Why MMA will take over Boxing in Australia

How well would the boxing kangaroo fight off it's back?

With one night to go until the UFC makes it’s much anticipated Australian debut, everything in this country is set up for MMA to finally push boxing into the past and emerge as the future of combat sports down under. With the shoddy state of boxing in Australia at the moment, about the only thing that will stop MMA from moving past boxing would be an ugly incident either in the Octagon or in the crowd at next Sundays event. With even the head honcho’s involved with boxing not caring about it’s future, but rather trying to milk every last cent out of it right now, yet the people in charge of MMA trying to build the sport’s long term future it’s only inevitable that boxing be taken over by the new sport.  

With the small coverage MMA has received in Australia it has a cult following among the people who know about it. The guys who know lots about it get their friends into it, albeit at a much smaller level. The effect of this is like that of a trail of gun powderand the UFC 110 card in Sydney tomorrow is the spark that will explode MMA into a more mainstream sport in Australia. Tomorrow’s show sold out inside of a week with probably 90% of the tickets selling before they were open to the public meaning that there will likely be a second show sometime in the not to distant future (likely next year around the same time). With hardly any big boxing fights taking place in Australia (Australia’s main promoter Angelo Hyder is stuck in the late 90s thinking that big names that Australians want to see are Roy Jones jnr, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson, three men ten years past their best), an annual UFC event will only help the sport grow. The fact that One HD has scrapped it’s “Super Boxer” series and shows next to no current boxing, yet they will show UFC 110 live tomorrow for free is also a big sign of what is to come in the future. 

The bottom line is that Boxing in this country is a joke. The fact that Australians will go to the pub or fork out $50 to watch a Mundine pay per view to see him fight some fringe South American contender while some Rugby League star has a pub brawl with a guy who wouldn’t even be club level material anywhere else in the world yet they couldn’t tell you who the heavyweight champion of the world is is of major concern. Nothing is done to push boxing back into the spotlight or develop some of the upcoming fighters. Even the recent Australian version of ‘The Contender’ left out decent prospects like Jamie Pittman, a man who has the skills to be a threat on the world stage but lacks the exposure that a show like ‘The Contender’ would have given him to be able to build a following in this country. There are plenty of guys out there like Jamie Pittman who are talented boxers but just can’t build the following down here that they would have otherwise done if boxing was taken seriously. Sure Pittman is very well known to the boxing public, but do you really think the Captain of the Australian Olympic Boxing team would be struggling to get televised or even get decent fights in England or the USA? Yet guys like Sonny Bill Williams and Carl Webb get main support fights on what is probably the biggest stage in Australian boxing (the Mundine shows) and probably earn just as much!  

The production value of boxing shows is also a major problem with boxing in Australia. The fact that  MORON like Andy Raymond, who is a Rugby League commentator with no clue about anything boxing is the voice of the sport down here is nauseating. The ring announcers have no idea how to properly announce a show, and yes there is a proper and improper way of doing things. For one, you don’t announce the rules of the bout while the fighters are in the ring waiting to get it on (see the Green-Jones prelims for an example). You don’t announce a close decision in favour of ”the red corner” in the biggest domestic fight of the year (see Mundine-Geale decision) when no one pays any attention which corner they’re fighting out of. It’s painful watching a high profile boxing card in Australia because you can tell that the people in charge of running it have no idea what they’re doing. I rarely watch local Fox Sports boxing shows anymore because of how bad it is (that and the mismatches that they often have). You don’t need four or five ring girls dancing in the ring between rounds with dance music playing (you didn’t see this on say the Pacquiao-Cotto card for example did you?). You don’t need to show the Australian rankings after every fight and you definately don’t need to show random rounds out of insignificant fights from past local shows when you’ve got nothing else to do. One of the main strengths of the UFC is the production value. They do an amazing job of hyping up the fights with pre fight interviews, a highly energetic ring announcer and the right amount of tits and arse between rounds with the focus being more on the fighters which is what the people watching paid to see. 

