This past weekend was huge for MMA action! Saturday we had UFC 101, live from Philly and on Sunday we had WEC 42 from Las Vegas. Both shows were great! Not very often that we get fights on Saturday and Sunday. I watched UFC 101 at a friend’s house and we had a little trouble at first with his verizon service….we couldn’t purchase the fight! Needless to say that we were freaking out a little haha! We were ready to scramble and find another place that was showing the fight but luckily we finally got the purchase to go through. My buddy and I had been talking all week about the Anderson Silva/Forrest Griffin fight…He said that there was no way that Forrest had a chance against the Spider but I thought Forrest had a chance because I thought he would pressure Silva and maybe would be able to take Silva down and grind out the decision. Boy was I wrong! Forrest took a beating! Then ran out of the cage, all the way back to the locker room! I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know whether he was hurt or just couldn’t handle the loss…After the fight I was reading some posts on twitter (if you want to follow me, my twitter name is @nwh9386), people were calling Forrest a poor sport and even said that they thought the fight was rigged!! I don’t think people understand what the fighters go through preparing for a fight…it is just as much mental as it is physical. It disgusts me that people jumped to the conclusion of Forrest being a poor sport or even rigging the fight! It just goes to show you how easily people will turn their back on you. Forrest is the same guy that we cheered on during the epic Bonnar fight, Tito Ortiz fight, Rampage Jackson fight, Rashad Evans fight and the Shogun Rua fight!! All the training and mental conditioning that goes into stepping into that octagon, getting knocked out in such a devastating manner in the first round would be a tough one to swallow for anyone. Forrest will be back! I hope that everyone stops with all the misinformed accusations…let’s face it! Forrest lost to Anderson Silva! Just like many others have in the past, this is nothing to be ashamed of, Silva is an incredible athlete. Although I questioned Forrest’s strategy in the fight, at least he has the guts to get in there and throw hands with quite possibly the best striker in MMA.
What’s next for Silva?? Stay at middleweight, keep destroying every challenger until there is someone worthy enough to dethrone him?, a super fight with Georges St. Pierre?, relinquish his middleweight title and move full time to Light Heavyweight? Lets address these one by one. First off Anderson Silva still has some tough fights ahead of him..next in line is Dan Henderson! I know that Silva already has a submission win against Hendo but I think Dan Henderson is possibly the biggest threat to Silva’s title. In the first fight between Silva and Henderson, Henderson was able to take Silva to the ground. Henderson has the wrestling skills to keep Silva at bay and take the fight to a decision victory…Henderson admits that he knows what he messed up on in that fight and thinks he can pull off a victory against Silva if he gets another shot. Well, here’s your shot Hendo, lets see what you got! I don’t think he’ll land a big right hand knockout like he did against Bisping…Silva is just way too fast.
People have been holding their breath for a super fight between Anderson Silva and George St. Pierre for awhile now…I’m just not convinced on this possibility. Anderson Silva is heavy for a middleweight! Probably walks around at like 220 lbs…GSP would be pushing to make 185 lbs! Silva would be way bigger than GSP and I think it would be a mismatch. Don’t get me wrong! I think GSP might be one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA but size is definitely a factor in a fight…ask Frank Mir if Brock Lesnar’s size had an effect haha!
Another option for the Spider would be to abandon his middleweight title and move full time to light heavyweight..this is interesting but what’s the point if Silva doesn’t want to fight his buddy Lyoto Machida?? There are other possibilities of course…Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, etc. There are some fights that could be interesting but in all honesty, I don’t see anyone in the light heavyweight division that could put up a good enough fight to beat Silva. There are still people in the middleweight division that deserve a shot against the Spider (Dan Henderson, the winner of the Nate Marquardt/Demian Maia fight) and I think that is where he belongs…at least for now.
BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian, what a fight…I was really looking forward to this fight. Couldn’t wait to see how Penn would look after the ass whooping he took from George St. Pierre. Penn looked better than I’ve ever seen him and an in shape BJ Penn is a dangerous BJ Penn, which Kenny Florian found out the hard way…I told my friend that I saw this fight going the same way BJ Penn/Joe Stevenson went. I thought it would be a war with BJ Penn eventually sinking in a submission and making Florian tap. Kenny fought like a true warrior but fell victim to Penn’s superior ground skills. Florian has nothing to be ashamed of and I know he’ll be back in search of the title in no time. It was good seeing BJ Penn winning in such a convincing manner, he definitely shut a lot of people’s mouths.
