Your Typical Blog
Unfortunately I don’t have the time to do a short fight analysis. I’ll just post up my picks.
Randy Couture beats Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Thiago Silva beats Keith Jardin
Nate Marquardt beats Demian Maia
Brandon Vera beats Krzysztof Soszynski
Chris Leben beats Jake Rosholt
This is one of the few and rare occasion of two female fighters headlining a major MMA event. Gina Carano is the former undefeated Women’s 140lbs Champion that use to be part of EliteXC. And the challenger is Christiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos, the Muay Thai specialist that heralds from the famous Chute Boxe Academy. The two will fight for Strikeforce’s vacant women’s 145lbs title.
These two fighters are Muay Thai specialist so expect to see a stand-up fight that can go all five rounds. The edge in the stand-up will go to Cyborg because of her extensive Muay Thai competition background, but Carano is very well-rounded and she can take the fight to the ground if she needs to. This will be a very competitive fight with two very talented fighters and it truly deserves to headline in any MMA promotion.
BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian
With the return of BJ Penn the lightweight title will be on the line as he will be defending it from Kenny Florian. On paper Penn is considered the heavy favorite, but for the last two years Florian has shown tremendous growth and improvement in his standup and ground game.
This will be Florian’s toughest fight to date. Penn is one of the most well-rounded fighters in MMA, but Florian is almost just as dangerous. When it comes to his striking, Florian’s Muay Thai is solid and will surprise Penn if he keeps the fight standing. Kenny will be utilizing his kicks to slow down his opponent, so expect Penn to shoot in for takedowns. It’s on the ground where Penn will have a big advantage. Penn’s slick BJJ is world-class and he is just as dangerous being on his back as he is on the top position. The odds are against Florian, but with the right strategy he can pull off an upset.
What does Florian need to do? Florian needs to keep the fight standing and use his menacing elbows during the clinches. A Machida tactic of hit and run would be best against Penn. Penn has the propensity of engaging his opponents and pushing the action. With good lateral movement it would set plenty of opportunities for countering. With all that said Will Kenny Florian win? I guess we’ll have to wait an find out. I like rooting for the underdog, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Florian grabs the decision or even get a KO.
Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin
There is really no worthy opponent for Anderson Silva in the middleweight division so moving up to 205 for competitive fights is very balsy. This is why he’s considered to be the number 1 pound for pound fighter in the world. This bout with Forrest will push Silva to his limit. Forrest is a huge 205-er. What makes Forrest Griffin different from Silva’s previous opponents is that Griffin feeds off the challenge. As the fight goes into the later rounds Griffin seems to get stronger.
Anderson Silva will have his hands full and don’t expect him to engage full force at the beginning. It’s common knowledged that the first half of the round you will see Silva running around throwing some jabs and a few kicks until he finds his range. From there you’ll see Silva picking apart is opponent. Once his opponent is hurt, Silva pounces for the kill. Looking back at at Silva’s previous fights he has trouble being on his back, but that doesn’t necessarily means it’s his weakness. It can mean that his ground game is not as strong as his standup. So Forrest should take the fight to the ground as often as he can but still remain cautious. Forrest needs to put Silva up against the fence and drag him down and get into side control or full mount that way he can avoid Silva’s long legs.
This fight has a ton of potential to be FOTY, I just hope it delivers. If Silva wins it’ll solidify him as an all time greatest fighter of all time. And if Griffin pulls the win he gets to be the first to prove that Silva needs to stay in his own weight class.