Should the UFC 110 card deliver tomorrow, expect to see a rise in regional MMA shows and an even further drop in local pro-am boxing cards. With more and more people already turning to kickboxing or jiu jitsu, there’s bound to be an emergence of competitors willing to try their luck with 4oz gloves instead of the 12oz gloves and headgear that amateur boxers use. There are already a number of good fighters from Australia and New Zealand (two of them fight tomorrow night on the main card) and if some of them can increase their celebrity down here to a slightly mainstream audience, something that say a victory for George Sotiropolous over Joe Stevenson tomorrow night would do, it’s only going to help the MMA cause down under. Boxing has been on a slow decline in this country since the late 80′s when we had our last batch of Australian contenders who actually fought one another. Sure there’s been a slight resurgence with the likes of Anthony Mundine and Danny Green and Daniel Geale, but our best fighters (Vic Darchinyan and Michael Katsidis) both fight overseas and have a bigger following in the USA then they do down here. No longer are the days of TV ringside where contenders were brought up through the tough local circuit and had to earn their status when fighters like Hector Thompson, Tony Mundine and Paul Ferreri gave the world champions of the day, men who are among the greatest to have ever entered a boxing ring in their respective divisions, some of the toughest fights of their career. The state of boxing today is one of prospects not learning their craft through overprotection and mismatches who end up taking the massive step up in class that they aren’t ready for and when they lose those that were paying attention to them no longer do while the rest of Australia who aren’t as into boxing as someone like me is go on watching their Mundine cards and having a laugh when the two heavyweights start trading arm punches with their chin in the air. MMA has slowly been taking over in America, and although boxing is run pretty badly over there, it’s not nearly as bad as it is down here. All that is needed to start the MMA frenzy is for the biggest promotion in the world to bring one of its shows down here to get some mainstream attention.

Lesnar, St Pierre defend titles at UFC 100

In the biggest card perhaps in UFC History, Brock Lesnar unified the UFC Heavyweight championship by battering former Frank Mir for one and a half rounds before finishing him in the 2nd. Lesnar quickly took the fight to the mat where he punished Mir from half guard with booming right hands. Mir repeatedly gave the thumbs up to his cornerman, but it was clear by the damage on his face that he was feeling the effects at the end of the first round. Round two saw Mir have some brief success on the feet, scoring with a knee to the body and a knee to the head that seemed to momentarily stun Lesnar. Lesnar then took Mir to the mat, recovered from the blow, pushed his head into the fence and finished him off with several right hands from half guard. Lesnar’s performance was somewhat overshadowed by his post fight reaction where he yelled abuse into Mirs face as he was recovering, flipped off the booing crowd, attacked major sponsor Bud Light and told Joe Rogan he was going to ‘get on top of his wife tonight.’ He was since apologised for the outburst.

I really think whoever it is that is going to beat Lesnar is going to have to be able to stuff his takedowns and Randy Couture showed that it is possible in their fight before he got caught. He’s just too powerful on top, especially if he’s in half guard where he can pin his opponent and isolate their head. I think if Lesnar is forced to stand up for a period of time against a dangerous striker there’s a good chance he’s going to get knocked out. Couture was outstriking him until he got caught and would have done a lot more damage if he wasn’t outweighed by 60 odd pounds. That being said, you can’t not be impressed with Lesnar. He’ll beat anyone at his fight if he can get them there and with his foot speed and physical strength it’s going to be hard to stop him getting you where he wants you.

In the co main event, Georges St Pierre outpointed top challenger Thiago Alves over five rounds by outwrestling and to a certain degree outstriking the dangerous striker. GSP landed with sharp combinations before countering Alves’ counters with takedowns. While GSP wasn’t able to control Alves like he was other recent opponents, the ease at which he took him down was scary and he likely would have finished him had he not injured his groin. Scores were 50-45, 50-44 (not sure which round was 10-8) and 50-45 all for St Pierre who made the 3rd successful defence of the title he won last April from Matt Serra. Where GSP goes from here I don’t know. He’s basically cleaned house at 170lbs with this win.

In a battle of top Middleweight contenders as well as TUF9 coaches, Dan Henderson put forward his most impressive performance in years and maybe even ever by knocking out British star Michael Bisping in the 2nd round. Henderson quickly took control of the striking which was really Bispings only chance in this fight against the two time Greco Roman Olympian, rocking him frequently in the first round with his booing right hand. Bisping became desperate and tried to take Henderson down but was shrugged off and laughed at. Midway through the 2nd round, Henderson walked Bisping into his right hand and knocked him cold, landing one more huge right hand for good measure. The knockout was one of the most brutal I’ve seen in MMA and will probably go down as KO of the year. With the win, Henderson earns himself a rematch with Middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who submitted Henderson at UFC 82 for the UFC and PRIDE Middleweight titles.

Yoshihiro Akiyama scored a controversial split decision over Alan Belcher in the organisations ‘fight of the night.’ Jon Fitch outworked Paulo Thiago for a unanimous decision win. UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman broke his four fight losing streak in the Octagon, defeating TUF1 runner-up Stephan Bonnar by unanimous decision after an old school display of ground and pound. Coleman showed improved stand-up and increased cardio in outwrestling Bonnar over the three rounds for a 29-28 victory. Jon Jones kept his unbeaten streak alive with a submission victory over lay and prey specialist Jake O’Brien. Jim Miller outpointed Mac Danzig in a bloody war that left the Octagon covered in blood for the rest of the evening while Dong Hyun Kim outpointed TJ Grant over three. Tom Lawlor and Shannon Gurgerty scored quick submissions over CB Dollaway and Matt Grice respectively in the other bouts of the evening.

