Tag: Mixed Martial Arts

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UFC 110

UFC 110 has one of the most stacked cards I’ve seen in a while.  All the fights in the preliminaries and main card are worth watching.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Cain Velasquez

Headlining the event is the Nogueira vs. Velasquez bout.  Both fighters are currently ranked near the top of the heavyweight division and a win for either of them would catapolt them to title contention. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is one of the most dangerous fighters in the division.  He’s not just dangerous because he is one of the best grapplers in the sport, or that he’s fought almost all of the biggest names in the sport. It’s the fact that he can take a Rodney King beating and still come back to win. Nogueira is the Jason Voorhees of MMA you can’t count him out until the credits starts rolling. And on the other side of the cage is Cain Velasquez. He’s a very strong wrestler with a good chin. A product of American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), Velasquez has been crushing his opponents with his superior wrestling. The only hole in his game is his stand up, which Cheick Kongo was able to expose during their fight, but as long as he continue to train with AKA his stand up is only going to get better.

What does Nogueira have?
– Dangerous grappling
– Strong chin
– Tons of experience

What does Velasquez have?
– Superior wrestling
– Strong chin
– Physically strong

My Pick:
Cain Velasquez takes it.  He will take the fight to Nogueira and use his wrestling ability to control the fight. The fight will go to the ground with Cain on top raining down elbows and punches. The only thing he has to worry about is getting sloppy and getting caught in a submission during a flurry or a takedown attempt. The last time Nog submitted anyone was when he fought Tim Sylivia in 2008 and before that it was Zuluzinho in 2006.  Nogueira hasn’t shown he has KO power. With about 40 fights he’s only has 2 KO on his record, the rest were submission and decision wins, so a knock out win for Nogueira is unlikely. Continue reading “UFC 110”

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Is the Gracie family becoming obsolete?

The Gracie family created the UFC and revolutionized how fighters train and popularized the once unknown realm of ground fighting. Back in 1993 a young Brazilian by the name of Royce Gracie shocked the martial arts world by proving Brazilian (Gracie) Jiu Jitsu’s effectiveness. Winning 3 Open Weight UFC tournaments Royce Gracie solidified the fact that anyone who was willing to step in the octagon had to know the grappling art pioneered by the Gracie family.

BJJ Gracie schools are spread all over the United States and around the world. Many successful fighters are currently based out of these school such as Jake Shields, the Diaz brothers, and Gilbert Melendez are from the Cesar Gracie’s camp. Since the days of Royce Gracie winning Open Weight Tournaments the Gracie family has concentrated more on their schools than fighting in MMA. Even though some did fight none has been successful as Royce. In the past, a fighter baring the surname of Gracie cause opponents to shiver in fear, but today they are just one of the many family members who are just trying to build a career with the name.

Rolles Gracie, a young and upcoming fighter, recently made his debut at UFC 109. Originally he was going to fight Mostapha Al Turk but due to an injury he had to pull out. UFC threw in a late replacement, Joey Beltran. The fight was suppose to be a cake walk for Rolles as his new opponent was relative unknown and considered less dangerous than Al Turk. Unfortunately, Rolles couldn’t put up any offense or defense and fell to the hands of Beltran. The loss was embarrassing which led to UFC booting him from the promotion. This is not the first time a debut by a Gracie ended in embarrassment. Cesar Gracie was knocked out by Frank Shamrock seconds into the first round at Strikeforce’s first MMA event.

Renzo Gracie has recently signed a multi-fight contract with UFC, and his first opponent is none other than Matt Hughes. Hughes, a few years ago, easily defeated Royce Gracie in UFC 60 putting an end to the Gracie dominance the name once held. Renzo on the UFC roster is nothing more than a stab to associate a Gracie name with the most successful MMA promotion in the world. Multi-fights don’t mean squat. Renzo will need to win impressively, and a bad loss can send him back to Strikeforce.

Ironically, the Gracie family who forced the MMA world to learn BJJ is now finding themselves that BJJ alone can not win fights. Many fighters today focus on the defense of BJJ, wrestling, and striking. Sure there are many world-class BJJ fighters who can fight, but those who rely solely on their world-class grappling skills are being beat by fighters with less grappling experience.  Being well-rounded is key in the sport. It’s not just being dominant in one particular art, but to mesh and utilize all the different skills to win. Now it’s the Gracie family that is forced to learn beyond their heritage grappling background.

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UFC 109 Review

It’s been a while since I’ve done a UFC event review, so I’m doing one now since I was at the event and want to discuss about some of the fights.

