Your Typical Blog
Evan Tanner was found dead in southern California. He was out on a camping trip in the desert were it was reported that he had run out of gas on his motorcycle and eventually succumbed to the desert heat.
I’ve been following Tanner’s career since his early days in the UFC were he fought at 205 to when he won and loss the Middleweight title. Tanner was well-respected in the MMA community and a fighter who brought exciting fights in the cage. You will be missed my friend.
Chuck Liddell is back. After recovering from a torn hamstring he will be pitted against Rashad Evans. Evans is undefeated but he hasn’t face competition of the likes of Liddell. But Rashad does have a good chance of pulling the win. Evans trains with Greg Jackson’s camp and they produce bad ass fighters. Keith Jardine came from Jackson and he was able to beat Liddell with an effective game plan. Evan will need to mix up the fight if he wants to win throwing punches and kicks to setup the takedowns. Liddell is known to be a tough guy to takedown, but it’s not impossible. As for Chuck he’ll need to keep the fight on the feet and keep his distance.
Rich Franklin is moving back up to 205 and he’ll be facing Matt Hamill. Hamill is strong, but his conditioning isn’t the best and I think Franklin will get the win by the end of the third round by stoppage. A fight that I’m looking forward to see is the Matt Brown vs Dong Hyun Kim. Kim is a dynamic fighter whose exciting to watch. Matt Brown will have his hands full. Luckily for us this fight has been bumped up to the main card due to Karo Paryisan’s bout being injured.
Dan Henderson will be fighting Rousimar Palhares, a fighter who has shown to be very dangerous on the ground. Palhares defeated a very game veteran, Ivan Salavrry, in a quick first round submission. Henderson needs to keep the fight on his fight and use his Greco Roman wrestling control Palhares. This is an intersting fight and it can go either way.
My Picks:
Ryo Chonan beats Roan Carneiro
Kurt Pellegrino beats Thiago Tavares (upset)
Jason MacDonald beats Jason Lambert
Tim Boetsch best Michael Patt
Dong Hyun Kim beats Matt Brown
Nate Marquardt beats Martin Kampmann
Dan Henderson beats Rousimar Palhares
Rich Franklin beats Matt Hamill
Chuck Liddell beats Rashad Evans
We’re a few hours away from my boy, George St. Pierre, defending his title from the always-tough Jon Fitch. UFC 87’s main card is quite exciting. GPS vs Fitch, Huerta vs Florian, and Lesnar vs Herring is worth the $50 on the PPV by itself. Many of you may know I’m a huge GSP fan and this is a fight I’m super stoked to see. Jon Fitch fights out of AKA in San Jose, a top knotch gym I’ve had the privilege to train a couple of years back which is another reason to watch. It can’t get anymore exciting when your top favorite fighters are pitted against each other. Why else am I stoked about this fight? Besides the fact that GSP is fighting, Jon Fitch is the biggest threat to anyone who holds the Welterweight title. GSP is favorite to win, but Fitch has the tools to take the belt. It just comes down to who will bring the most effective game plan. Lets get to the point here. GSP is going to win. Why? Because he’s more well-rounded and has better killer-instinct to finish off his opponents. Many critics of GSP uses his recent loss to Serra as a sign of his mental stability in the fight game. They also point out that he dominates all his opponents and has never been tested. That is surely not true. Lets not forget that epic war with BJ Penn and the grueling battle with Karo Parysian. GSP has been through adversity and has overcome it to win. So let’s hope Fitch doesn’t just try grind out his opponent for the win because if Fitch wants to get his hand raised in the end he has to go out there and stop GSP. Sure Fitch has a great wrestling background but GSP’s style neutralizes it. So how can Fitch win? Fitch will need to press the fight and push the pace early on in the fight. GSP tends to feel out his opponent the first minute of the fight. Fitch will need to utilize the cage and take GSP and hold him there and pound him out which is easier said than done. If Fitch doesn’t have an effective fight game he will find himself being taken down and getting beat on, GSP-style.
Huerta vs Florian can be the fight of the night if both come out guns blazing. Huerta is the underdog and he is right fully so. With the exception of Clay Guida, Huerta has been fighting mediocore opponents. Florian has been on a tear beating and stopping every opponent he’s fought recently. His striking has improved leaps and bounds and his ground game is even more solid compared to his TUF days. Skillset-wise Florian has the edge on all aspect of the fight game than Huerta. But there’s one thing that should not be overlooked of Huerta, and that’s his resilence in the cage. His fight with Guida showed that Huerta can be dangerous even up to the last minute of the fight. Florian is a very technical fighter, and very technical fighters tend to be very predictable. In contast, Huerta is a scrappy fighter and its hard to prepare for a style like that. I’m going to go against the grain and pick Huerta to pull an upset. I see Florian coming out strong with Huerta weathering the storm, but Huerta’s tenacity to keep coming forward will take it’s toll on Florian.