UFC 100 Predictions

The big one is finally here, UFC 100 takes place this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited. The main three fights are al pick-em fights and two of those fights are between the best fighters the UFC has in those weight divisions. The main event is the rematch between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar. When these two did battle last year at UFC 81, no one expected them to be fighting a rematch in the main event of UFC 100 for the undisputed UFC Heavyweight title.Both men have had a lot to say about their first fight and the rematch promises to be explosive.
The co main event in my opinion should be the main event. Welterweight Champion Georges St Pierre defends his crown against the undisputed top challenger Thiago Alves. St Pierre has looked unbeatable again since recapturing the title from Serra at UFC 83. Alves too has looked near unbeatable with three huge wins last year over Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan. This is the biggest fight in MMA Welterweight history.
Also on the card is the battle of TUF9 coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson. These two have built a harmless little feud with Henderson wanting to shut Bispings mouth and Bisping wanting to shut Hendersons mouth for saying he wanted to shut Bispings mouth. The winner of this fight will probably earn themselves a shot at Anderson Silva’s Middleweight title. Also we have the UFC debut of Japanese stand-out Yoshiro Akiyama against in form Alan Belcher and Jon Fitch taking on the man who knocked out his team-mate Josh Koscheck in Paul Thiago.
The preliminaries could make up a Fight Night main card themselves. Stephan Bonnar takes on UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman. TUF6 winner Mac Danzig looks to snap a two fight losing streak against contender Jim Miller. Light Heavyweight prospect Jon Jones looks to do everyone a favour and eliminate Jake O’Brien from the UFC and TUF7 runner-up CB Dollaway takes on TUF8 veteran Tom Lawlor.

Main Card
Frank Mir vs Brock Lesnar
(UFC Heavyweight Championship)
Prediction- Lesnar by 2nd round knockout
This fight really is 50-50, but I figured I’d have to pick Lesnar at some stage so I thought I’d start now. Who knows, maybe he’s just my Zab Judah in MMA in that every fight he has, whoever I pick, loses (which is the deciding factor in this pick as I want Lesnar to lose). I think Mir’s ‘improved striking’ is a myth that was created by how good he looked against the shot/staph riddled Nogueira that he fought at UFC 92 and I don’t think he’s sorted his cardio out. If Lesnar gets past the first round, especially with the damage Lesnar will be doing, I think Mir will gas and Lesnar will pound him out. On the other hand, if Mir gets Lesnar in his guard, has Lesnar’s less then two years of jiu jitsu training prepared him for the level of game Mir has? If Mir gets on top at all this fight he’ll end it. I think Lesnar just has to ride out Mir’s conditioning and then his physical abilities will win him the fight.

Thiago Alves vs Georges St Pierre
Prediction- St Pierre by 4th round stoppage
This is another 50-50 fight, but I think GSP will be able to get Alves on his back and work him over. The big factor in this fight could be how the weight cut will affect Alves in rounds three and four and five. Alves striking is unreal; he’s by far the best striker at the top of the Welterweight division. GSP’s chin will make things interesting, but I think his striking is good enough to be able to hang with Alves and avoid the big shots. Alves’ effectiveness from his back and ability to get back up will be a big key because you know GSP is going to get him down at some stage. I’ll be surprised if there’s a submission in this fight unless GSP gets Alves’ back after he gasses, but I think there’s more of a chance of a finish then a decision here. Alves should do well early and I wouldn’t be that surprised if he KO’d GSP in the first two rounds, but I think as the fight wears on GSP’s takedowns will become more frequent and his top game will take it’s toll on Alves and he’ll stop him late.

Michael Bisping vs Dan Henderson
Prediction- Henderson on points
Basically I think Henderson is the better striker and the better wrestler. Bisping doesn’t have the power or the submission game to finish Henderson, but he might have the conditioning to outwork him. I think Henderson can win this fight by knockout, but I think he’ll outwrestle Bisping and score repeated takedowns during this fight. I don’t think Bisping is dangerous enough to win this fight. His striking is good, but it seems to only excel against average strikers or average wrestlers and his submissions are good but they’re not on the level of a Nogueira which is needed to catch Henderson. It’ll be vintage ‘Decision Dan’ in that he’ll use his greco takedowns and do minimal damage from on top for the full three rounds and frustrate the shit out of Bisping in winning a unanimous decision.

