Martin Kampmann’s drop to Welterweight is paying off as he moved into the divisions elite with a split decision win over WEC champion Carlos Condit in the main event of the recent UFC Fight Night. The fight was a fast paced battle between two fighters with dangerous stand-up and submissions and both fighters had their moments in the first two rounds. Kampmann scored a takedown early in round one before moving to side control and working a guillotine choke that looked deep. Condit scrambled and came on top before passing Kampmann’s guard to escape the choke. Kampmann then returned to guard and attempted a heel hook that put Condit on the defensive and eventually escaped forcing the fight back to the feet. Condit closed the round strong delivering a hard barrage strikes that cut Kampmann under his left eye.
Condit continued where he left off in the second round, peppering the Danish Muay Thai champion with a series of strikes. Kampmann again took Condit to the mat where he worked from inside the WEC champions guard; landing a handful of stiff shots. ’The Natural Born Killer’ worked his way back up and attempted to get the fight to the mat, only to again get caught in Kampmann’s guillotine choke. With the choke locked in tight, Condit eventually escaped and then scrambled to take Kampmann’s back where he looked to sink in a rear naked choke, but Kampmann again escaped and ended another fast paced round inside Condit’s guard.
With the first two rounds possibly going either way, both fighters needed to close out the fight strong to be sure of the decision and it was Kampmann who finished the stronger. After taking the fight to the ground early in the round, Kampmann landed solid shots from inside Condit’s guard and took Condit back down everytime he escaped. Condit attempted several submissions, but Kampmann avoided any danger and then worked well from on top. In the final seconds Condit sunk in a tight guillotine choke but didn’t have the time to force the tap and Kampmann appeared to have done enough to win the fight. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Kampmann, with the other scoring the same but for Condit.
This was an excellent fight and how it didn’t get fight of the night is beyond me. Both guys transitions were a joy to watch and the fight reminded me of the great ground battles of past years in PRIDE FC. The thing that shocked me was that Kampmann got the better of the supposedly better ground fighter Condit on the ground and Condit outboxed the supposedly better kickboxer Kampmann. This is one of those fights that raises the stock of both men and I’d be willing to watch either of them fight on a main card in the future. I’d like to see both guys fight on the same show leading to a rematch at some stage in the near future. With Koscheck’s loss recently, both of these guys sit up there with the GSP’s, Alves’ and Fitch’s of the division.
In other action, Ryan Bader showed he has a lot more work to do by doing nothing other then lying on Carmelo Marrero for three rounds. Bader showed a lack of confidence in his hands and a lack of versatility on the ground in this fight and while his wrestling is certainly top notch, there are plenty of guys in the division who can stop a takedown. Tyson Griffin showed improved hands and a high threshold for pain in surviving a nasty leg lock from Rafael Dos Anjos en route to winning a shutout unanimous decision. Dos Anjos showed crafty submissions with the knee lock that had Griffin on weakened legs for the rest of the fight, but his lack of stand-up and wrestling cost him the fight as he couldn’t take advantage of Griffin’s slowed footwork. TUF5 veteran Cole Miller did every MMA fan a favour by choking out Junie Browning inside a round. Miller caugt Browning in a tight guillotine forcing the submission at 1:58 of the first round. After the fight he called out the winner of the upcoming Spencer Fisher-Caol Uno fight at UFC 99.
Other Results Ricardo Almeida Unanimous Decision Matt Horwich
Tim Creduer Submission 2nd round (Guillotine Choke) Nick Catone Rob Kimmons Submission 1st round (Standing Guillotine Choke) Joe Vedepo
Brock Larson Submission 1st round (Rear Naked Choke) Jesse Sanders
Aaron Simpson TKO 1st round (punches) Tim McKenzie
Jorge Rivera Unanimous Decision Nissen Osterneck
Gleison Tibau Unanimous Decision Jeremy Stephens
Most of both cards are of little consequence so I can’t be arsed getting right into either. The UFC card looked entertaining until the cancellation of a few bouts, plus the fact that Fuel TV were too lazy to put it lowered my interest. Still, there’s some good fights like the main event which should be interesting to see how Condit handles a UFC welterweight and handles being on the big, big stage.
The DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix was one I was really looking forward to until a few things happened. First of all, Aoki and Sakurai got matched up which added to my looking forward to it. Then the rest of the tournament was filled up with guys I’m not too thrilled to see fight which made the Sakurai-Aoki fight like the Aoki-Calvacante fight of last years Lightweight Grand Prix. Maybe we’ll get a few stars come through like last year but with the lack of talent, I don’t think so. The final is basically on in the first round and unless the winner has a tough semi final, I can’t see them losing to anyone else.