Mark Coleman vs Randy Couture

Many fan will know that UFC’s fight cards have been lacking due to injuries. UFC 109 is one of those events that suffered from it. First let’s start off with the main event. Mark Coleman should consider retiring from MMA. Age has caught up with him and his ability to stay competitive have long left him since his PrideFC days. I’m not sure what the UFC brass was thinking when they decided to make this fight happen.

During the fight Mark Coleman looked horrible. He didn’t seem like he wanted to be there. His reaction to Couture’s punches were terribly slow. Coleman didn’t exude any inkling of his former self. Coleman’s glory days are behind him and any chance of him repeating any kind of success in an octagon have withered away. The same can not be said about Randy Couture. It is true that he gets better everytime he enters the octagon. It’s the experience that he has built, the strategies he has developed, and a great camp that he has created that enables him to excel where other athletes fail. Even with his recent wins and resurgence Couture can’t escape father time. You can see it in his fights that he is beginning to slow down. Strategy and experience can only get him so far. Even if his desire to compete is great his physical ability will be his Achilles heel. UFC is a marketing machine that will setup fights that fans want and create buzz for fights. With Couture v. Coleman bout it shows that not all fights are necessary . I hope UFC sees that Coleman is no long a threat in the division (or any) and concentrate on fights that matter and hopefully Couture doesn’t follow the same path.

Nate marquardt vs Chael Sonnen

Marquardt was a big favorite to win against Chael Sonnen. But that didn’t pan out like i had hoped. I’m not taking anything away from sonnen. Sonnen came in with an excellent game plan that stopped marquardt dead in his tracks. Marquardt has everything going for him. He has a great team, plenty of experience, and the skill to beat anyone in his division, yet he failed to get through Sonnen. I think Marquardt eyes was on rematching with Anderson Silva rather than concentrating on Sonnen. It’s easily to over look Sonnen’s ability since he’s not a flashy fighter with highlight reel potential. Sonnen’s style is ‘meat and potatoes’ where he utilizes his wrestling for control and solid ground and pound to crush his opponents. Now with a chance to get the title will his style be effective against the king of the division, Anderson silva?

Damien Maia vs Dan Miller

Dan Miller really impressed me. His ability to hold his own on the ground with Maia says a lot about his BJJ. Even though Miller loss it showed that he is a threat. If he works on his striking and polishes up his ground game he can makes some waves in the top 5 of the division, excluding Anderson Silva of course.

Melvin Guillard vs Ronys Torres

Melvin Guillard has all the physical attributes to be a devastating MMA fighter, but his lack of development to become more well rounded prevented him from escalating up the division. Watching him against Ronys Torres he showed poise and calmness something that was missing from his previous fights. Joining Greg Jackson’s camp have helped him. Let’s hope he continues to improve and move up the ladder.

Paulo Thiago vs Mike Swick

Paulo Thiago’s win against Koscheck didn’t impress me. His win against Volkmann didn’t impress me either, but his loss against Jon Fitch got me interested, and now his win against Swick did impress me. This fight showed that he has knock out power and quick submission skills. Putting Swick in that D’Arce choke immediately after dropping him show me that he’s a fast thinker and putting away Mike Swick says a lot which establishes him easily in the top 5 in my book.

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UFC 109 Weigh Ins

In line at Mandalay Bay for the UFC weigh ins. We missed the autograph session. Koshcheck, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, Jose Aldo, and Renzo Gracie were here signing.

In line at Mandalay Bay

In front of the scale at the weigh ins

Vu and his cheezy smile

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MMA Education: I’m an MMA Fighter

There has been quite a few times where I’ve gone out and overhear guys telling girls ridiculous tales of grandeur about themselves. Yes, you know what I’m talking about. Guys who proclaim that they are Mixed Martial Arts fighters. It’s sickening and it’s an insult to real fighters everywhere.  It’s a pick-up line, it’s a way to make themselves sound cool, and some girls dig it. It’s easy to understand why they do it because most girls don’t know what the hell that is. For all they know an MMA fighter is someone who slays dragons and battle swamp beasts.  There’s nothing more hyper-masculine than being an MMA fighter, so of course posers throw that title around like it’s a hot Apple rumor.

99.99% percent of the time those guys who tell you they’re MMA fighters are lying through their teeth. Ladies, I urge you. The next time a guy approaches you and says, “Hi, I’m Eduardo, and I’m an MMA fighter.” Call Bullshit! Ask him what weight class he fights in, when was his last fight, when’s his next one, and who’s he fighting? If he takes more than three seconds to definitively answer one of those questions then he’s probably just a douche bag poser.