Yoshiro Akiyama vs Alan Belcher
Prediction- Belcher by 1st round knockout
I think Akiyama will be forced to stand with Belcher and while his stand-up is good, it’s not on Belchers level. Akiyama has several knockout wins, but mostly against grapplers. Belcher seems to be getting better and better and I think he’s going to open a few peoples eyes in this fight and score a big knockout win.

Jon Fitch vs Paulo Thiago
Prediction- Fitch on points
Fitch’s wrestling will be the answer in this fight. Thiago will need to get the fight to the ground and he won’t be able to outwrestle Fitch. Even though he KO’d Koscheck, Thiago’s hands aren’t that good and Fitch will outstrike him without doing any real signficant damage.

Preliminaries
Stephan Bonnar vs Mark Coleman
Prediction- Bonnar on points
I’ve no doubt that Bonnar will be too good for Coleman, but I can’t see how he’ll finish him. Coleman will probably prove a frustrating opponent with his takedowns, but Bonnar’s bottom game is dangerous and I’m sure he’s trained escapes and takedown defence so he’ll likely keep it standing. I’m not sold on Bonnar’s punching power though and I think Coleman will last the distance as long as he gasses after three minutes instead of thirty seconds.

Mac Danzig vs Jim Miller
Prediction- Miller on points
Danzig keeps getting thrown to the wolves and I think this will mark three losses in a row for him. Miller is an exceptional grappler and Danzig doesn’t have the wrestling to keep this standing where he wants it or the stand-up game to really punish Miller. Bad style matchup for Mac and hopefully they give him someone a touch easier next time.

Jon Jones vs Jake O’Brien
Prediction- Jones by 1st round knockout
As Jones has stated ‘O’brien has been shooting that same double leg takedown for years’ and I don’t think it helps him one bit in this fight. Jones is always improving and will be too athletic, well rounded and intelligent to get sucked into O’Briens game. Jones by spectacular first round knockout.

Dong Hyun Kim vs TJ Grant
Prediction- Kim on points

CB Dollaway vs Tom Lawlor
Prediction- Dollaway by 2nd round knockout

Matt Grice vs Shannpn Gurgerty
Prediction- Grice on points

TUF9 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter 9 “US vs UK” concludes tomorrow with the usual final card featuring the final bouts as part of the main card. There was a lot of hype around this season being the best yet, I don’t quite agree with it to be honest. While some of the tension between the two teams was good, the rivalry with the coaches wasn’t up there with some of the other seasons and the antics in the house were pretty tame I thought. I was sort of waiting for someone big to happen in the house for the entire show and nothing happened.

The finals pit DeMarques Johnson (US) against James Wilkes (UK) in the Welterweight division and in the Lightweight division Andre Winner and Ross Pearson of team UK do battle. I think Johnson will have too much experience for Wilks, who seems a little green at this stage. As much as I didn’t like Johnson (or anyone from team US), he probably had the most well rounded game in the house and Wilks showed some weaknesses in his game in his two fights against Lester. The all UK Lightweight final should be a cracker and I’m really not sure who to pick. I’m going with Winner to win on points in what could be fight of the night (if the main event doesn’t live up to expectations).

The main card has some interesting non-TUF fights with a pivotal battle in the lightweight division between Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida headlining the card. This fight provides us with the clear next contender behind Florian and Penn in my opinion. Maybe Gray Maynard is up there, but I think with Sanchez’s success at welterweight and Guida’s resume as well as the performance he showed in losing to Huerta that the winner of this fight should get the next crack. I think Sanchez has the better finishing skills out of the two, but Guida’s wrestling, pace and cardio could make the fight very interesting. Sanchez has dealt with fighters like Guida before and seeing how he doesn’t have to deal with the strength of a 170lber in this fight, I think he won’t be as troubled by the wrestling skills of Guida. Plus Sanchez is known to set a pretty high pace himself and also has great cardio. The x-factor here is the weight cut for Sanchez, if it effects him Guida will just outwork him. I think it won’t, especially since this is the second time he’s cut this far now and I think Sanchez will prevail by unanimous decision or late stoppage.

The other interesting fight on the card sees the two men who most recently lost to Guida and Sanchez doing battle. Nate Diaz fights Joe Stevenson in a battle of former TUF champions and one both men can’t really afford to lose. Diaz had a strong run of victories post TUF but stumbled in his chance to join the elite against Clay Guida at UFC 94. Stevenson struggled a bit post TUF before winning enough straight fights to earn himself a shot at BJ Penn’s title. Penn made light work of Stevenson which has started a run of bad results for ‘Daddy’ as he is going into this fight with back to back losses against Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. Both guys have great grappling skills, but Diaz’s stand-up is much crisper and provided Stevenson can’t take him down at will I think Diaz will batter him on their feet and maybe even score a stoppage late in the fight.

