on the site in recent times and I hope I haven’t left anything too obvious out. I’ll be doing this over the next five days with five posts, enjoy:

50- Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson unanimous decision Dan Henderson (UFC 75)
Sure, not the most action packed fight of all-time but given it’s historical significance as well as the back and forth battle between the two I feel it deserves a place in my 50 even if it comes at 50. This was the long awaited mega fight all UFC and PRIDE fans had been waiting for between the UFC 205lb champion and the PRIDE 205lb champion, except that it got less attention because it wasn’t Liddell vs Silva. Rampage had knocked out Liddell at UFC 71 and Henderson KO’d Wanderlei at PRIDE 33 setting up what ended up being a very underrated fight. Henderson controlled early with his wrestling but after Rampage had an answer for Henderson’s takedown game the two became locked in a very even battle that Rampage came on top of due to superior conditioning.

49- Eugene Jackson knockout (2nd) Royce Alger (UFC 21)
A wild slugfest from the dark ages with Middleweight journeyman Jackson scoring a dramatic one punch knockout over a tiring Alger in the early part of the 2nd round. Alger was a well credentialed wrestler who scored numerous takedowns in the early goings of the fight, even advancing his position and doing damage which was unheard of for wrestlers of that age. Alger suffered from the typical lack of long term conditioning that top wrestlers had back then, and Jackson began escaping and landing shots. After a wild first round of takedowns, escapes and heavy punches being thrown, Jackson ended things quickly in the 2nd round.

48- Tito Ortiz split decision Forrest Griffin (UFC 59)
A fight that the UFC would like it’s fans to forget is the one where Tito Ortiz, the former golden boy of the UFC who Dana White hates, edged out one of their poster boys Forrest Griffin by split decision. It was Tito’s comeback after a period off contract with the UFC and his opponent was the ever popular TUF1 champion Forrest Griffin who was 2-0 since winning the show. Ortiz quickly attempted to show Griffin he was out of his league, scoring a takedown and landing with heavy elbows for the majority of the first round that rocked and bloodied Griffin. Griffin somehow survived the onslaught and began opening up on his feet in the 2nd round, scoring with rapid punches although Ortiz was landing some solid straight shots back on Forrest. With the crowd on Forrest’s side going into the third, he again tried outworking a tiring Tito but the two traded evenly with Forrest again scoring more and Tito landing the harder shots. A late takedown from Ortiz looked like it could be enough, but Forrest escaped and the fight went to the judges where Tito scored an unpopular (I actually thought he won) split decision victory.

47- Phillip Miller submission (2nd) Mark Weir (UFC 40)
If you have never seen this fight, it’s a war that could have easily been higher if anyone, anywhere knew who either of these two were. Mark Weir was coming off the quickest KO in UFC history over Eugene Jackson while Miller was a solid wrestler who lay and prayed his way to victory on the same card. The fight was back and forth with Miller scoring repeated takedowns only for Weir to escape and rock Miller with shots. In the 2nd round, Miller seemed to be out but again scored a takedown and dramatically took Weirs back and sunk in the choke for the victory. Miller would retire not long after with a 16-0 record including a 2-0 run in the UFC.

46- Don Frye submission (2:14) Gary Goodridge (UFC 8.)
The tournament billed as ‘David vs Goliath’ pitted such a matchup in the Final with 210lb Don Frye taking on 260lb Gary Goodridge. It was the first UFC event of both men and both men had an easy run to the final, winning their two previous fights of the evening in under a minute for Frye and just over six minutes for Goodridge. The fight was quick, but violent as both men traded heavy shots with Goodridge scoring a brief takedown before they returned to the feet and traded some more. After a scramble, Frye ended up on top in a good position and began landing heavy shots on Goodridge who quickly tapped out, giving Frye the UFC 8 tournament championship.