My Picks:
BJ Penn beats Kenny Florian
Anderson Silva beats Forrest Griffin
Kendall Grove beats Ricardo Almeida
Kurt Pellegrino beats Josh Neer
Johny Hendricks beats Amir Soddollah
It’s unfortunate that Afflication “Trilogy” event was cancelled I was looking forward to the Barnett and Emelianenko’s showdown, and now Afflication leaving the MMA promotion scene and sticking to what they do best, making t-shirts. The situation is kind of bitter sweet. With Afflication around it gave UFC some viable competition where fans gets to see more fights and fighters get better pay. UFC is probably licking its chops waiting to scoop of fighters left hanging from the fall of Afflication. UFC has just recently picked up Vitor Belfort and Tito Ortiz. There may be other fighter still left to be signed, but the one that is eluding the number one promotion is Fedor Emelianenko. Known as the world’s number one best heavyweight fighter, Fedor has resisted to UFC efforts in getting him under contract. Dana White, UFC’s President, has stated he has offered lucrative deals for the world champion, but his management has refused and wants to co-promote with the UFC if they want Fedor’s services.
The question is who needs who more? UFC doesn’t need Fedor and can still prosper as the leading MMA promotion in the world. Whereas Fedor is stuck in no-man’s land. He has no promotion to fight for except his own, M-1, which no one outside of Siberia ever heard of. I’m a huge fan of Fedor and his management team is ruining his chances of establishing a legacy in MMA. If Fedor wants to fight the best fighters in the world then he better get into the UFC and if this co-promotion demand is standing in his way then he should fire his manager. If you look at the MMA timeline it proves that UFC is doing something right. Elite XC came out strong, but ended up going under due to bad decisions and poor management. Affliction was up and coming and had two great shows with top named fighters, but eventually went defunct. UFC on the other hand is still thriving and sells out almost every event. So if Fedor’s management and M1 doesn’t get their head out of their asses their opportunity to showcase their champion to the world will pass them by. The one thing I fear the most about Fedor is that if he doesn’t get into the UFC he’ll become the next Frank Shamrock.
It’s been several UFC events since I’ve written any previews. I knew I could not skip this blog for UFC 100. Many of my friends wanted to know my thoughts on these fights. So here it is:
Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir
Their first fight proved that Lesnar was an inexperienced rookie in a sport that is very unforgiving. But he bounced back with two very impressive wins over Heath Herring and Randy Couture. Who would have thought a popular professional wrestler would storm into the fastest growing sport and quickly rise to the top of the food chain in the UFC’s Heavyweight Division. If it had to be anybody it would be Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is a one-of-a-kind physical specimen. He’s a mountain of muscle that is as agile as a lightweight; a combination that is rare and deadly. His quickness is attributed from his collegiate wrestling career and his professional wrestling days, and one would guess physique and strength is the product of Hercules and some mortal woman.
And across the ring from Lesnar is Frank Mir, the former UFC Heav weight champ. His career has been a roller coaster ride. He quickly rose up the Heavyweight ranks becoming the king of the division. And as quickly has he rose up in the ranks he faded away. It was mostly due to his motorcycle accident and his rough comeback fights. There was almost a time where Mir’s career looked as though it was about over. But then it all turned around after his stint in the Ultimate Fighter show where he then defeated Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Not only did he beat him, he did it in a fashion that we’ve never seen before. Mir’s boxing and movement has improved leaps and bounds. This much improved standup abilities compliments his excellent ground game now makes Mir a force to be reckoned with.
The fight between this time around will be much different. Lesnar now has the experience albeit not as extensive, and Mir’s improvement in his hands and feet will make for an interesting fight. Mir is a cerebral fighter and likes exploit his opponent’s weaknesses. Lesnar’s loss in the first fight was inability to control his emotions. Lesnar came out too excited and was careless and Mir weathered the storm and caught Lesnar in a text book knee bar. In this fight Mir doesn’t have the luxury of waiting it out to find an opening otherwise Lesnar will just impose his will. If Mir keeps his distance when standing he can out-point Lesnar, but to seal the deal he will need to put Lensar against the fence and work for the takedown to get a submission. For Lesnar to win he’ll need to do the same and put Mir’s back up against the fence and take him down and smother him like he did with Heath Herring. In the end I see Lesnar with the win. The biggest factor will be cardio. Mir was always had a cardio problems and going up against a big wrestler he will quickly deplete his gas tank after the first round.