UFC 100: Lesnar vs Mir II announced

Over the last few days the UFC has officially announced the UFC 100 card that’s had everyone talking and it’s as good as people are expecting. While there’s one or two fights that are yet to be confirmed, every fight on the main card has major implications for the division that it’s in and some of the preliminaries would easily be main card fights on a different card. The main two fights on the card see probably the two most anticipated championship fights of the year in the UFC. The card, ‘UFC 100: Lesnar vs Mir 2′ takes place July 11th in Las Vegas.

Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will make the first defence of the title he took from Randy Couture last November against UFC interim champion Frank Mir. The fight is a rematch of Lesnar’s UFC debut at UFC 81 last year in which Lesnar started fast and landed some hard shots to Mir’s face on the ground before being caught in a kneebar from the former UFC champion. Mir was then locked in to fight interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira while Randy Couture was fighting the UFC in court with the two coaching on the 8th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Then with Couture’s comeback and the two coaches already set to do battle, Lesnar off the back of his domination over Heath Herring got first crack at Couture and took the title. Mir then dramatically became the first man to finish Nogueira with a 2nd round knockout leading to the mega fight. (There is that man from Russia named Fedor Emelianenko who would probably beat both guys on the same night, but I won’t mention him as this is a UFC post and it wouldn’t be appropriate now would it?)

The co main event is arguably the most anticipated fight of the year now that St Pierre vs Penn is out of the way. Thiago Alves last year ran through Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck to make himself the clearest contender for St Pierre’s title that he won back from Matt Serra last April. St Pierre has defended the championship twice now with a decision win over Jon Fitch and a 4th round TKO of BJ Penn. It’s always interesting when you get a contender who has proven himself to be head and shoulders above the rest of the division up against an outstanding champion. You’ve had fights like Hughes-Trigg II, Hughes-St Pierre II, Couture vs Liddell (any fight) and if you want to talk PRIDE there’s Nogueira vs Fedor, Fedor vs Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva vs Rampage II. In all of those fights the contender for the belt had dominated all of the other contenders in the past to make themselves the clearest possible challenger for the title and all of those fights were memorable.

Also on the main card you have TUF 9 coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson doing battle for what will probably be a shot at UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Then there’s another Middleweight matchup between two of the top contenders in the division with new signing Yoshihiro Akiyama who has wins over the likes of Denis Kang and Melvin Manhoef taking on Alan Belcher. The main card is likely to be filled out with the Paulo Thiago-Jon Fitch Welterweight scrap but there’s also UFC Hall of Famer Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman (I’m sorry, everytime I go to write his name I think of the way Mauro Rinallo used to always announce him as ‘Mark The Hammer Coleman’ and it just ends up typing itself) fighting Stephan Bonnar and Jim Miller vs Mac Danzig that could take the last spot on the main card. Check the MMA schedule link at the top of the page for the full card.

Boxing Breakdown: Bradley vs Holt, Lightweight Lightning

 Some good fights on this weekend again and ones that don’t involve Heavyweights which means we can all have a weekend to wash out our spew buckets and enjoy some proper boxing action. The big one this weekend is the unification of two of the alphabet soup belts at Junior Welterweight between Timothey Bradley and Kendall Holt. Even though Hatton and Pacquiao are fighting for the real strap at this weight, the winner of this fight confirms themself as the next top contender behind the winner. Also this weekend is the slightly weakened Lightweight Lightning card that originally featured Joel Casamayor vs Julio Diaz and Carlos Hernandez vs Jorge Barrios but injuries forced both Casamayor and Barrios out of those fights.

Timothey Bradley vs Kendall Holt (WBC/WBO Junior Welterweight titles)
Gotta go with Bradley in this fight. Neither guy has impressed me enough to think that they’ll be pound for pound contenders anytime soon, but Bradley has looked better against better guys then Holt has in the past. Holt got the win against Torres, but he was getting his arse handed to him before it and he edged out Demetrius Hopkins in a snooze fest last year. I think Bradley will have an easy time of things after the first four rounds in this fight and will box his way to a pretty one sided unanimous decision win. Timothey Bradley on points.