I believe the better of the two fight cards was on Sunday! Live from Las Vegas was WEC 42. You all know how partial I am to the free WEC fights…I think the WEC fighters are more hungry and put on a better show. I enjoyed all the fights…Leonard Garcia wasn’t as impressive as I expected but he did win by decision…I think he could have won by TKO or KO if he had capitalized on that big hit he landed but a win is a win right?? Danny Castillo vs Ricardo Lamas was an amazing and entertaining fight! Both fighters brought war with them and fought with an intensity that is rarely seen. Castillo landed a beautiful right hand that landed right on the money! Ricardo Lamas fell to the canvas and Castillo pounced…the ref was forced to stop the fight, Castillo wins by TKO! The main event was great but kind of short…3 minutes 57 seconds into the first round Brian Bowles dropped the unstoppable Miguel Torres. Brain Bowles looked tough, I’m looking forward to watching him defend the title. Torres was disgusted and disappointed with his performance but that’s how MMA is! Anyone can get rocked with a shot and its lights out.
This Saturday brings us to the Strikeforce event with Gina Carano going up against Christine “Cyborg” Santos, I’ve been waiting for this fight for quite some time. I don’t see Gina Carano escaping this fight with a win, much less with her face intact! “Cyborg” Santos is a beast!! I’m looking for Gina to be over powered and just pummeled..I know Gina has been training very hard at Extreme Couture but I don’t think she will be prepared for the onslaught that Santos is going to unleash on her. I’m picking Cyborg by KO in round one or two. The controversy surrounding Nick Diaz has been astounding! Diaz ducked his drug test and is now not licensed to fight, Strikeforce is now bringing in Jesse Taylor (the out of control idiot, throw away from the Ultimate Fighter) to battle Jay Hieron. What kind of moron ducks the drug test and turns away from the money that he was going to get for this fight? Nick Diaz is starting to really hit a good stride in his fighting career but I think he has a long way to go, as far as maturity level. I’m not making assumptions because his camp said that he was “training”…that’s why he missed the drug test. If doing drugs is more important than fighting for Nick Diaz, I would suggest finding another occupation. As far as Jesse Taylor vs Jay Hieron, this fight goes to Hieron..hands down by TKO in the first round. Next up is Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs Gegard Mousasi, these two fighters have come from the now belly up Affliction. This will be another good fight..Babalu is a crafty veteran who is tough as nails, it won’t be easy but I’m thinking Mousasi catches Babalu in a submission and shocks some folks. The last televised fight will be Gilbert Melendez vs Mitsuhiro Ishida, both are tough fighters but I see this one going to a decision with Melendez taking the split. So my picks for this Saturdays Strikeforce event are the following:
Gina Carano vs Christine “Cyborg” Santos (Strikeforce Women’s title) – Winner = Christine “Cyborg” Santos via KO in first or second round
Jay Hieron vs Jesse Taylor – Winner = Jay Hieron via TKO round 1
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs Gegard Mousasi (Strikeforce light heavyweight title) – Winner = Gegard Mousasi via submission, round 2
Gilbert Melendez vs Mitsuhiro Ishida (Strikeforce interim lightweight title) – Winner = Gilbert Melendez via split decision
I’m very impressed with Strikeforce lately, they are by no means on the UFC’s level yet but they do have entertaining fights and the signing of Fedor will only help them get bigger, if they use Fedor in the right way. I’m looking forward to this fight and also looking forward to seeing what Strikeforce has in store for the future. Until next time fight fans, enjoy the fight this weekend…I know I will.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Crazy few weeks for MMA!
Well, well, well…what an interesting couple weeks for MMA! Josh Barnett being cut from the Affliction card, Affliction scrambling for an opponent for the mighty Fedor. Speculation ranged from Vitor Belfort, Don Frye, Jeff Monson, Brett Rogers, etc!! Then Affliction cancels the event altogether, announces that it is done promoting fights (big surprise!!) and reconciles with the UFC as a sponsor. The craziness began with all the promotions going haywire trying to sign Fedor Emelianenko, Fedor and company are only interested in offers from organizations that are willing to co-promote with M-1 (which Fedor has a percentage of ownership). UFC apparantly offered Fedor a ridiculous amount of money, offered to let him wear M-1 apparel in the octogon and was willing to let Fedor compete in Sambo competitions outside of the UFC. The offer hung up on the co-promotion stipulation which the UFC would just not budge on. With Fedor now being signed to Strikeforce, this brings more interest to the uprising Strikeforce promotion. So many things to discuss and on top of that, UFC 101 is this weekend…live from Philly!! Follow along as I give my thoughts on all the madness.