Main Card
Carlos Condit vs Martin Kampmann Prediction- Kampmann on points
Ryan Bader vs Carlo Marrero Prediction- Bader by 1st round KO
Rafael Dos Anjos vs Tyson Griffin Prediction- Griffin on points
Junie Browning vs Cole Miller Prediction- Miller by 2nd round submission
Preliminaries
Ricardo Almeida vs Matt Horwich Prediction- Almeida by 1st round submission
Nick Catone vs Tim Creduer
Prediction- Catone on points
Ryan Jensen vs Steve Steinbeiss
Prediction- Jensen on points
Rob Kimmons vs Joe Vedepo Prediction- Kimmons by 1st round submission
Brock Larson vs Jesse Sanders Prediction- Larson by 1st round submission
Tim McKenzie vs Aaron Simpson Prediction- Simpson by 2nd round KO
Nissen Osterneck vs Jorge Rivera Prediction- Rivera by 1st round KO
Jeremy Stephens vs Gleison Tibau
Prediction- Tibau on points
Welterweight Grand Prix
Shinya Aoki vs Hayato Sakurai Prediction- Aoki on points
John Alessio vs Andre Galvao Prediction- Alessio on points
Jason High vs Yuya Shirai Prediction- Shirai on points
Seichi Ikemoto vs Marius Zaromski Prediction- Zaromski by KO 0-10 mins
Featherweight Grand Prix
Daiki Hata vs Hideo Tokoro Prediction- Tokoro on points
Super Fights
Sergei Kharitonov vs Jeff Monson Prediction- Kharitonov by KO 0-10 mins
Murilo Ninja vs Dong-Sik Yoon Prediction- Ninja on points
Shungo Oyama vs Andrews Nakahara
Prediction- Nakahara on points
Minowaman vs Katsuyori Shibata
Prediction- Minowaman by submission 0-10 mins
Just thought I’d post something different seeing how there’s limited action over the coming weeks until the K-1 event at the end of March. A few big fights have been announced over the last few weeks. I’ve beek keeping a MMA schedule on the main page (when I get around to updating it anyway) so if you want to see who’s on what card that’s coming up this might be a good place to check out.
Evans to fight Machida, not Rampage That’s right, like I said Rampage fighting three times in a little over five months was too much especially considering one of those was a hard fought fight with Keith Jardine who is a strong, powerful bastard. Machida will instead get his shot in probably the least exciting fight for a UFC title since the Pat Miletich reign at Welterweight. This fight could be very boring, but then again I’ve been wanting to see what it takes to beat one of these guys for a while so at least that’ll satisfy that bit of curiosity for me, that and the fact that Rampage will likely tear apart whoever wins this fight.
TUF 9 Finale features Sanchez-Guida and Diaz-Stevenson The two main fights apart from the Finals for TUF 9 will feature another round robin of lightweight clashes. After Nate Diaz and Clay Guida beat Josh Neer and Mac Danzig respectively, Diaz fought Guida and Danzig took on in bouts following. The same has happened again with Guida and Diaz, who will meet Sanchez and Stevenson in respective bouts. The Guida-Sanchez fight has serious implications with the winner probably next in line to battle BJ Penn (or Kenny Florian) as both guys have been in good form and are on winning streaks. Diaz and Stevenson should be another good test for Diaz and one that I think he’ll pass. The big thing will be whether or not he can finish ‘Daddy’ because he’ll deserve serious props if he does.
Coleman to face Bonnar at UFC 100 UFC 100 features a hall of fame member in what will be a sad showing as he’ll likely lose to one of the UFC’s average Light Heavyweights. Former UFC and PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman will take on TUF1 Runner-up Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100. Bonnar should win this fight on conditioning alone as Coleman struggles to fight for more then two minutes without being short of breath.
Joe Lauzon Sub2 Jeremy Stephens (Armbar) Even though Stephens ground game is pretty average I was impressed a lot by Lauzon. He used some unorthodox but effective takedowns and guard pulls (including flying leglock attempts) to get Stephens where he wanted him and worked his ground game effectively. The armbar finish from Lauzon was great and he’s definately one to watch in the 155lb division. Credit to Stephens though for hanging in there with Lauzon on a limited preparation.
Cain Velasquez TKO2 Denis Stojnic (Referee stoppage) Velasquez is in a lose lose situation fighting a guy like Stojnic. Sure he won by one sided beatdown, but thats what he was supposed to do. Stojnic doesn’t belong in the UFC let alone on a main card against a rising star. Velasquez needs to be in there with someone like Heath Herring who will make him work for the win (and may even beat him) or else he won’t be learning as much as he needs to. Velasquez vs Herring is a main card pay per view fight and one that I think should be booked as soon as both guys are ready. Still, it’[s unfair to be hard on Velasquez for this performance as it’s his 5th MMA fight.
Josh Neer sub2 Mac Danzig (Triangle Choke) In my opinion (and the UFC’s) this was fight of the night. The first round went back and forth with Danzig getting the better of the striking landing some solid combinations and Neer landing some hard elbows from on top and almost securing a triangle. Neer stormed out at the start of the second round, taking the TUF 6 champion down and landing vicious elbows from inside the guard for an extended period of time. Danzig escapes and gets a sweep only to land in a triangle from Neer who semi-rolls Danzig over to force the tapout.
Neer is really a contender at lightweight right now. He’s beaten Din Thomas, lost a close decision to Nate Diaz and then submitted Mac Danzig. He’s definately not champion material or anything (right now anyway), but he’s not an easy fight for anyone. I’d have no problems seeing him in there with Sherk, Florian, Stevenson (again, Neer beat Stevenson a few years back), Sanchez etc anytime soon. Danzig needs some easier fights, sure the guy is experienced but he’s had by far the toughest run of TUF winners (bar the seaosn 4 winners) so far. Give him some guys he can whip and then raise his competition as he wins. A fight between Danzig and Sotiropolus would be a good fight right now for both men.
Anthony Johnson KO1 Luigi Fioravanti (punches) Impressive win for Johnson. Sanchez took three rounds to stop him and Fioravanti went the distance with Chris Leben. Johnson is among the top strikers in the 170lb division right now. His takedown defence is improving with each fight and considering he’s only had eight fights he’ll be learning rapidly in the next few fights.