Librado Andrade vs Vitaly Tsypko
Good matchup here and a good chance for Andrade to put on a show to entice Lucian Bute back in the ring for a rematch of their controversial fight last year. I like Andrade, he’s a no fuss fighter who goes out and throws punches and always gives a good show whether he wins or loses. Tsypko is a guy who’s been in against some good fighters, but not as many as he should have because no one has an easy night with him. I think Tsypko will give Andrade some problems, but Andrade will wear him down and then dominate him in the later rounds before stopping him around the 10-11 round mark. Librado Andrade by 11th round knockout.

Antonio Pitalua vs Edwin Valero (WBC Lightweight title)
This could be a fight for the ages or a first round knockout, I’ll be very surprised if it’s anything but. Both guys bring tremendous punching power to the table and both guys start fast. Valero is that guy a lot of you have heard about who knocks everyone out, but hasn’t fought in the USA. He’s made a four defences of the WBA Junior Lightweight belt that he won back in 2006 and his record stands at 24-0-0 with 24 knockouts; with 19 in the first round. Pitalua destroyed Jose Armando Santa Cruz (the guy who should have beaten Casamayor on the Cotto-Mosley undercard) in his last outing and is undefeated for the last seven years. I’m going with the hype and picking Valero and I think he’ll do it in fashionable style. Pitalua represents the biggest test in his career so far, but at 39 years old I find it hard to think he’ll cause the upset. Edwin Valero by 2nd round knockout.

Jesus Chavez vs Michael Katsidis
The big question in this fight is how much Chavez has left. He didn’t look like the same fighter after the tragic fight against Leavander Johnson and after a few years of inactivity because of knee surgery, it’s hard to imagine him being in any kind of great shape. I think Katsidis will blow him away. Katsidis will start too fast and never let Chavez in the fight and I think there’ll be quite a few knockdowns with Katsidis ending things around the 4th round. Chavez needs something to go his way early to have a chance in this fight. He needs to cut Katsidis or drop him in the first or second round or I think he’s going to be cannon fodder. Michael Katsidis by 4th round knockout.

Julio Diaz vs Rolando Reyes
Too much for Reyes to handle in this fight. He’s a capable fighter, but he’s not on this level.Reyes is tough though so he’ll likely go the 10 rounds, but it’ll be all one way traffic. Julio Diaz on points.

Vicente Escobedo vs Carlos Hernandez
Hernandez is another one of those fighters who I’m not sure how much he has left. He was making a good career for himself a few years back, being the only man to ‘drop’ Floyd Mayweather in a challenge for his title in 2001, and then picking up the IBF title at Junior Lightweight two years later. After surrendering the title in a spirited performance against Erik Morales in a unification clash, he dropped a non title fight to Jesus Chavez and then was upset by Bobby Pacquiao on the Castillo-Corrales II undercard. Since then he’s been fairly inactive apart from a loss to Kevin Kelley two and a half years ago. Escobedo is fairly untested, but I think his youth will be enough in this fight. I’m picking that Hernandez is used goods and I think Escobedo uses him as a stepping stone. Vicente Escobedo by unanimous decision.

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 91: Lesnar defeats Couture, Florian whips Stevenson

I’ve put this off a bit, First of all I was busy and it was hard to get on here and write this up (mainly because Main Event are cocksuckers and put the fight on a working day so I only saw it yesterday and since then I’ve worked 16 of the last 36 hours and out of the other 20 I’ve slept eight, driven to and from work for about two, trained four which leaves six hours that doesn’t include eating, showering and jacking off (about a 1-1-4 ratio there)) and secondly I wasn’t exactly eager to get on here and write about how one of my most unfavourite fighters of all-time knocked out my favourite fighter who is still alive.

Brock Lesnar 2nd round knockout Randy Couture
Basically Lesnar proved what Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga should have but couldn’t do after Josh Barnett and Ricco Rodriguez did a few years back, and that is that Randy Couture doesn’t belong at heavyweight. Couture’s a freak and a legendary fighter and like all legendary fighters weight doesn’t play as much of an impact as it should with guys like this, but there’s only so much you can give away before it becomes a factor. When you’ve got a 60lb weight disadvantage against a guy who comes from the same background as you, all of a sudden those mistakess you make with your stand-up and submission games need to not be there and that’s where Couture lost this fight. If Couture was better at jiu jitsu he would have taken Lesnar’s back in the scramble in the first round and likely choked him out and if his stand-up was better he would have taken a few more of the many many many openings Lesnar leaves in his stand-up and likely knocked him out. I thought Couture had those parts of his game up to the level where he could take advantage of those, but with 60lbs of weight against him it made those advantages he had over Brock that bit more even.
Despite the win, I’m not sold on Lesnar that much. He has a good one two and throws good knees (it was a knee that hurt Couture about 5 seconds before the right hand that dropped him) and is a big strong guy who will take people down who don’t have good wrestling, but he reminds me of Tito Ortiz at Light Heavyweight when he was dominating. As soon as someone has a good enough skill set with the style matchup to take some of Brocks physical advantages away they’ll beat him. If Nogueira isn’t too shopworn to beat Mir then I can’t see what Brock can do with him. I’d pick Gonzaga to tear Lesnar apart within five minutes if he shows the form he did in that fight. Don’t even get me started on what the Affliction trio (Fedor, Barnett and Arlovski) would do to that guy. Lesnar has way too many weaknesses to deal with a big man with good skills. That was the first time we’d seen him try and outwrestle someone who can wrestle and even with the extra weight, his takedowns were easily stuffed (except for one) by Couture and if Couture had the extra lbs on his frame, the fight wouldn’t have been a contest. Brock to be beaten within a year; within one defence if Nogueira isn’t upset by Mir.