GSP vs Thiago Alves
GSP is as a well-rounded fighter as they come. Whether it’s on the feet or on the ground no other fighter in his division has a significant advantage, if any, over GSP. Marred by an embarrassing loss to Matt Serra GSP has refocused and came back to avenge his loss and beat Jon Fitch and BJ Penn all in less than a year. Standing across the ring from him this Saturday is a fighter the likes he has not fought before will be looking to strip GSP of his belt.
Thiago Alves is a Muay Thai specialist with devastating strikes. His impressive wins over Koshcheck and Hughes earned him this title fight. With 7 straight wins in the octagon, five of which by KO, Alves is looking to add his 8th win by KOing the current reigning champ. A feat that might not be farfetched as one may think.
People said Jon Fitch would be GSP’s toughest opponent, yet GSP steam rolled Fitch. Now everyone is saying Thiago Alves will be GSP’s toughest opponent. This time there’s a difference. Fitch is a fighter that grinds his opponent down using his wrestling. What made Fitch so formidable is that he can equally take the same amount of punishment and still continue to move forward. Alves, on the other hand, doesn’t grind his opponent down, but rather he inflicts as much damage as possible with every strike. So standing toe to toe against Alves is a risky task. Alves will be looking to chop GSP down with kicks which is probably a smart move. So if he wants to walk away with the belt Alves will need to keep his distance, work his lateral movements, and utilize those low kicks to slow down GSP. Alves has great takedown defense, but GSP has always been successful with his takedowns even against high caliber wrestlers. For GSP clearly dominate he will need to take the fight to the ground which I believe he will be able to do so at will. This will be a close fight. As this may be the first time GSP has fought a fighter who is as strong as him if not stronger.
Dan Henderson vs Michael Bisping
Dan Henderson is a veteran fighter that has been in numerous battles. With knockout power in both hands Henderson is always dangerous whether it’s in the first or fifth round. As the former Pride Middleweight champ Henderson is a tough-as-nails opponent for anyone in any weight division. Henderson has always fought top competition and this time is no different.
Michael Bisping has been on an impressive run in the middleweight division. Dropping down to 185 was the best decision for his career. At this point Bisping has not fought anyone with the credentials close to Henderson, so a win on Saturday night will quickly boost him to title contention.
Henderson is a fighter that likes to stalk his opponent and loads up on that right hand of his. The dangerous part is that everyone knows it’s coming yet his opponents still gets caught. Bisping has to use his footwork to keep Henderson at bay, and for him to win the fight Bisping will need to stay away from Henderson’s clinch and street brawl mentality. I’m sure every MMA betting line has Henderson as the favorite, but I think Bisping will pull the win. Henderson’s last two wins weren’t as impressive. It shows that age is catching up with him his reflexes aren’t as quick and his counters aren’t hitting their marks. Bisping is hungry for the belt and just like Henderson he has fought in the Light Heavyweight division before so going up against the strength of Henderson is nothing new to him. If Bisping keeps moving and landing his strikes he can out point Henderson for the decision win.
My Picks:
Brock Lesnar beats Frank Mir
George St. Pierre beats Thiago Alves
Jon Fitch beats Paulo Thiago
Michael Bisping beats Dan Henderson
Alan Belcher beats Yoshihiro Akiyama
Stephan Bonnar beats Mark Coleman
Mac Danzig beats Jim Miller
Jon Jones beats Jake O’B rien
Dong Hyun Kim beats TJ Grant
CB Dollaway beats Tom Lawlor
Matt Grice beats Shannon Gugerty
I’m here in Las Vegas. I just saw the weigh ins and was at the autograph session. Wanderlei, Kenflo, and Thiago Alves were there signing. I took some pictures with my cell phone. I sent them over to my buddy over at MMA-Extreme hopefully he’ll post them up soon.