Kurt Pellegrino Sub2 Rob Emerson (Rear Naked Choke) Finally! Someone finally did what anyone fighter with any title aspirations should be doing to Rob Emerson and that is raping him. Emerson is very unimpressive and I’m glad his ‘run’ has been ended by a fringe contender like Pellegrino. Good Riddance!
Gleison Tibau Sub1 Rich Clementi (Guillotine Choke) Clementi’s game needs some work. He is well rounded but his game is at the level where he’ll beat anyone with a massive hole in his game (like Melvin Guillard) but anyone who can control where the fight goes against him will beat him. Tibau is like a bad smell that won’t go away. No one really wants to be near it, but at the same time they’re curious to find out who dropped their guts.
Matt Veach TKO1 Matt Grice (punches) This was a great fight and it would have won fight of the night if there was a little more skill involved. Both fighters were in trouble at some point in the fight and both guys showed a lot of heart to fight at that sort of pace. The stoppage was bullshit even though I think Veach was going to finish Grice anyway considering the position he was in. Veach was in much more trouble earlier in the round after he got dropped and the referee jumped in way way too early. Veach looked good on the ground and showed an iron chin but (even though he knocked Grice down with a punch) his stand-up sucks. He needs to get himself a real stand-up coach and not Robbie Lawler.
Another UFC card is on this week in the form of a fight night and it’s turning out similar to the cursed UFC 85 card from last June. The main event was supposed to be between Joe Lauzon and Hermes Franca, but Franca pulled out of the fight due to a knee injury (?) and Jeremy Stephens, who is slated to fight Efrain Escudero in April, took the fight on short notice. While it’s disappointing that Franca is out of action, at least he didn’t do what he did last time he got injured preparing for a fight. TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah was also forced off the card with another injury postponing his post TUF career. George Sotripolous also had to withdraw from the card due to injury. Still, there’s some good fights on this card and while I won’t go into a great deal of detail, here’s my picks:
Main Card
Joe Lauzon vs Jeremy Stephens Prediction- Lauzon TKO 2nd round The big difference between these two is on the mat and Lauzon is a very intelligent person and will take the fight there ASAP. I think he’ll pass Stephens guard without too much trouble and beat Stephens up from side control and mount until he is rescued in the 2nd round.
Cain Velasquez vs Denis Stojnic Prediction- Velasquez KO 1st round
Velasquez should win this easily. Stojnic is apparently a good sambo guy who trains at Golden Glory kickboxing gym so he might do alright, but I think he’ll end up underneath Cain quickly and will be finished with strikes not too later.
Mac Danzig vs Josh Neer Prediction- Neer on points Tough fight to call. Neer is a crafty veteran and Danzig doesn’t really excel in any particular area so Neer could frustrate Danzig and win a decision. I think either fighter could win wherever the fight goes however Danzig should have the advantage on the ground but if he’s on the bottom he’ll struggle to get anything to work for him. I think Neer will win a razor thin split decision.
Luigi Fioravanti vs Anthony Johnson Prediction- Fioravanti on points I’m not totally sold on Johnson yet and while he has a chance in this fight, Fioravanti should prove too experienced and well rounded for him.
Preliminaries
Rob Emerson vs Kurt Pellegrino Prediction- Pellegrino on points
Jake Rosholt vs Dan Miller
Prediction- Miller Sub2
Matt Grice vs Matt Veach
Prediction- Veach Sub1
Rich Clementi vs Gleison Tibau
Prediction- Tibau Dec
Nick Catone vs Derek Downey Prediction- Catone KO2
Steve Bruno vs Matthew Riddle
Prediction- Riddle Dec
These are also late, but even more then boxing these had to be left until the new year so all the events could be done and everything taken into consideration. As it turns out, a few of the last few events of the year won some awards.
Fight of the Year- Eddie Alvarez TKO 1 (7:35) Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM.5)
This fight took place in the semi finals of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix and a cut suffered by Alvarez in winning this fight left him unable to continue in the tournament marking the way for alternate Joachim Hansen, the man Alvarez beat in the Quarter Finals, to fight in and win the Final against Shinya Aoki. Both fighters traded heavy shots on their feet throughout the fight and both fighters were knocked down. Alvarez dropped Kawajiri with a left hook-right cross about three minutes in but he used good survival skills to get himself out of trouble. After the doctors ruled Alvarez’s cut was okay to continue, Kawajiri dropped him heavily with a right hand and then passed his guard and mounted him. Alvarez escaped the mount and got back to his feet where both guys traded heavy shots and hurt each other more then once. Alvarez then pinned Kawajiri against the ropes and dropped him again, took his back and finished him with heavy strikes to the head. I picked this fight over some of the other ones on the list because it was fast paced for the full distance of the fight unlike some of the other candidates this year and because the whole way through the fight you had no idea who was going to win. If you haven’t seen the fight, here it is:
Honourable Mentions- Miguel Torres TKO3 Yoshiro Maeda (WEC 34), Forrest Griffin UD5 Rampage Jackson (UFC 86), Eddie Alvarez UD (15 mins) Joachim Hansen (DREAM.3).