First let’s begin with Josh Barnett…All I can say is, did you not learn from when you got busted in the UFC and had the title stripped from you?! How stupid to risk all you have worked for, not to mention the pay day he missed out on! Also the opportunity to fight the best pound for pound heavyweight in MMA. He has been reduced to participating in fake wrestling events in Japan…he will never be offered that crazy money that Affliction was going to pay him ever again! If he does decide to suck it up and try to get signed by the UFC, he has lost any leverage he had in negotiations. Do I think that the fate of Affliction rested on Josh Barnett’s shoulders? Absolutely not! Affliction was a sinking ship..they were done, even if the Fedor/Barnett fight would have happened. It’s a shame because I really like Josh Barnett as a person and a fighter but I also don’t condone cheating and this has definitely put a black mark on his career…only the future will tell us what’s in store for Josh Barnett…positive drug tests aside, I wish him all the best of luck.
The death of the fight promotion Affliction was of no surprise to me, I figured they were dying. The amount of money they were paying their fighters was crazy! There was no way they were going to keep up with that pace, their pockets aren’t that deep…they are now where they should have been all along, making shirts that the fighters can wear into the UFC octagon. However this does raise a question…will the other MMA companies fail like Affliction? The fight promoting business is not easy, as Affliction has demonstrated, any number of things can happen to ruin the most well thought out plan. Competition is good for the UFC, I’d rather not see a total monopoly with the UFC being the only fight promotion and reigning supreme. Like it or not, the UFC does have the deepest talent pool and if you want to fight the best fighters, eventually your going to have to step into the octagon for the UFC.
UFC’s press conference last week with Dana White was highly inticipated..people had many speculations as to what was going to be announced. I was chomping at the bit, as a fan to find out what the UFC had to offer. I was pleased with the announcements…Rich Franklin vs Vitor Belfort at UFC 103!! This will be a great fight! Really looking forward to this fight, Vitor Belfort will be a excellent addition to the UFC rostor. It was announced that Dan Henderson will get his rematch and the next crack at Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Championship. I’m glad Dan Henderson was given the nod, he really deserves it…he has won three straight fights against tough competition. I think the rematch will be different, I believe if anyone can beat Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson has the ability to crush the spider!! Yet another great fight to look forward to! Dana White also announced that Tito Ortiz is once again a UFC fighter…A surgically repaired Tito Ortiz will definitley help the UFC put ass’s in the seats and sell pay per views, Ortiz is one of the UFC’s most popular fighters…could he be used to help UFC expand into Mexico?? If I was a betting man, I would be going all in on this one haha! Not very excited about the rumored matchup between Tito Ortiz and Mark Coleman but hopefully Ortiz will get some other opponents. Dana White also announced that a deal was made with ESPN to broadcast UFC in the UK…could this be the start of something bigger with the UFC and ESPN being so close lately?? I’m starting to sense that the UFC will be on major television very, very soon.
Strikeforce has signed Fedor Emelianenko!! Holy crap! Who saw this coming? Now that I think about it, its really not all that suprising. Strikeforce copromoted with Affliction all the time. This will be a game changer in my opinion…Strikeforce has a talent pool that is getting better and better as time goes on. I bet the UFC and Dana White are beside themselves!! You can bet that the war is on! The UFC will start to counter promote Strikeforce programming but all I can say is that they better bring their A game! This is good for us fight fans because we are going to see some interesting things in the next year…I can’t wait!! As M-1 gets more exposure, it will be interesting to see what they do…I have the feeling that they are the snake, waiting in the tall grass.
UFC 101 is this weekend! Live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!! I live in the Washington DC area and would have loved to go but I couldn’t get tickets…Some good fights on this card, I’ll definitely be amped up for this Saturday night. Here are my picks for UFC 101:
UFC 101: Declaration
Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellgrino = Winner Kurt Pellgrino (TKO)
Ricardo Almeida vs. Kendall Grove = Winner Kendall Grove (submission)
Johny Hendricks vs. Amir Sadollah = Winner Amir Sadollah (KO)
Champ B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian (for UFC lightweight title) = Winner B.J. Penn (submission)
Champ Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin (non-title fight) = Winner Anderson Silva (KTFO)
These are my picks, take them for what they are worth, I’m no expert..just a fan. We are in for some good fights this year!! I’m really looking forward to seeing what develops from Strikeforce signing Fedor, UFC’s deal with ESPN, UFC’s accusation of the Affliction fighters, Josh Barnett’s future, M-1 sneaking in the back door, among many other things. This will be good for the fans because we are guaranteed some exciting fights now because the UFC will be pulling out all the stops to destroy Strikeforce now. Until next time folks..Enjoy your MMA!! I know I will!