Now onto the rest of the card, which quite frankly was top notch.

Kenny Florian 1st round submission (Rear Naked Choke) Joe Stevenson
And what a rear naked choke it was! Florian totally dominated the fight and proved beyond all doubts that first of all he is a better fighter then he was when Sean Sherk manhandled him two years ago, and secondly that he is the top contender to BJ Penns crown should Penn stay at 155lbs. I don’t think Florian will hang with Penn, but he could make a competitive fight out of it. Who knows as well, we haven’t seen Penn in a hard fight at 155lbs since the rematch with Caol Uno at UFC 39 so we’re still not sure how good Penn’s cardio is; if Florian doesnt get blown away early he could make it interesting.

Dustin Hazelett 1st round submission (Crazy Armbar/Omoplata thing) Tamdan McCrory
That was just sick in both the figurative and literal translations. If anyone just watched the main event or for what ever reason hasn’t seen this, go and see it. The only other thing that needs to be said about this fight is that Hazelett has the best bumfluff beard I’ve ever seen.

Gabriel Gonzaga 1st round knockout Josh Hendricks
Time for Gonzaga to have his competition stepped up I think. Cheick Kongo would be the perfect opponent for Gonzaga to put himself right back into the mix against, either him or Junior dos Santos. Hendricks should be fighting the likes of Eddie Sanchez and they should be fighting in a small venue in Redneckville for a $50 winner takes all purse.

Demian Maia 1st round submission (Rear Naked Choke) Nate Quarry
Glad I was wrong here. Maia is a beast on the ground, that half guard sweep was beautiful and Quarry didn’t have an answer for him once he got on top. Actually, I don’t think there’s a middleweight out there who would have an answer for this guy on top of him. He’s one of those rare talents in MMA who can make anyone’s guard seem non existant. Put this guy in with Okami or Bisping or anyone else near the top of the middleweight picture because he’s ready.

Other Results
Jeremy Stephens 3rd round knockout Rafael dos Anjos
Aaron Riley UD3 Jorge Gurgel
Mark Bocek 3rd round submission Alvin Robinson
Matt Brown 2nd round submission Ryan Thomas

UFC 89 Results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UFC 89 Predictions

With some of the other big UFC events coming up, this one isn’t really getting a whole heap of attention. I think the fact that one of the biggest boxing matches of the year (Bernard Hopkins vs Kelly Pavlik) is on the same day as well is taking some of the focus away for people like me who follow both sports. Still even without a big name on this card there are some bloody good fights on it. Chris Leben takes on Michael Bisping in a main event that will see where both fighters are at. The other four fights on the main card are also very evenly matched fights that could go either way.

Main Card
Michael Bisping vs Chris Leben
Prediction- Bisping by 3rd round knockout
I think the big factor in this fight is that Bisping is the better wrestler out of these two and the physically stronger man. Leben’s power will make for a dangerous fight if Bisping stands up with him and I think he has a good chance of catching Bisping if the fight stays on the feet. Bisping should take this fight to the ground and unleash some ground and pound similar to what he did with Jason Day. The fact that Leben likes to throw up for submissions (similar to the way he swings for the fences standing up) will give Bisping a chance to get to a dominant position and really start landing with some force. Lebens tough and Bisping doesn’t hit as hard as some of the other guys around at middleweight, but I think Bisping will stop him nonetheless.

Keith Jardine vs Brandon Vera
Prediction- Vera by 2nd round knockout
He’s made the weight once and even though he looked like shit against Andy Rees, that happens to just about everyone the first time they drop down in weight. Vera should be used to the weight and it should show in this fight. Should Vera look like I expect him to, the big difference in this fight will be in the stand-up where the fight is likely to take place. Vera is much more fluid and technical and I think he’ll pick holes in Jardine. Jardine’s awkward half brawling/half boxing style will play right into the crisp punches and leg kicks of Vera and I think Jardine will have taken all the punishment his body can handle in the 2nd round.