45- Matt Hughes submission (1st) Frank Trigg (UFC 45)
The not quite as attractive older sister of that hot girl everyone’s always talking about, but one you’d fuck nonetheless if you had the chance (although I wouldn’t fuck any girl that looked anything like Matt Hughes or Frank Trigg). The first fight was surely not as memorable as the epic rematch (although the ending was one of the most memorable), but it was still a great fight. The fight was a four minute scramble in which both men took top position on a number of occasions and although little damage was done, it was an awesme display of grappling. Hughes ended up taking Triggs back and as Trigg stood up to defend, sunk in a mid-air rear naked choke pulling Trigg on top of him as he tapped out.

44- Pedro Rizzo knockout (2nd) Josh Barnett (UFC 30)
It’s very rare you get a good heavyweight slugfest that goes for more then a few minutes, but top heavyweight contenders Pedro Rizzo and Josh Barnett put on a show at UFC 30. Despite Rizzo’s feared striking ability, Barnett was more then happy to stand with him and was doing well in the first round. Rizzo was having trouble timing Barnett’s odd style combined with his size advantage but midway through the first he began timing Barnett and the two started scoring heavily in the exchanges. Rizzo started scoring with leg kicks which were slowing Barnett down visibly in the 2nd round and then after stunning him with a right hand, he finished the job with a bigger right seconds later. It would be Barnett who would go on to defeat Randy Couture however as Rizzo fell short in his two attempts at the title.

43- Tyson Griffin split decision Clay Guida (UFC 72)
Two of the UFC’s most exciting current day fighters battled in Ireland at UFC 72 and as expected won fight of the night. Both guys set an electrifying pace that didn’t back off for the entire three rounds. It was a back and forth fight with Griffin doing better on the feet and Guida scoring more takedowns and getting the better positions. At one point Guida took Griffin’s back but was dropped on his face as he attempted to sink in the choke. The decision went to Griffin although many people feel Guida was robbed.

42- Forrest Griffin submission (3rd) Mauricio Shogun (UFC 76)
The 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix champion Mauricio Shogun’s UFC debut was spoiled by Forrest Griffin in an exciting battle which mostly took place on the ground. Expected to walk through the ‘reality TV star’ Shogun seemed a step behind the entire fight and despite opening two huge gashes on Griffin’s face in the opening round, Griffin’s pace was too much for Shogun. After a close first round, Griffin upped the tempo and left Shogun tired and battered at the end of the 2nd round and basically doing all that he could to survive. After battering Shogun in the third round, Forrest finished off Shogun, who at the time was considered the top Light Heavyweight in the world, with seconds remaining in the final round.

 41- Robbie Lawler unanimous decision Chris Lytle (UFC 45)
The comeback for Robbie Lawler after his first loss was also the beginning of the long time UFC career of Chris Lytle who in losing earned another chance in the organisation. Lawler took the fight to the ground early in the first where he dealt out considerable damage while avoiding numerous submission attempts from Lytle. After a slow 2nd round, the fight exploded with one of the most memorable final rounds in UFC history with a wild stand-up exchange taking place for the majority of the round. Lawler took away any doubt in the decision by dropping Lytle (only for Lytle to applaud as he fell to his back) in what was the first of many memorable fights for Lytle in the UFC.

40-31 tomorrow…..

Rampage and Evans to coach TUF10, Shogun-Machida likely in September

A bit of news out of this week. Top Light Heavyweight contender and former UFC Champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson will coach the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter alongside Rashad Evans, not Lyoto Machida. Evans and Rampage will coach the season which culminates with the Finale in early December before likely meeting for the number one contender slot and a title shot early next year on the end of the year show. The champion they will be facing will be decided in a September fight between champion Machida and probably 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.

I know a lot of people are bitching about this as they wanted to see Machida-Jackson first, but I’m not tha pissed off about the whole situation. Evans vs Rampage seems to be a good feud that’s going in an exciting direction after their confrontation at UFC 96 and a coaching stint on TUF could be a good way to throw fuel on the fire. Plus I’d like to see Rampage coming off the back of a solid win (assuming he beats Evans) instead of a layoff when going to face Machida. The other good thing about this is that the belt won’t be held up for TUF’s sake like has happened in the past. We get a title fight, plus two of the top fighters in the game coaching. Basically I think this is the best solution right now.