First let’s begin with Josh Barnett…All I can say is, did you not learn from when you got busted in the UFC and had the title stripped from you?! How stupid to risk all you have worked for, not to mention the pay day he missed out on! Also the opportunity to fight the best pound for pound heavyweight in MMA. He has been reduced to participating in fake wrestling events in Japan…he will never be offered that crazy money that Affliction was going to pay him ever again! If he does decide to suck it up and try to get signed by the UFC, he has lost any leverage he had in negotiations. Do I think that the fate of Affliction rested on Josh Barnett’s shoulders? Absolutely not! Affliction was a sinking ship..they were done, even if the Fedor/Barnett fight would have happened. It’s a shame because I really like Josh Barnett as a person and a fighter but I also don’t condone cheating and this has definitely put a black mark on his career…only the future will tell us what’s in store for Josh Barnett…positive drug tests aside, I wish him all the best of luck.
The death of the fight promotion Affliction was of no surprise to me, I figured they were dying. The amount of money they were paying their fighters was crazy! There was no way they were going to keep up with that pace, their pockets aren’t that deep…they are now where they should have been all along, making shirts that the fighters can wear into the UFC octagon. However this does raise a question…will the other MMA companies fail like Affliction? The fight promoting business is not easy, as Affliction has demonstrated, any number of things can happen to ruin the most well thought out plan. Competition is good for the UFC, I’d rather not see a total monopoly with the UFC being the only fight promotion and reigning supreme. Like it or not, the UFC does have the deepest talent pool and if you want to fight the best fighters, eventually your going to have to step into the octagon for the UFC.
UFC’s press conference last week with Dana White was highly inticipated..people had many speculations as to what was going to be announced. I was chomping at the bit, as a fan to find out what the UFC had to offer. I was pleased with the announcements…Rich Franklin vs Vitor Belfort at UFC 103!! This will be a great fight! Really looking forward to this fight, Vitor Belfort will be a excellent addition to the UFC rostor. It was announced that Dan Henderson will get his rematch and the next crack at Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Championship. I’m glad Dan Henderson was given the nod, he really deserves it…he has won three straight fights against tough competition. I think the rematch will be different, I believe if anyone can beat Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson has the ability to crush the spider!! Yet another great fight to look forward to! Dana White also announced that Tito Ortiz is once again a UFC fighter…A surgically repaired Tito Ortiz will definitley help the UFC put ass’s in the seats and sell pay per views, Ortiz is one of the UFC’s most popular fighters…could he be used to help UFC expand into Mexico?? If I was a betting man, I would be going all in on this one haha! Not very excited about the rumored matchup between Tito Ortiz and Mark Coleman but hopefully Ortiz will get some other opponents. Dana White also announced that a deal was made with ESPN to broadcast UFC in the UK…could this be the start of something bigger with the UFC and ESPN being so close lately?? I’m starting to sense that the UFC will be on major television very, very soon.
Strikeforce has signed Fedor Emelianenko!! Holy crap! Who saw this coming? Now that I think about it, its really not all that suprising. Strikeforce copromoted with Affliction all the time. This will be a game changer in my opinion…Strikeforce has a talent pool that is getting better and better as time goes on. I bet the UFC and Dana White are beside themselves!! You can bet that the war is on! The UFC will start to counter promote Strikeforce programming but all I can say is that they better bring their A game! This is good for us fight fans because we are going to see some interesting things in the next year…I can’t wait!! As M-1 gets more exposure, it will be interesting to see what they do…I have the feeling that they are the snake, waiting in the tall grass.
UFC 101 is this weekend! Live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!! I live in the Washington DC area and would have loved to go but I couldn’t get tickets…Some good fights on this card, I’ll definitely be amped up for this Saturday night. Here are my picks for UFC 101:
UFC 101: Declaration
Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellgrino = Winner Kurt Pellgrino (TKO)
Ricardo Almeida vs. Kendall Grove = Winner Kendall Grove (submission)
Johny Hendricks vs. Amir Sadollah = Winner Amir Sadollah (KO)
Champ B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian (for UFC lightweight title) = Winner B.J. Penn (submission)
Champ Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin (non-title fight) = Winner Anderson Silva (KTFO)
These are my picks, take them for what they are worth, I’m no expert..just a fan. We are in for some good fights this year!! I’m really looking forward to seeing what develops from Strikeforce signing Fedor, UFC’s deal with ESPN, UFC’s accusation of the Affliction fighters, Josh Barnett’s future, M-1 sneaking in the back door, among many other things. This will be good for the fans because we are guaranteed some exciting fights now because the UFC will be pulling out all the stops to destroy Strikeforce now. Until next time folks..Enjoy your MMA!! I know I will!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)