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

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.