This is an amazing event with an awesome fight card.I can go on for days on each match up, but I’ll just focus on the GSP vs. BJ Penn fight. This fight is one of the most anticipated fight in a while. BJ Penn is re-focused on his MMA legacy and wants to win this fight badly. Penn’s talent is ranked right up there among the best in the world. But GSP is very well-rounded and Penn’s raw skills are not enough to defeat GSP. Penn will need to come with the right fight plan to take on the Welterweight King. Penn will need to utilize his stand up skills and set it up for the takedown. Penn will have to use this BJJ to control GSP on the ground. This will help him control the pace and reserve his energy. If history is any indication BJ Penn hasn’t shown any decent stamina in his fights. If BJJ is able to bring GSP down he can win via submission or by decision. The Candadian has the edge in this fight because he holds the win in their last meeting. GSP will need to bring a fast and furious pace and stay away from any takedowns, and he will need to utilize his kicks and jabs to setup takedowns of his own. The Champ will need to wear Penn down with some ground and pound. He probably won’t submit Penn and will have to take the fight to the later rounds and force a stoppage by the ref. In the end, it comes down to who has the better takedowns in this fight will likely win.
My Picks:
George St. Pierre beats BJ Penn
Thiago Silva beats Lyoto Machida
Jon Jones beats Stephan Bonnar
Don Hyun Kim beats Karo Parisyan
Clay Guida beats Nate Diaz
Jon Fitch beats Akihiro Gono
Thiago Tavares beats Manny Gamburyan
Chris Wilson beats John Howard
Christian Wellisch beats Jake O’ Brien
Matt Arroyo beats Dan Cramer
Rich Franklin v. Dan Henderson is a great headliner to start off the New Year. UFC 93 is also stacked with other bouts such as Coleman v. Shogun and the UFC debut of Denis Kang.
The Franklin/Henderson fight will be a great matchup. These guys’ style will make an exciting fight. Henderson has bombs in both hands whereas Franklin is very well-rounded and take the fight on the feet or on the ground. Both fighters are smart and will he who has the best gameplan coming into the cage will win. For Franklin to win he will need to keep his punches down the middle and avoid a slugfest with Henderson. Franklin will need to utilize kicks to keep his opponent at bay and use ring generalship to control positions and wait for Henderson to tire out from throwing his boms. For Henderson, he’ll need to get to the inside and his wrestling background will help him with that. Henderson should put pressure on Franklin early on by pressing him up against the fence utilizing the clinch and take him down ala Randy Couture style.
My Picks:
Mauricio Rua beats Mark Coleman
Denis Kang beats Alan Belcher
Rousimar Palhares beats Jeremy Horn
Marcus Davis beats Chris Lytle
Martin Kampmann beats Alexandre Barros
Eric Schafer beats Antonio Mendes
Tomasz Drwal beats Ivan Serati
John Hathaway beats Tom Egan
Dennis Siver beats Nate Mohr
I’m posting this a little late. I’m on my Blackberry, so I didn’t have the option to add the UFC image.
It’s the end of the year and we get to have one bad-ass fight card. Having two title fights and a highly anticipated grudge match between two very exciting fighters is a great way to cap off 2008.
Let’s start with the Evans v. Forrest. These guys came from obscurity to highly touted fighters in their division. Say what you want about these TUF alumni, but they proved that they deserved to be in this position with every fight they won. This fight proposes an interesting match up. Evans is a great wrestler that has developed into a striking machine and coming from a Greg Jackson camp only adds to his credibility. On the other side of the octagon Forrest is a machine that is almost unbreakable. His impressive wins over Shogun and Rampage catapulted him to the top of the rankings.
Evans has proved he has knock out power and Forrest is as well rounded as a fighter can get. But I see Forrest giving Evans his first loss. Forrest has been in hard fought-battles and came out as the victor. Forrest’s reach advantage and technical striking will keep Evans at bay. As the fight progresses to the later rounds Forrest will have the cardio and experience to shutdown him down.