The thing that has pissed people off is that Shogun is getting a title shot. People still don’t realise how good this guy is/was. Sure he looked like shit against Griffin and Coleman, but that was on the back of layoffs and injuries. His performance against Liddell surely erased some of those doubts? Only Rampage and Rashad have done that to Liddell, and it’s one of those guys everyone wants to see in there with Machida. Throw in Shogun’s one sided brutalisation of Rampage in 2005 and this guy is as serious a contender as you can get right now. Shogun on top form in my opinion starts favourite over anyone at Light Heavyweight. I still hold a question mark over his conditioning but thats one of those things that will have to be found out.

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.

Henderson edges Franklin, Shogun KOs Coleman

Former PRIDE 183lb and 205lb Champion Dan Henderson won a narrow split decision victory over former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. The fight took place earlier today (Sydney time) at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland. Henderson started fast, landing one of his feared overhand rights that backed Franklin into the cage in the early moments of the fight. Using his Olympic Greco Roman skills, Henderson scored a takedown and started to land punches from inside Franklins guard. Franklin eventually worked his way back to his feet where he had some success using left body kicks on Henderson, however Henderson’s early work was enough to take the round on my card.

Round two started the same as round three ended, with Franklin controlling the fight standing up but doing little damage to the former two-time Olympian. Midway through the round Henderson again got a grip on Franklin and tripped him to the mat where he worked from inside the former UFC champions guard. Franklin attempted a triangle but Henderson was playing it safe and ended the round after having been on top for the last half of the 2nd frame. With a 20-18 lead on my card, Henderson again scored a takedown early in the 3rd, but Franklin managed to escape and landed several punches to Henderson while he was turtled up. They worked their way back to their feet where Franklin again got the better of a tiring Henderson. With 40 seconds remaining, Henderson pawed with his left hand and poked Franklin in the eye. Franklin was given time to recover and the fight finished on the feet with Franklin taking the only real clear round of the fight.

The judges scored the bout 29-28 Henderson, 30-27 Franklin and 29-28 for Henderson giving him the split decision victory. I scored the bout 29-28 for Henderson with him winning the first two rounds and Franklin winning the third. With the win, Henderson likely earns himself a spot coaching the USA team on the next season of the Ultimate Fighter which will pit a team from the USA and a team from the UK. His rival coach will be British MMA star Michael Bisping and the two will likely meet later in the year. The winner of that fight will probably be condsidered the number one contender for Anderson Silva’s Middleweight title.

In the co feature of the card, PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua made a successful return to the Octagon by gaining revenge for the only loss of his PRIDE career against UFC Hall of Famer Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman. Rua suffered a broken arm as a result of a takedown during the fight at PRIDE 31: Unbreakable 49 seconds into the fight. Despite Coleman scoring numerous takedowns during the fight, Shogun was the fighter doing the damage in round one with vicious leg kicks and right hands to the face. Coleman looked to be tired at the end of the first round but fought valiantly in the second round again taking Shogun down a few times. Each time Shogun was able to escape and land with clean shots as Coleman couldn’t hold his hands above his waist. With both guys exhaused and the fight becoming painful to watch, Coleman took Shogun down again in the third round and looked like causing a massive upset. Shogun worked his way to his feet and landed what was ruled as an illegal knee to the head while Coleman was on his knees (replays showed the knee clearly landing to the body). With both guys again standing up, Shogun unleashed a flurry of punches that put Coleman down again and the referee stopped the fight. With the win, Shogun will meet Chuck Liddell at UFC 97.