Fighter of the Year- Gegard Mousasi This might come as a strange pick to some people, but the big factor in this pick was that he went 6-0 this year (plus his victory under K-1 rules against MUSASHI) and four of those wins were against decent opposition in winning the DREAM Middleweight Tournament. After winning two fights early in the year (one over PRIDE veteran Evangelista Cyborg), Mousasi entered the Grand Prix as one of the dark horses. Matched up against PRIDE 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Runner-up Denis Kang in the first round of the tournament, Mousasi’s triangle choke victory came as a big upset to most people. A workman-like decision win over Dong Sik Yoon in the Quarter Finals earned him his spot in the Final Event where he had to face Melvin Manhoef in the Semi Finals, and then fight again on the same night to win the title. Most were expecting a Manhoef-Ronaldo Jacare final, but Mousasi had other ideas, scoring a victory again via triangle choke in 88 seconds over the feared striker. Facing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert Jacare in the Final, Mousasi ended up on his back early, but at the 2:15 mark of the first round a dramatic upkick followed up by punches with Jacare in his guard left his Brazilian opponent unconscious and made Gegard Mousasi the new DREAM Middleweight Champion. Some of the other fighters (particularily in the UFC) scored bigger wins this year, but all of them fought only twice this year and you can question the level of some of their wins. While some of Mousasi’s opponents certainly wouldn’t make it in the UFC, going 6-0 against that sort of competition is very impressive stuff. I definately don’t think he’d beat Anderson Silva or anything like that so save your time from writing some idiotic comment saying Silva would crush him or whatever because that’s not what this is about. It’s about which fighter accomplished the most in the calendar year and it was in my opinion Gegard Mousasi. Honourable Mentions- Frank Mir, Rashad Evans, Georges St Pierre.
Knockout of the Year- Rampage Jackson KO1 (left hook) Wanderlei Silva (UFC 92) This knockout just edged out Rashad Evans knocking out Chuck Liddell. I almost made it a tie, but then I measured my closet and realised I wasn’t big enough to fit into it so I could come out of it after making it a tie and acted like a man and made the pick. I think the deciding factor was the importance of the knockout for Rampage in this fight after avenging two brutal KO losses to Silva from their PRIDE days with an equally if not more devastating KO win himself. I would put a clip of the KO up, but ZUFFA are pricks about this sort of thing and don’t allow any of their fights to be on youtube so I’ll have to describe it. Wanderlei attacked Rampage while he was near the fence and threw a left hook-right hook combo. Rampage countered the left hook with a tighter one of his own and caught Wanderlei square on the jaw with his own hook putting him out cold right away while he was in the middle of throwing his own shot. Rampage then followed it up with two or three shots while Wanderlei was out. Both Rampage and Rashad will likely fight for the belt later this year and hopefully we’ll see another KO of the year candidate (and hopefully it’s Rashad who is on the receiving end). Honourable Mentions- Rashad Evans KO2 (overhand right) Chuck Liddell (UFC 88), Wanderlei Silva KO1 (rape choke + right hands from mount) Keith Jardine (UFC 84), Anthony Johnson KO3 (left high kick) Kevin Burns (TUF8 Finale).
Submission of the Year- Shinya Aoki Sub1 (5:12)(Aokiplata/Gogoplata from mount) Katsuhiko Nagata (DREAM.4) I watched this about 50 times in a row after I saw it. It was so cool it has to be given it’s own name and I will from now on refer to this as the Aokiplata no matter how much my friend who has done Jiu Jitsu longer then me tells me that the gogoplata was originally done from the mount before the guard and that the one he did on Hansen should therefore be the Aokiplata because I think he’s wrong. Anyway, unlike KO of the year, I have a clip, so I’ll shut up and you can enjoy:
Honourable Mentions- Dustin Hazelett Sub2 (Flying Armbar from Whizzer) Josh Burkman (TUF7 Finale), Dustin Hazelett Sub1 (Cutting Armbar against his own leg) Tamdan McCrory, Demian Maia Sub2 (Triangle Choke from Mount + Punches) Ed Herman (UFC 83).
Event of the Year- UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 (December 27th)
The UFC stacked their last show and it proved to be the best event of the year. On the card we had two title fights between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir for the UFC interim Heavyweight title and Rashad Evans challenging Forrest Griffin for the UFC Light Heavyweight title in the main event. Also on the card was a fight featuring one of the best grudges in MMA between Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva; one that has been around for more then five years since before their first bout at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003. Thw two other fights that filled up the main card saw an excellent knockout by Cheick Kongo over Mustafa Al Turk as well as a great Middleweight battle between CB Dollaway and Mike Massenzio. The UFC put six of it’s top starts against each other in fights that had plenty of impact on their respective divisions as well as plenty of impact in future fights that can be made. This card had great matchups that turned into great fights, upsets plus some great finishes and you really can’t ask for anything more (other then the odd submission). Honourable Mentions- Affliction: Banned, UFC 81: Breaking Point, UFC 84: Ill Will.
Performance of the Year- Fedor Emelianenko Sub1 (36 seconds) Tim Sylvia (Affliction: Banned) There was a lot of hype around Fedor’s return to US soil and him fighting his (apparent) first ‘real’ opponent in former Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Plenty of people thought that Fedor was all hype and no skill and the new promotion he represented, Affliction, depended on him to prove them wrong in order to succeed. That he did. After a brief feeling out process off about 10 seconds, Fedor dropped Sylvia with a series of big punches, battered him on the ground with even heavier punches, took his back and made him tap with a rear naked choke. It was easily the most you could dominate someone in just 36 seconds. Anyone who wasn’t impressed by Fedor in this fight is an idiot and I really don’t care what anyone has to say about it. Fact of the matter is he’s the best Heavyweight in the World until someone beats him. Guess what, I found a clip of it as well:
Honourable Mentions- Anderson Silva Sub2 Dan Henderson (UFC 81), Frank Mir TKO2 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 92), Georges St Pierre TKO2 Matt Serra (UFC 83).