A grudge match that has been in the making for half a decade is one of the most anticipated fights this year. Rampage will get the opportunity to avenge his two losses from Wanderlei Silva, a fighter who has given Rampage two of the worst beatings in his career. But since those losses Rampage has reinvented himself and in the process won the Light Heavyweight title and defended it against Dan Henderson.
Wanderlei has the mental edge coming into the fight because he has already beaten Rampage twice. Rampage ditched is old trainer and opt to train with Wolf’s Lair. That should definite help his game, but it won’t be enough to stop the Axe Murderer.
Mir and Noguiera’s title fight will be a true battle of attrition. They are both seasoned veterans who had a debilitating accident in their past and has come back against the odds to title contention. Before Mir’s motorcycle accident he was considered one of the top heavyweights in the world, but his road back in the UFC was less than stellar to put it mildly. Noguiera has been in it with the best there is in MMA. His experience and list of victory easily puts him in the hall of fame of the sport.
Mir has his young age to his advantage, where as Noguiera’s long history of being in those brutal battles may have taken its toll. Noguiera is not has fast and nimble as he was 2 years ago. It was obvious in his Heath Herring fight and Tim Sylvia fight. I see Mir coming in and throwing lots of kick to slow Nog down. Mir will keep the fight standing as long as possible and will hold Nog on the ground for a decision win.
My picks:
Forrest Griffin beats Rashad Evans
Frank Mir beats Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera
Wanderlei Silva beats Quinton Jackson
Cheick Kongo beats Mustafa Al Turk
CB Dollaway beats Mike Massenzio
Yushin Okami beats Dean Lister
Matt Hamill beats Andy Reese
Ryo Chonan beats Brad Blackburn
Antoni Hardonk beats Mike Wessel
Dan Everson beats Patrick Barry
Randy Couture is back and this time he’s taking on a mountain of muscle, a juggernaut named Brock Lensnar. Let’s get to the fight picks.
Brock Lesnar beats Randy Couture
Many may see Brock Lesnar as too inexperienced in MMA to beat Couture. It is true that Lesnar is inexperienced, but what those same people don’t know is that Lensar is acompetitive athlete that knows how to use his physical abilities to his advantage. Fighters with a strong wrestling background like Lesnar’s do very well in UFC; Matt Hughes, Mark Coleman, Sean Sherk, Matt Lindland, Frank Edgar, Gray Maynard, and Randy Couture himself. One thing to take notice is that Randy hasn’t fought in over a year. Will he have ring rust? Probably not, but at his age the sharpness of his skills maybe affected. Randy has always had trouble with bigger guys with a decent ground game. Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett beat Randy. Those losses may be ancient history, what did Randy do after those losses? He dropped to 205 and since then he fought fighters who likes to strike rather than take it to the ground. In this fight I see Randy trying to be elusive using hit and run tactics, but as much as I like Randy I see Lensar ending up getting the take down and overpower Randy for a TKO stoppage.
Joe Stevenson beats Kenny Florian
Earlier this week I had Florian winning this fight, but I believe Florian and his camp underrates Stevenson’s striking. Stevenson also has a good ground game and can surprise Florian with well-placed striking and a takedowns. If Stevenson takes Florian down I can see him controlling the top position as Sean Sherk did. This is going to be a very close fight, but I Stevenson getting the slight edge and pulling an upset.
Demian Maia beats Nate Quarry
Nate Quarry is a tough fighter. He has decent striking and wrestling. A jack of all trades, but an ace of none. Demian Maia is a submission machine, and if the fight goes to the ground Quarry’s decent ground game won’t cut it. Demian Maia is not going to stand and will look to take the fight to the ground as soon as he can. Quarry will have to the get the quick KO if he wants to win this fight.
Tamdan McCrory beats Dustin Hazelett
Aaron Riley beats Jorge Gurgel
Jeremy Stephens beats Rafael do Anjos
Alvin Robinson beats Mark Bocek
Ryan Thomas beats Matt Brown
Gabriel Gonzaga beats Josh Hendricks