In other action former PRIDE contender Denis Kang completely dominated Alan Belcher during the first round only to get caught in a deep guillotine choke midway through the 2nd round. With the submission, Belcher earned submission of the night honours. Rousimar Palhares grinded out a unanimous decision victory over a surprisingly game Jeremy Horn. Despite taking a beating in the first round, Horn was able to get on top in the 2nd and even had the Jiu Jitsu expert mounted for a period, however Palhares better top game and wrestling earned him the shutout decision win. In what won fight of the night, Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle went to war, trading hands and shins for the full three minutes of the fight. The fight was very close with neither fighter wanting to take it to the ground, but Davis sealed the decision win with a dominant round three. Both guys expressed interest in a rematch later in the year.

Preliminary Results
John Hathaway d. Thomas Egan by TKO at 4:36 of Round one (elbows)
Martin Kampmann d. Alexandre Barros by TKO at 3:07 of Round two (punches from back mount)
Eric Scaher d. Antonio Mendes by TKO at 3:34 of Round one (punches from mount)
Thomas Drwal d. Ivan Serati by TKO at 2:02 of Round one (ground and pound)
Dennis Siver d. Nate Mohr by KO at 3:47 of Round three (spinning back kick)

UFC 93 Predictions

The first event of the combat sports calender takes place this weekend in Ireland with UFC 93: Franklin vs Henderson. As the name suggests, the main event is an excellent fight between former UFC Middleweight Champion Rick Franklin and former PRIDE Welterweight (183lbs) and Middleweight (205lbs) Champion Dan Henderson. The winner is rumoured to be coaching the USA team in the upcoming Ultimate Fighter series ‘TUF9: USA vs UK.’ Also appearing on the card is the return of UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC Heavyweight Champion and PRIDE 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix Champion Mark ‘the Hammer’ Coleman who will take on PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix winner Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in a Light Heavyweight battle. There’s two other decent battles on the main card with PRIDE star Denis Kang making his Octagon debut against Alan Belcher and a fight between two of th UFC’s toughest customers in Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle. Considering the talent on the last two UFC PPV cards and the talent that will be on show at UFC 94, this card is an excellent card with two of the UFC’s best fighters without a title battling it out in what should be a very close affair.

Main Card
Rich Franklin vs Dan Henderson
Prediction- Franklin on points
This is a very tough fight to call. Considering this fight is being fought at 205lbs where Henderson has had more success in the past (even though Franklin is undefeated at this weight class), it makes a lot of things very interesting. Both of these guys are very well-rounded and evenly matched. Henderson obviously has the edge in wrestling considering he’s a two time Olympic Greco Roman Wrestler, but even though Henderson has been a Champion at 205lbs, I think Franklin is the bigger man. Franklin also is the better technical striker out of the two although I think Henderson has the power advantage in this fight. Henderson also has an iron chin which will mean that if Franklin is to win, it’ll likely be over three hard fought rounds.
In saying that though, I’m picking Franklin to win this fight by close decision. I think Henderson on his best night is just a bit better then Franklin in most areas of the game with his power balancing out Franklins accuracy and speed, but the big thing that Franklin has over Henderson is consistency. Henderson has a terrible habbit of fighting at about 60-80% of his capacities and with his advanced age (okay, 37 isn’t old old, but it’s showing with Henderson), I think Franklin may just outwork him. Franklin is also the better tactical fighter out of the two as Henderson often puts himself in bad spots that he doesn’t need to go to (ie pulling guard against Little Nogueira in their PRIDE fight and then getting arm-barred about 30 seconds later). In his last fight against Rousimar Palhares, Henderson didn’t look himself and it may be because of the weight cut, but I’m thinking Henderson is getting on a bit and unless he fights at 90-100% of his capabilities he’ll struggle against Franklin who seems to be enjoying fighting again after Silva beat him down in the rematch. I’ll say it now though, I won’t be in the least bit surprised if Henderson wins this one by brutal knockout. His one-punch knockout power is deadly and Franklin has shown that he is suspect to a right hand straight down the middle. The safe pick in this fight though is with the more consistent Rich Franklin.