Upset of the Year- Mike Brown TKO1 Urijah Faber (WEC 36) Faber was easily the top Featherweight in the World and was considered miles ahead of anyone else. He was a top pound for pound fighter as well and no one expected him to lose anytime soon. Mike Brown was a former UFC competitor (he had one fight and got tapped out by Genki Sudo) who had only lost to top fighters and usually fought at Lightweight. While a respectable fighter no one really thought he standed much of a chance with Faber. Two minutes 23 seconds later he had caught Faber with a big right hand as Faber attempted a spinning elbow and rained down punches until the referee pulled him off. I didn’t even bother watching this fight until I saw the result (plus I would have had a hard time finding it online because they broadcast fuckall down under in terms of MMA) because I thought this would be business as usual for Faber. None of the other upsets this year come close to that one.
Honourable Mentions- Junior dos Santos KO1 Fabricio Werdum (UFC 90), Rashad Evans KO2 (UFC 88), Frank Mir TKO2 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 92).
Before I get onto some of the lesser more comical awards, I’m going to explain my lack of a round of the year award. I prefer the Japanese 1 10 min/1-2 5 min rounds because I think MMA is a sport that doesn’t need rounds. It’s a proper fight and while I don’t care about having rounds as much as I care about say stand-ups and while I understand that they allow more fights to get sanctioned and make some fights more exciting, I still prefer the fighters to go for as long as they can for a round or two then a couple of shorter rounds at the end so I will not include a round of the year. If I did have one I’d give it to Alvarez-Kawajiri because it ended in the first round even though that round was 10 minutes long.
Now, seeing how MMA isn’t as old as boxing, these are all going to be completely new and made up awards named after whoever wins them as I go remembering some of the funnier moments of the year.
Shonie Carter Award for Best Referee Stoppage/- Shonie Carter (Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker)
Bryan/Parker Award for Double KO of the Year- Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker And here it is:
Just a prior warning, the next few awards go to EliteXC for their ‘Heat’ show, so make sure you have a bucket handy.
Shamrock/Kimbo Award for Most Entertaining Weigh-in of the Year- EliteXC: Heat This weigh-in had two big feuds that almost flared up as well as some nudity from someone not quite as ugly as Kimbo Slice. Undercard attraction and probably the most well known female MMA fighter Gina Carano failed to make weight for like the 4th time in her MMA career but instead of letting it go like what has happened in the past, EliteXC officials made her strip all the way to see if the limited clothing she was wearing accounted for extra weight that she was over. Somehow it did. About four towels covered Carano (and from what I read on a few message boards the wet dreams of many fight fans) that were being held up by her handlers and a very embarrassed Carano made the contracted weight for her fight with Kelly Kobald. After the Arlovski-Nelson weigh in went off without any problems, EliteEX Welterweight Championship competitors Paul Daley and Jake Shields had to be seperated after Shields blew Daley a kiss during the staredown. The main event for this fight was between UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock and Youtube star Kimbo Slice (well at that stage it was) and going with his usual style, Shamrock decided to start some shit before the fight. While posing for the media in attention, Shamrock for absolutely no logical reason (Shamrock thinking he’s been disrespected isn’t a logical reason) pushed Slice in the back and caused the second near brawl of the weigh-in. This one took a lot longer to calm down though as both fighters had bigger entourages then Daley and Shields. Unfortunately, the actual card was no where near as entertaining as the weigh-in.
Jared Shaw Award for Worst Matchmaking of the Year- Kimbo Slice vs Seth Petruzelli (EliteXC: Heat)
Kimbo Slice Award for Most Pathetic Knockout of the Year- Seth Petruzelli KO1 (14 seconds) Kimbo Slice (EliteXC: Heat) Ken Shamrock somehow got himself cut warming-up for the fight and EliteXC needed someone to step in and fight Kimbo Slice in their main event. After an offer from commentator Frank Shamrock was turned down because Shamrock, despite being 50lbs lighter then Kimbo, has some serious skills and would likely have beaten Kimbo anywhere the fight went and EliteXC couldn’t risk their main drawcard getting beaten by a Middleweight. Instead Jared Shaw came up with former TUF2 competitor Seth Petruzelli who was fighting in a Light Heavyweight bout on the preliminary card. Petruzelli was an unorthodox but fairly handy striker who also had some wrestling ability and Shaw tried to make sure it was his striking skills that he would be using against their apparent ‘top 10 Heavyweight boxer in the World’ by asking that Petruzelli stand with Kimbo. What Shaw didn’t know is that there is a difference in levels of striking between your good street fighters and your trained fighters. It took only 14 seconds for him to be wishing that he picked Frank Shamrock. Kimbo rushed across the cage in his usual fashion and backed Petruzelli against the fence. Petruzelli flicked out a jab while off balance and to his and everyone else’s surprised it dropped Kimbo onto all fours. Petruzelli pounced and landed several shots while on Kimbos back, then rolled him over and landed a barrage from, side control that forced the referee to stop the fight at just 0:14 of the first round.