Just as equally bad as lying about being an MMA fighter is trying to dress and act like one. You’ve seen them all over town. The same muscle head guys who wear Baby Gap-sized Affliction and Tapout t-shirts. Real MMA fighters don’t wear Affliction or Tapout shirts. They just wear normal clothes like everyone else. They only wear that douche-y clothing during pre and post fight events because of sponsorship obligations. Curling 200 lbs and wearing the latest poop smeared apparel doesn’t make you look like an MMA fighter, it just makes you a douche with a gay shirt that watched one too many episodes of The Jersey Shore.

So how do you know if you’re an MMA fighter? You get paid, whether it’s through a fight promotion or a sponsor, for stepping in a cage or ring for a sanctioned fight, and all the money you make from fighting is more than 50% of your yearly salary then you can consider yourself an MMA fighter. Working at Orchard Supply and going to Bob’s Taekwondo Academy every Wednesday nights doesn’t make you an MMA fighter.  Neither does getting paid $50 to fight your friend’s drunk uncle at a BBQ.

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UFC 109

Two legends of MMA will be battling for the best old-guy-fighter moniker on Febuary 6th at UFC 109. Randy Couture, a 46-year old walking collie flower ear, is putting up his old-man status on the line against another aging pugilist brethren Mark Coleman. In the heydays of UFC Mark Coleman was a devastating beast. He’s considered the grandfather of ground and pound. His ability to take fighters down and turn them into a sack of mash potatoes showed that wrestling was as just as dangerous and necessary as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in mixed-martial arts. Standing in front of Coleman in the cage is the ‘Natural’. Randy Couture has been in crazy battles in the heavyweight and light heavyweight division winning titles in each of them during his career. What makes him such a dangerous fighter is that he is an analytical fighter that comes in with a great game plan that works.

This will be one of the few fights where I think Randy Couture is a favorite. Expect Couture to tire Coleman out by circling around the cage a couple of times and implement his dirty boxing. If history is any indication Mark Coleman should be gasping for air and his arms at his waist by the 3rd minute of the first round. Randy has one of the best cardio not for his age, but in the entire UFC roster. If Coleman is smart he would need to use his strength and wrestling to take down Couture and keep him on the ground as long as he can. And if the UFC is smart they should issue a stipulation for this match that the loser would retire and stays retired. Luckily for me I will be at this event in Las Vegas, thanks to my girlfriend getting me these tickets for my birthday. I should be at the weigh ins and autograph sessions and should be posting pictures on my blog when I can.

My Picks:

Randy Couture beats Mark Coleman
Nate Marquardt beats Chael Sonnen
Mike Swick beats Paulo Thiago
Demian Maia beats Dan Miller
Frank Trigg beats Matt Serra
Mac Danzig beats Justin Buchholz
Melvin Guillard beats Ronnys Torres
Rob Emerson beats Phillipe Nover
Brian Stann beats Phil Davis

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UFC 108

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It’s the first UFC event of the new year. Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva are fighting back towards title contention again, and and to revenge a common loss from the current Light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

My Picks:

Thiago Silva beats Rashad Evans
Dustin Hazelette beats Paul Daley
Joe Lauzon beats Sam Stout
Duane Ludwig beats Jim Miller
Gilbert Yvel beats Junior Dos Santos
Martin Kamppman beats Jacob Volkmann

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UFC 107

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BJ Penn will be defending his Lightweight title this Saturday against Diego Sanchez. Diego is no slouch and he always comes in with great intensity. Diego’s career as a welterweight was more than impressive, and now that he’s down to the 155lbs division he has earned his shot at the title. Penn is arguably one of the best MMA fighters in the sport, but the lack of consistency of his fights makes it difficult to place him among other great fighters such as Fedor, Anderson Silva, and GSP which they all have dominated their division. As for Penn this would be his only second title defense.

Penn’s last fight with Kenny Florian showed how versatile and how great of a fighter he actually is. Penn was seen to have poor condition and only relied on his skills and experience to win fights. It took a devastating loss to GSP to make him realize his woes and his win against Florian showed what he learned from it.

Since dropping down to the lightweight division Diego’s ability to finish fights haven’t been prevalent. But with his outstanding cardio and ability to keep the fight at a frantic pace makes him so dangerous. Many think that Diego’s pace will wear Penn out in the later rounds and is the X factor that may give him the win.