Heath Herring’s kryptonite is wrestling. He can’t defend a takedown if his life depended on it. Lesnar is the baddest in heavyweight in the division with collegiate credentials to back it up. Even with a debut loss in the UFC Lesnar showed that he has incredible speed and strength that can translate very well in MMA. Unfortunately he lacked the experience. Herring has only won once in his last three fights. And that victory came against Cheick Kongo. Kongo is known for his kickboxing and his lack of ground game giving his athletic physique and MMA potential. Kongo was able to take Herring down at will. Luckily for Herring Kongo forgot to look up the definition of “ground and pound” and he was able to pull the split decision. Lesnar without a doubt is the kryptonite that will stop Herring tonight.
My picks:
Ben Saunders beats Ryan Thomas
Chris Wilson beats Steve Bruno
Andre Gusmao beats Jon Jones
Cheick Kongo beats Dan Evensen
Luke Cummo beats Tamdan McCory
Jason McDonald beats Demian Maia (Upset)
Manny Gamburyan beats Rob Emerson
Roger Huerta beats Kenny Florian (Upset)
Brock Lesnar beats Heath Herring
George St. Pierre beats Jon Fitch
Tomorrow’s UFC event will be Rampage’s second defense of his Light Heavyweight title. His opponent, Forrest Griffin, was the first season TUF winner. Griffin has steadily improved his fight game over the past couple of years and racked up several impressive wins that catapulted him into one of the most popular fighters. But the loss to Jardine set him back quite a bit. Then one day Forrest dispatched Maricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, currently ranked #1 in the world at the time, that bumped him up to a contender status.
Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson has his ups and downs during his career but for the past year he has taken UFC fans by storm by beating Marvin Eastman in his UFC debut, then capturing the Light Heavyweight title from Chuck Liddell and successfully defending it from Dangerous Dan Henderson. Known for his powerful body slams and exciting fighting style, it’s outside the cage many people know him. His exuberant personality makes for hilarious interviews and spontaneous antics.
My Picks:
Corey Hill beats Justin Buchholz
Dennis Siver beats Melvin Guillard (Upset)
Cole Miller beats Jorge Gurgel
Gabriel Gonzaga beats Justin McCully
Tyson Griffin beats Marcus Aurelio
Josh Koscheck beats Chris Lytle
Joe Steveson beats Gleison Tibau
Ricardo Almeida beats Patrick Cote
Forrest Griffin beats Quinton Jackson (Upset)
Another UFC event is upon us. UFC 84: Ill Will has BJ Penn defending his Lightweight title against former champ Sean Sherk. For the past few months Penn and Sherk have been vocally attacking each other. Sherk is coming off a steroid accusation suspension which is the fuel for Penn’s harsh words. BJ Penn is considered one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world with an amazing Brazilian Jujitsu background. Sherk is a long time veteran who’s built like a tank and has uncanny conditioning that is unmatched in his division.
BJ Penn is a wizard on the ground, and his stand up is underrated. In fact he has an excellent stand up game. Penn’s in-your-face style makes all his fights exciting. Whether it’s on the ground or standing up he will hurt you. Sherk has equally good stand up, but his forte is his wrestling. Sherk is known to take down his opponents and grinds them into a pulp. It may not be the most exciting fight, but it gets the job done. I think this is a great match up for both fighters. If Sherk is able to get the takedown Penn’s dynamic ground game will force Sherk to be more active and make it less of a lay and pray fight for him. Sherk may not best Penn’s ground game but it’s made up by his ability to go in sixth gear in all 5 rounds. Recently, Penn’s known for his poor condition lasting about two rounds tops before gassing. If Sherk can weather the storm he can pull an upset and beat the Hawaiian sensation.
Other fights on the card includes Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida, Wanderlei Silva vs. Kieth Jardine, Thiago Silva, and Rameau Sokoudjou. It’s been a while since Tito fought and this weekend he’ll be fighting the rising dark horse that is Lyoto Machida. Machida is currently undefeated and has a knack at beating opponents almost on an effortless level. There’s something in Machida’s fighting style that just neutralizes his opponents. A win for Tito will boost him up the rank in the divison and a lost would mean an imminent road to retirement.
My picks:
Penn beats Sherks
W. Silva beats Jardine
Gouveia beats Reljic
Machida beats Tito
T. Silva beats Mendes
Salaverry beats Palhares
Sokoudjou beats Nakamura
Clementi beats Etim
Yoshida beats Koppenhaver
Jason Tan beats Hyun Kim
Serra vs GSP
It has been about a year since George St. Pierre loss his title. A 10 to 1 underdog in their last fight, Serra shocked the MMA community by beating the seemingly invincible GSP. Today GSP will get his redemption and he will have the opportunity to do it in his hometown of Montreal.
Matt Serra is on this roller coaster that is riding high as the Champion of the Welterweight division. But is he a true champ? He did beat GSP in their last outing, but all great fighters get beat sometime in their career. Great fighters are great because they’ve been in epic battles in the cage and hold victory over ranked fighters, or even clearing out a division within their weight class. That’s what makes fighters great. Matt Serra came from the bottom of the division to join and win a TV show contest and for Serra the credibility just isn’t there. The TUF show was called ‘The Comeback’ and there was a reason why he was was on it. He had a chance to fight Matt Hughes, but had to pull out due to an injury. If Serra would have beaten Hughes then he would have definitely been considered a threat in the division.