Bob Sapp Award for Biggest Mismatch of the Year- Jan Nortje vs Bob Sapp (Strikeforce: At the Dome) Some people might be surprised that I picked this fight over the Kinniku Mantaro fight against Sapp at the end of the year. Well the answer is obvious, that fight was competitive, this fight wasn’t. Jan Nortje was receiving a lot of hype for his 1-5 record that earned him a spot in the Strikeforce main event. They brought in monster of a man Bob Sapp to fight him because that wanted to see what happens when Nortje picks on someone his own size. The fight ended quickly after Nortje landed several hard blows that forced Sapp to run away, then chased him down and finished the job 55 seconds into the first round. It truly was a mismatch and the matchmakers at Strikeforce deserve an enquiry much more then EliteXC officials for bringing in someone as poor as Bob Sapp to fight a stud like Jan Nortje.
YAMMA Award for Worst MMA Show of the Year (maybe ever)- YAMMA Pit Fighting Seriously this was just horrendous. The creators of the UFC tried to bring back eight man-one night tournaments and make MMA ‘more exciting.’ The tournaments were impossible to do like they used to be done, so they had to compromise. Because fighters could only fight five rounds a night, the first and second rounds of the tournament would be one round of fighting each with the Final fight being three rounds. YAMMA also had a ‘revolutionary’ new fighting surface in which the area of the mat around the edge of the fence would go up on an angle so that the wrestlers couldn’t just pin you up against the cage and drop elbows on your head. Basically YAMMA wanted their organisation to be striker friendly. Instead, the wrestlers backed their opponents onto the ‘ramp’ then took them down with ease because they were off balance and because the fights were only one five minute round, the fight was over right there and then. The tournament consisted of every match being won by lay and prey (including the three round final). The only slightly entertaining part of this event was the super fights between Butterbean and Patrick Smith (mainly because Butterbean got royally fucked up) and Oleg Taktarov vs the man who ate Mark Kerr (Taktarov won by kneebar about one minute in). The event was bad from the fights to the Ring Announcer, who was so bad I’ve named an Award after him.
Scott Ferrall Award for Worst Ring Announcer of the Year- Scott Ferrall (YAMMA Pit Fighting) Scott Ferrall was funny but I wasn’t laughing with him. The guy was way too weird to be allowed to have his thoughts expressed on a microphone. He first announced referee Dan Miragliotta as “Big Dan Miragliotta STOMP YOU OUT!” and then “Big Dan the Man, How can I be the man if you’re the man, Dan Miragliotta (to which Dan shook his head in disgust). Pulled off a terribly lame call in “Travis ‘The Diesel’ Gimme a room with a Wiuff.” One fighter he said “hadn’t eaten in a week because he’s going to the electric chair.” Referred to the YAMMA Championship belt as ‘the strap-on’ and probably the weirdest call he made was “Kevin Mulhall will be the referee for this beautiful matchup of warriors and freaks ready to pound and dance…”
Gone but not Forgotten It’s sad that I have to do one of these for MMA. Boxing has been around for over 100 years and past champions are going to pass away each year and I feel it’s important to remember them. MMA on the other hand has been around for just 15 years and this year my favourite fighter, Evan Tanner, passed away way earlier then he should have.
Evan Tanner- Former UFC Middleweight Champion. Challenged Tito Ortiz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title at UFC 30 but lost. Defeated Dave Terrell for the UFC Middleweight title at UFC 51 and won with strikes in the first round. Lost the title to Rich Franklin on a doctors stoppage in his first defence at UFC 53. None of this was why I liked Evan Tanner. He kept a blog on his website which I read for over a year about everything that went on in his life, including all his adventures and even his battle with alcohol which he beat in order to return to the UFC this year. I admired not so much the way the man led his life but the way he was completely honest with himself about who he was and who he wasn’t. He died in September of this year from heat exposure after his motorbike broke down in the desert and he ran out of water. He was 37.
These are events that really don’t deserve me writing an entire article on them right now seeing that I’m flat out and can’t be bothered, but I’ll at least throw my picks up:
UFC Fight for the Troops Koscheck vs Yoshida- Koscheck on points
Swick vs Goulet- Swick by 1st round KO
Creduer vs Loughran- Creduer by 2nd round submission Wiman vs Miller- Wiman on points
Boxing Tomasz Adamek vs Steve Cunningham- Adamek on points Kendall Holt vs Demetrius Hopkins- Holt on points James Toney vs Fres Oquendo- Oquendo on points
Nicolay Valuev vs Evander Holyfield- Valuev by 8th round KO
I’ll still be covering the UFC 92 event, maybe K-1 Dynamite and the Klitschko-Rahman fight in full before the end of the year. Also there’ll be an end of year awards thread going up on New Years Day or January 2nd, depending on how hungover I am.
I haven’t got time to do a big breakdown of all of these fights, basically I think Diaz’s ground game will be too much for Neer to handle, Alexander will get tapped out as soon as the fight hits the ground, Guida will be too well-rounded for Danzig and is too much for him at this stage and Lauzon will tear Bradley a new one.