Luis Cane vs Sokoudjou
Prediction- Cane by first round knockout
This fight shouldn’t go a round. I’m picking Cane because I think he is the better striker of the two and that I think Sokoudjou will get caught up brawling with him and get knocked out doing it. Sokoudjou’s career has been made up of knocking out grapplers like Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona who have very limited stand-up ability. Cane is a real striker with deadly power as he showed in his last fight against Jason Lambert. Sokoudjou is a world class Judoka so I think if he uses this it could come into play, but I think he’ll want to bang with Cane and he’ll pay the price. It should be fireworks no matter what happens.

Marcus Davis vs Paul Kelly
Prediction- Kelly on points
Paul Kelly finally returns to the Octagon after the brawl with fellow Brit Paul Taylor at UFC 80 earlier this year. He takes on Marcus Davis in what should be a hard fought battle. Davis is a dangerous customer who can finish the fight from any position at any time, but I think Kelly will dictate where the fight goes with takedowns and will be able to avoid getting knocked out when they exchange strikes. Davis’ best chance is to win this one by strikes but I think Kelly’s wrestling will allow him to control the fight on the ground and win a close but unanimous decision.

Chris Lytle vs Paul Taylor
Prediction- Lytle by 1st round submission
Lytle should be too well rounded in this fight. Taylor is an exceptional striker and will probably have the edge over the former pro boxer Lytle, but Lytle is tough and has never been knocked out. On the ground Lytle has a big advantage and I think the fight will end up there at some point. Lytle should have no problems locking in a submission once he passes Taylor’s guard. If the fight stays standing, it has the potential to be a war.

Preliminary Card
Shane Carwin vs Neil Wain
Prediction- Carwin by 1st round knockout
Neither fighter has been past the first round in their combined 13 fight career and both are undefeated. I think the big difference is the quality of opposition these two have faced. Wain has fought his entire career in England and I’m not trying to put shit on English fighters here, but Carwin has fought three decent opponents in his last three fights and destroyed them all. Carwin also has a big size advantage and I think he’ll win this fight via strikes from on top. Wain is in over his head here I feel.

Akihiro Gono vs Dan Hardy
Prediction- Gono on points
I’ve heard some good things about Hardy, but like Neil Wain he’s probably bitten off a bit more then he can chew for a first up opponent. Gono’s fought in a lot of top organisations and even though he’s lost a few they’ve been to either top fighters (like Matt Hughes) or bigger fighters (like Mauricio Shogun). Gono’s unorthodox style will probably make it hard for Hardy to put on a good debut and he’ll lose a wide unanimous decision to the crazy Japanese fighter.

David Bielkheden vs Jess Liaudin
Prediction- Liaudin on points
A fight between guys coming off losses, I dare say the loser won’t be in the UFC much longer. Liaudin is a big step down from Bielkheden’s last opponent (Diego Sanchez) but Liaudin’s probably still a step too far for him at this point. It’ll probably be a competitive fight but Liaudin will be that little bit better in all areas to take the decision.

Per Eklund vs Samy Schiavo
Prediction- Eklund on points
Both guys were thrown to the wolves in their debut’s, with Eklund losing on points to Sam Stout and Schiavo getting battered by Clay Guida. It’s hard to know what Schiavo has off his loss to Guida so I could very well be underestimating him, but I think Eklund will win over three rounds with Schiavo spending most of the fight trying to hold onto guard while on his back.

Terry Etim vs Sam Stout
Prediction- Etim by 1st round submission
This is an old school striker vs grappler battle and I think the grappler will win this fight. Both guys are extremely dangerous if allowed to fight their fights, but I’m not entirely sold on Stout’s ground game yet. I may be underestimating him but I think Etim will get one takedown and win the fight off that. Etim’s faced two good fighters in his last two fights in Gleison Tibau and Rich Clementi (in fact both fighters are coming off losses to Clementi) who haven’t allowed him to fight his fight. I like Stout and I hope he surprises me but I think Etim will win by submission pretty quickly.

David Baron vs Jim Miller
Prediction- Miller by 2nd round submission
Both guys are coming into the UFC with a lot of hype behind them. Baron is coming off a guillotine choke victory over Japanese legend Hayato Sakurai and has been in with other top fighters including a PRIDE Bushido fight with Takanori Gomi. Despite Baron being the more experienced fighter, I think Miller has the better technique on the ground and will transition into a dominant position at some stage during what should be an interesting ground fight and take advantage of it.