I believe there is a possiblity that Serra can win this fight again because like with any fight anything can happen. Serra beat GSP last year because he threw a well-placed punch at the right timing and stunned GSP. Serra didn’t control the stand up game or the ground game. It was just a great punch that caught GSP. Besides pulling out another awesome punch I can’t see Serra winning by any other means except for taking GSP’s back and work for a submission which is very unlikely. For GSP I see him standing with Serra and picking him apart then take Serra to the ground and pound him out for a TKO similar to what he did against Hughes and Sherk.
GSP training with Greg Jackson’s camp is probably the best thing he’s done in his career and which is why he’ll be back on top of the Welterweight division.
Franklin vs Lutter
Franklin and Lutter are some of my favorite fighters and when I found out they were fighting I was really excited. I like these fighter because they come into the cage and do exactly what they need to do to win. There’s no ego and no showboating. Lutter is a BJJ wizard and he uses it to his complete advantage. Unlike other fighters who have great BJJ skills they go into the cage and try to knock out their opponents. Franklin likes to work his stand up game. He uses his power and size advantage to beat his opponents. Nothing flashy. Just a straight beat down. I don’t see this fight going the distance. Lutter will either take Franklin down for a submission or Franklin will beat Lutter on his feet. People should pay close attention to this fight. Both of them are coming off losses to Anderson Silva. Franklin got destroyed by Silva twice in similar fashion, but Lutter had a moment in the light where he was able to get a full mount on the champ, but was unable to take advantage of the opportunity. The winner of this fight may get another shot at Silva.
My picks:
GSP beats Serra
Lutter upsets Franklin
Starnes beats Quarry
Bisping beats McCarthy
Doerksen beats MacDonald
Belcher beats Day
Herman beats Maia
Stout beats Clementi
Velasquez beats Morris
Goulet beats Hironaka
From the words of UFC’s iconic announcer Bruce Buffer, “It is time..!!!!” for UFC 82. Headlining the event is Anderson Silva defending his title against Dangerous Dan Henderson. Not only is this for the Middleweight title, but it’s for the unification of PrideFC’s Middleweight title that Henderson holds.
Dan Henderson is only fighter to hold two titles in two seperate division in PrideFC. Last year Henderson lost his Lightheavy weight title to UFC’s current Champ, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. And now Henderson is now fighting a fighter who is considered one of the top pound for pound fighter in the sports of mixed martial arts. It seems UFC is not giving Henderson a break at all. Henderson has his hands full with Silva. Silva has a superior and technical striking game whereas Henderson is a big slugger with KO power in each hand. So this contrast in styles will likely play in Silva’s hands as long as he doesn’t get caught with one of Henderson’s haymakers.
We’ve seen Silva’s great striking abilities, and his slick BJJ, and his clench game is second to none. But there’s one spot where Silva has not been put in yet. And that’s being pressed up against the cage and get worked by some dirty boxing or crowded in the corner against the fence getting pounded. The reason why we’ve never seen him in that situation is because Silva is smart and utilizes his footwork and to put himself in position to use his weapons. But if there’s one person who can force him against the cage and into a corner it would be Dan Henderson. Henderson is a pedigree wrestler, Greco-Roman that is. If Henderson can close the gap on Silva and get put his back against the fence it would neutralize Silva’s devastating knees, kicks, punches. But then it’s always easier said than done.
My pick is Silva. Silva has too many ways to win, and Henderson has nothing that Silva has never faced. Unless Henderson catches Silva with an over hand right that stuns or KO Silva it’s going to be another loss for him in the UFC.
My Picks:
Cheick Kongo via stoppage
Chris Leben via submission
Evan Tanner via decision
Jon Fitch via submission
Andrei Arlovski via KO
Luke Cummo via stoppage
Josh Koscheck via stoppage
Diego Sanchez via submission
Jorge Gurgel via decision
We’re hours away from one of the most anticipated UFC fights ever. I’m talking about the Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva bout. This fight is over 4 years in the making. Other fights on the card include the headlining event Matt Hughes vs George St. Pierre. This fight is for the Interim Welterweight Championship. The winner will take on Matt Serra after he recovers from his back injury.
Another about I’m totally stoked about is the Machida vs Sokoudjou. Machida is undefeated in his professional career. He is known to have a very defensive style of fighting. His style neutralizes his opponent’s offense while methodically picking them apart with his punches and kicks. Sokoudjou is one of the fastest rising fighter coming out of Dan Henderson’s Team Quest. Known as the “Brazilian Killa” he knocked out two top 5 ranked fighter in his last two fights; Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. If Sokoudjou can get passed Machida in the same fashion as his last two fights he will be well on his way to a title fight sometime next year.
My UFC 79 picks:
-Under card-
Doug Evans
Dean Lister
Manvel Gamburyan
Tony DeSouza
James Irvin
-Main card-
Soa Palalei
Melvin Guillard
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Wanderlei Silva
George St. Pierre