Mark Coleman vs Mauricio Shogun
Prediction- Shogun by 2nd round knockout
Is it just me who thinks that it’s mean making a former 250lb fighter cut down to 205lbs for the first time in his 40s? Any stamina problems Coleman has had in his career (the only time he hasn’t had stamina problems was the PRIDE 2000 GP and he didn’t fight anyone who was going to exploit them that night) will be quadrupled by the fact that he has to dehydrate and rehydrate before the fight. Add that to the fact that this fight is overseas so he’s going to have to adjust to the timezone as well and I really think Coleman’s gas tank will be lucky to last two minutes.
So basically Coleman needs to go out, get a takedown (there’s no way in hell he KO’s Shogun standing up), hope that breaks his arm again and if it doesn’t he has to hope he can either get a neck crank on a world class BJJ guy or stop him with one of his right hand punches before his gas tank runs out two minutes in. I think Coleman will get his takedown because Shogun hasn’t got much in the way of takedown defence but he’ll eventually work his way back to his feet (he might have to do it two-three times but he’ll do it every time) and each time he gets back to his feet he’ll do a bit more damage. About four minutes in Coleman will have his hands on his knees the way he always does when he gasses and Shogun will start tearing him apart eventually TKOing him in the 2nd round.

Alan Belcher vs Denis Kang
Prediction- Belcher on points
I’m not too sure what to make of Kang. The guy had some serious skills towards the end of PRIDE, coming 2nd in the 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix. Since then though he’s lost two fights inside the distance (one to Gegard Mousasi in the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix in which he was favourite to win the whole thing). I think a combination of bad form and ‘Octagon Jitters’ will take place here and Belcher has looked good striking against guys with limited stand-up like Kang. I think Belcher keeps the fight standing and takes a clear-cut unanimous decision.

Marcus Davis vs Chris Lytle
Prediction- Davis on points
Excellent fight. This is the fight I’m looking forward to the most after Franklin-Henderson. This should be a war with both guys favouring the stand-up mode although both of them have good skills on the ground. I think Lytle should win this fight if he puts Davis on his back, but he’ll want to stand and trade and Davis has the better hands. I predict this fight to be fight of the night and Davis to win by split decision in the early candidate for fight of the year.

Jeremy Horn vs Rousimar Palhares
Prediction- Palhares by 1st round submission
It puzzles me how someone like Travis Lutter can be cut from his contract after losing to Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin yet Jeremy Horn can come in with absolutely no interest in fighting and get submitted every time and still be allowed back for more. I like Horn (and I don’t like Lutter I’ll point out) and I hope he pulls off the upset, but Palhares will have too much for him on the ground. I expect he’ll catch Horn in either a guillotine choke or a triangle choke during a scramble. Probably submission of the night.

Preliinary Card
Alexandre Barros vs Martin Kampmann
Prediction- Kampmann on points
I’ve been told that Barros is a tough son of a bitch and I think that combined with Kampmann’s first fight at the new weight class (170lbs) will allow Barros to last the distance, but he won’t be in the fight.

Antonio Mendes vs Eric Schafer
Prediction- Mendes by 2nd round knockout
This fight also has a chance at getting fight of the night. I don’t remember Mendes’ fight with Thiago Silva, but I seem to recall that he has no ground game and excellent kickboxing. Schafer on the other hand has an excellent ground game but limited striking and no stamina. I think Mendes will ride out the storm on the ground and then tear Schafer apart with some deadly combinations.

Tomasz Drwal vs Ivan Serati
Prediction-Drwal by first round knockout
This fight will be decided on the ground after Drwal gets a takedown and shows Serati’s limited game off his back. Ground and Pound stoppage a few minutes into the first round.

Nate Mohr vs Denis Siver
Prediction- Mohr by third round knockout
Both of these guys seem to be on the wrong side of the highlight reels. Both guys have limited ground games, but I think Mohr’s advantage in wrestling will allow him to exploit Siver’s and eventually stop him with punches from side mount after a back and forth fight.

Thomas Egan vs John Hathaway
Prediction- Hathaway by 2nd round knockout