Main Card
Nate Diaz vs Josh Neer Prediction- Diaz submission 2nd round
Houston Alexander vs Eric Schafer Prediction- Schafer submission 1st round
Mac Danzig vs Clay Guida Prediction- Guida on points
Kyle Bradley vs Joe Lauzon
Prediction- Lauzon knockout 2nd round
Alan Belcher vs Ed Herman Prediction- Belcher on points
Wilson Gouveia vs Ryan Jensen
Prediction- Gouveia submission 2nd round
Preliminary Card
Mike Massenzio vs Drew McFedries
Prediction- McFedries knockout 1st round
Alessio Sakara vs Joe Vedepo
Prediction- Sakara knockout 1st round
Rob Kimmons vs Dan Miller Prediction- Miller on points
Jason Britz vs Brad Morris Prediction- Britz on points
Fedor Emelianenko submits Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds And what a 36 seconds it was. Fedor is the baddest man on the planet. I thought maybe he’d slipped a bit with the years of fighting relative no ones (to be fair he fought Mark Hunt at Shockwave 2006 and Hunt’s no mug) but he looked as good as ever against Sylvia. The punches that put Tim down were murderous, his ground and pound when Sylvia was hurt is just typical Fedor, and the fact that he could get that rear naked choke when Sylvia has defended well against that submission in the past in the time he got it in shows how good this guy is at grappling.
Fedor and Couture have to fight each other next. I don’t care where they fight or what it’s for but these guys have to fight. All this talk for years of who would win when the UFC and PRIDE Heavyweight champions fight each other, it just has to happen now. Randy is the UFC champion, and as far as I’m concerned he’ll stay that way until someone beats him. If I was Dane White, I’d swallow my pride, offer Fedor a $5 million one fight contract and have him fight Randy in the UFC. He’s better off to risk Fedor leaving the UFC after winning the title and having the biggest fight of all-time happen on his show (theres still a chance that Randy beats Fedor especially in the cage) then he is letting another organisation take all the glory.
Andrei Arlovski KO3 Ben Rothwell This fight reminded me of Arlovski vs Cabbage except that Rothwell punched back a bit more then Cabbage did. Excellent fight, probably the best of the weekend. Arlovski looked the best he’s looked since he lost his title back at UFC 59. Rothwell was a lot better then I thought he was, but he was just too slow to handle Arlovski. The leg kicks in the first round really slowed Rothwell down as I expected them to but he still fought on. That guy takes an incredible amount of punishment. In my opinion, Arlovski stands the best chance at beating Fedor out of anyone. He can match Fedor’s speed (well sort of) and because he is a former Sambo world champion, he’ll be a bit more prepared for Fedor’s ground game. In saying that, I’d still pick Fedor to beat Arlovski.
Josh Barnett KO2 Pedro Rizzo
I have to say, I’m a much bigger Barnett fan today then I was yesterday. I’ve always had it in for this guy, probably because I’m a huge Couture fan and Barnett has run his mouth in the past about their fight. He impressed the hell out of me yesterday. His stand-up was very good and he kept Rizzo off balance throughout the fight and the finish was top notch. I’d like to see Barnett in against either Sylvia or Arlovski next.
Vitor Belfort KO2 Terry Martin
Belfort looked pretty good. He was moving well and boxing well. He never allowed Martin to get in the fight. I don’t know how people thought Martin won the first round, he was getting jabbed and turned around repeatedly and only landed that one shot on Belfort’s shoulder while he was off balance. I’d like to see Belfort fight Matt Lindland, that would be an excellent fight. As for Lindland, he looked good considering he’d been out for a while. He needs to fight again soon though so he can keep himself in good fighting shape.
Other Comments The main thing that dissappointed me about this card was the quick stand-ups by the referee. For fuck sake, let these guys fight. Fighting on the ground is still fighting. These guys are the top of the food chain, they don’t need to be stood up. Stand-ups should only be used in lesser promotions to keep the fights interesting, when the guys are world class it should be entertaining enough that you’ve got two world class fighters fighting each other without the referee using his stupid arse opinion that stand-up fighting is more exciting then ground fighting. You just have to watch Wladimir Klitschko’s last two fights to know that isn’t always the case!
I like the ring in general (not as much as the cage though), but the Affliction ring definately needs some work. The ropes were way too slack, the table on the outside was dangerous and the referee’s don’t know what they’re doing with it. Why didn’t the referee’s restart them in the middle instead of turning them into the centre? Have these guys ever watched PRIDE before? If someone like me knows that the PRIDE officials used to turn them to the centre before they realised it was retarded and re-started them in the middle instead, then surely these guys in positions of power should know this as well right? As comical as the Japanese MMA is at times, they know how to work the ring. You need the officials on the outside supporting the ropes so the fighters don’t keep going through them, you need tight ropes and you need a referee who knows what the fuck is going on!
Overall, I enjoyed Affliction a lot. It beat the hell out of the UFC card (well on paper it should have). I’ve read people making fun of the back production but this is their second show. Go watch UFC 2 and see how bad that is. Megadeath worked better then I thought, I especially liked the intro with the fighters on the ramp. As you may have guessed I like my Japansese MMA, and this was similar to the PRIDE intros without the crazy Jap dude playing his drums and screaming. The production is only going to get better.
UFC: Silva vs Irvin Results
Anderson Silva KO1 James irvin When I said that Fedor is the baddest man on the planet before, thats only because he’s bigger then Silva. Pound for Pound, I think Silva is number one (although its very close) mainly because of the manner he’s destroyed the number 2 and 3 guys. Fedor is yet to beat Randy Couture who in my opinion is the number two guy in the World. If he goes through him like Silva went through Franklin and Henderson then I think he’ll take Silvas pound for pound title away. Oh yeah, Silva destroyed Irvin with the first heavy shot he landed, did anyone think he’d do differently?