There’s something about BJ Penn that makes his opponents change their fight game completely. Kenny Florian is a tactical fighter with devastating striking and good BJJ, but when he fought Penn he looked so timid.  In fact, he look liked a TUF fighter trying to survive his first UFC fight. Diego always pushes the fight, but will he do the same when fighting Penn? It’s something that we have to wait and find out. If we look at Diego’s record his only losses came from the welterweight division against two fighters who are the top 5, and they were decision losses.

For Diego to win he will need to take the fight to Penn. He needs to back Penn up and use his flurries of punch to keep Penn moving back. Diego will also need to take Penn down whenever possible. Penn’s BJJ is world-class and he can be dangerous on his back, but as long as Diego is able to avoid Penn’s rubber guard and dish out some damage he will earn points in the eyes of the judges. Diego should use his proven cardio to keep Penn on defense as much as possible. A countering strategy against Penn is a losing one.

Penn can win the fight easily if he’s able to control and dictate the fight. It’s his stand up that sets up his finishes. Penn’s heavy hands makes his opponents shy and it’s where Penn is able to take them to the ground where he is most dangerous. It is the top position is where Penn will end the fight.

If the same BJ Penn that fought Kenny Florian is back again, then Diego will have his hands full. If Penn comes in better than he did against Florian then Diego is in huge trouble. This fight is a great test for both fighters. A win for Penn places him closer to greatness and questions about his cardio is a thing of the past. A win for Diego Sanchez would prove that the lightweight division is where he belongs and would give him the opportunity to dominate the division and be placed among fighters like GSP and Anderson Silva.

My Picks:

BJ Penn beats Diego Sanchez
Frank Mir beats Cheick Kongo
Jon Fitch beats Mike Pierce
Clay Guida beats Kenny Florian
Paul Buentello beats Stephan Struve

Alan Belcher beats Wilson Gouveia
Matt Wiman beats Shane Nelson
Johny Hendricks beats Ricardo Funch
Lucio Linhares beats Rousimar Palhares
Edgar Garcia beats DaMarquez Johnson
Kevin Burns beats TJ Grant

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UFC 106

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Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin

Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin are back at it again and this time it’s to finish what they started. Tito has been out of the cage for quite sometime. His last fast was in May of 2008 against the now Champion Lyoto Machida. For the past few years Tito’s back has been plaguing his ability to train properly, and now he’s all healed and is looking for a run at the title. Last time we saw Forrest he got clobbered by pound for pound king, Anderson Silva. Forrest is always evolving his game and always comes back stronger than before. It’s been about 3 and a half years since he fought Tito and Griffin as matured into as one of the top fighters in the division even holding the Light Heavyweight title for a short while.

When the fight was announced I had no doubt that Forrest would take this fight. But after seeing how in shape Tito is in. He looks great in the UFC Countdown and at the weigh ins. The big mystery is that is he really healed from his back surgery. I sat back and thought about Tito’s past fights and he has always been a dominating fighter that takes his opponent down at will and usually controls the fight right from the beginning. I believe if the Tito of old is back he will take this fight. If you look at it objectively, Forrest has been busy fighting top fighters and has been getting better and better. You’re only as good as you’re last fight and both of these guys are coming off losses, but in the end I see Forrest with his hands raised.  As much as I like Tito Ortiz I would love to see him have another good run at the title and win it.

Josh Koscheck vs Anthony Johnson

I’m more excited about this fight than the main event. Both guys are from my hometown, San Jose, and it’s great to see the two of them representing in this event. Anthony Johnson has been making a name for himself by smashing his opponents with ease, but this time he’s facing one of the top guys in his weight division.  Koscheck is a great wrestling with the ever improving standup. Koscheck might want to stick to his bread and butter and use his wrestling to nuetralized Johnson’s reach. I see Koscheck taking Johnson down and pinning him against the cage for some ground and pound, and as long as he sticks to that game plan he’ll get the win.

My Picks:

Forrest Griffin beats Tito Ortiz
Josh Koscheck beats Anthony Johnson
Paulo Thiago beats Jacob Volkmann
Luiz Cane beats Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Amir Sadollah beats Phil Baroni
Marcus Davis beats Ben Saunders
Jake Rosholt beats Kendall Grove
Brock Larson beats Brian Foster
Cao Uno beats Fabricio Camoes
George Sotiropoulos beats Jason Dent

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UFC 103

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My Picks:

Tyson Griffin beats Hermes Franca
Josh Koshcheck beats Frank Trigg
Martin Kampmann beats Paul Daley
Mirko Filipovic beats Jr. Dos Santos
Rich Franklin beats Vitor Belfort