Other Fights Vera looked sluggish, but that should be expected the first time he cut weight. Not to mention he was coming off back to back losses. He’ll be stronger next time he fights at 205lbs. Edgar fought a great fight, but I think he should go down to featherweight. Guys like Sean Sherk and Gray Maynard (who already beat him) are just going to outmuscle this kid if he stays at this weight. Jake O’Brien got bashed and I couldn’t be more happy. This guy doesn’t belong in the UFC, so they should get rid of him. He’s not a fighter, he’s a sexual deviant who likes to molest people. CB Dollaways submission was top notch and Burns should have been disqualified. Overall, it was a decent fight night, but not close to what Affliction was.
One last thing for those UFC nuthuggers who aren’t real MMA fans, Fedor beat Sylvia a lot better then Mir did and he beat a better version of Sylvia. He dropped him and made Sylvia tap out, he didn’t get taken down and have the ref stop it from an armbar (I very much believe that you have to tap for the fight to be stopped, if you’re crazy enough to fight with a broken arm then thats up to you). Not to mention Sylvia wasn’t straight off the roids yesterday like he was when he fought Mir. If you want to compare Fedor’s performance to anyone’s over Sylvia, then Arlovski is your man. But then again, Arlovski isn’t in the UFC anymore so that means he’s shit. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of competition, infact it will only make the sport better. Build a bridge and get over it!
I love it that the UFC responded in this fashion. Even though I won’t be watching this show live or anything, the UFC putting this show on is great for the fans and also great for Anderson Silva. I’m a big fan of champions having keep busy fights at higher weight classes. Considering how quickly this card was put together, this is a pretty good card, although it’s no where near as good as the Affliction: Banned event. If I had the choice between paying to watch Affliction and watching this for free, I’d pay for Affliction. This isn’t just some no name brand putting on a decent show with unknown fighters. Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Andre Arlovski and Josh Barnett (just to name a few) ate great fighters and the card rivals any UFC Pay Per View. Anyway, onto the fights.
James Irvin vs Anderson Silva Prediction- Silva by 1st round knockout Anderson Silva is the pound for pound best fighter in the World. There’s a couple of guys who are close to him, but as far as I’m concerned if you don’t agree with me on this then there’s something wrong with you. Anyone who can destroy the number two and three fighters in their respective weight class in the manner that Silva did (not to mention Henderson was also a top 5 205lber) has to be the top guy. Penn and GSP have both been dominant recently, but they haven’t been as dominant as this guy.
Silva should knock Irvin out, and he should do it pretty easily. Irvin is the hardest puncher that ‘The Spider’ would have faced, but Silva is going to make him look like he’s fighting underwater. Silva should dominate the stand-up with his awesome variety of knees, kicks, elbows and punches, and if Irvin gets the fight to the ground I think Silva will submit him. I’ll be surprised if this fight goes past the first five minutes.
Frankie Edgar vs Hermes Franca Prediction- Edgar on points
I like Franca, I’ve always been a big fan of his, but traditionally he’s had trouble with really good wrestlers and that’s what Edgar is. Edgar should be able to keep this fight on the ground and avoid Franca’s crazy submission attempts. The longer this fight goes, the less chance I give to Franca. If the fight stays standing I think Franca has a chance at catching Edgar and knocking him out. In fact, despite being known for his BJJ, I think Franca’s best chance in this fight is standing up. Edgar shouldn’t have any problems taking Hermes down and if he keeps it standing he’s playing with fire as Franca has awesome power in his right hand.
Reese Andy vs Brandon Vera Prediction- Vera by 1st round knockout There’s no way Vera is losing three in a row, especially when the third guy is Reese Andy.
Kevin Burns vs Anthony Johnson Prediction- Johnson by 2nd round knockout Despite submitting Carneiro, I don’t think Burns will be around in the UFC too long. I could very well be wrong and I’m sticking my neck out here, but I think Johnson will batter him.
CB Dollaway vs Jesse Taylor Prediction- Dollaway on points Both guys have a lot to prove here. I think Dollaway’s wrestling will be the deciding factor. I think this fight could end early as well if Taylor is as bad off his back as I suspect he is as Dollaway’s submissions are goog as are his strikes from on top. I also give the edge to Dollaway in the stand-up. My impression of Jesse Taylor is that he wins a lot of his fights through his physical strength, and that won’t work on someone like Dollaway. Taylor should be in peak condition and I think he’ll survive the three rounds, but lose comfortably.
Jake O’Brien vs Cain Velasquez
Prediction- O’Brien on points I hate Jake O’Brien. Fighters like him (often referred to as blankets) are exactly like John Ruiz in boxing (for those of you who don’t know, Ruiz held part of the Heavyweight Boxing title through hitting someone then wrestling them before they punch back). I prefer to watch fighters who actually try and inflict damage on their opponents (ie actually fight) rather then ride out a decision win because they’re afraid of what their opponent can do. In saying that, I can’t see Velasquez stopping O’Briens takedowns. Hopefully the ref stands the fighters up repeatedly (I usually hate stand-ups, but its fighters like these that make them necessary) so Velasquez has a chance at chinning O’Brien.
Tim Credeur vs Cale Yarborough
Prediction- Credeur by submission 1st round My pick hasn’t changed since these two were scheduled to fight on TUF7 Finale. I don’t rate Yarborough at all, Creduer to get on top and finish him with whatever he feels like.
Besides these fights, the UFC is giving a few guys their UFC debut on the preliminary show. I can’t recall having seen any of these so I won’t predict any of those fights. Many of them are ex IFL guys which adds support to a rumour that the UFC is going to purchase the IFL.
