It’s been awhile folks!! Sorry for the absence…not that too many people noticed haha! With my whole 2 followers. There has been quite a bit of news in MMA since my last blog entry, I will try to touch on a few things as well as make my picks for UFC 105! In the aftermath of the Strikeforce show on CBS last Saturday night we all got to see Fedor on the biggest show he has participated in on US soil. He remains unbeatable in most people’s eyes, however from my perspective Brett Rogers did much better than I expected. That big jab in the beginning of the first round that busted Fedor’s nose was unexpected! I thought we were in for something special when Rogers drew first blood on Fedor. He even had Fedor on the ground and in mount position, raining down some vicious bombs from above. Fedor definitely avoided a huge bullet making it out of that round. Fedor’s experience was on display, even with Rogers on top of him, punching him hard, he kept his composure. In the beginning of the second round, I knew Rogers was in trouble, he kept swinging wildly and leaving his chin wide open! Fedor was sizing him up and stepped in with an epic shot that caught Rogers right on the snooze button. The sound of Fedor’s fist smacking Rogers chin will not be soon forgotten by me or by Brett Rogers I’m sure, he was seeing tweetie birds most definitely haha. The question we now have to ask ourselves is what is next for Fedor?? …Fabricio Werdum?, Josh Barnett?, Alistair Overeem? Fabricio has made it known that he wants Fedor next, after winning by decision in his fight with Antonio Silva. In my opinion, Fedor would make short work of Fabricio and the Barnett fight probably won’t happen because of the steroid issue that caused the Affliction fight to crumble…not to mention the whole Affliction fight promotion!! Speaking of steroids!! Let’s talk about Alistair Overeem. This is the fight I would like to see! I think Fedor would have his hands full with this monster. There have been speculations of steroid use because of Overeem massive physique; people say that is why he is fighting in Japan, that he is avoiding fighting on American soil because of the drug tests. I say if Brock Lesnar can pass then Overeem will be fine! Haha. Fedor would have to contend with Overeem’s devastating striking power, much more than Brett Rogers. If Strikeforce can’t get Overeem to defend his heavyweight title then they need to strip him of the title and have a tournament to fill the vacated heavyweight championship. Let someone else step up, who will defend the title on a regular basis. In my opinion the fight promotions let their champions get away with too much crap! Fedor will make a huge impact in the US but I’m thinking that if he wants to fight the best in the world and keep his #1 heavyweight fighter title then he will have no other choice than to fight in the UFC…its coming, only a matter of time.
I only caught two other fights, the tail end of the Gegard Mousasi/Sokoudjou fight and the middleweight title fight between Jake Shields and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Mousasi put a hurting on Sokoudjou with a ground and pound stoppage…can’t say that I’m surprised; Sokoudjou has not been impressing me with his performance lately. He has been taking a beating in his last few fights, time for him to try some different game plans. He trains with a great team in Team Quest…not too sure what the problem is. The Shields/”Mayhem” Miller fight was a good technical matchup, however I was expecting more. Shields did nothing in trying to prove to the critics that his stand up has improved, he wanted no part of standing with Miller. He took Miller to the ground every chance he got and kept him there, Shield’s ground game is outstanding but he needs to work his stand up, if he wants to keep the title. Eventually Cung Le and Shields will fight, even though Shields believes that Cung Le is ducking him. Cung Le will be working his kicks and Shields will be forced to stand up, which will not vote well for him. All in all I think Strikeforce was a success in reaching out to new people, who may have never seen the sport before. I’m sure the sport of MMA gained some more fans from this card. In the end the real winners will be Fedor who gained some much needed exposure in America and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, who combined with his stint on Bully Beat down on MTV, will become even more recognizable, thus making him a big draw to have on CBS. Also, UFC wins big time from Strikeforce on CBS, how you say?? Well, because the new fans that were gained from Saturday will be looking to watch some more MMA! Guess what is coming up?? UFC 105, WEC 44 & UFC 106!! The new fans that were attracted to the sport will be tuning in to check out more MMA.
As for the UFC…well we all know by now that our heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is suffering from Mono…supposedly! After seeing him on Monday Night Football, I’m not all that convinced. I think Mr. Lesnar is trying to hold onto that title for as long as he can and could be ducking Shane Carwin, who in my opinion, stands a good chance of beating Lesnar. Now it has been announced that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will face Cain Velasquez at UFC 108 and the winner of this fight will receive a “guaranteed” title shot! So I’m confused….who gets the title shot?? Carwin or the winner of Nogueira/Velasquez?? I think that the fight promotions are letting some of their fighters get away with way too much! If your not able to defend your title for an extended period of time, then strip this fighter of their title and let some fighters go at it, who are going to be able to defend said title regularly. Have the winner of Nogueira/Velasquez face Carwin for the vacated title! Then when Brock gets over his Mono/Swine Flu/Lime Disease/Vaginitis, can face whoever is the reigning champion at that time…I think this makes sense, while giving the fans quality fights that people would pay to see. Time will tell, as to what happens with the UFC heavyweight title debacle.
I will touch briefly on the Machida/Shogun fight since I’m sure everyone is sick and tired of hearing about it. I myself thought that Shogun won at least two of the rounds; I was definitely surprised by the unanimous decision. I’m interested to see the rematch and if both fighters switch their style up, since it was kind of a stale mate. I will say this…How bad did Machida’s ribs look at the end of that fight??!! Wow! It looked like he got hit by a car!
What we have coming up is UFC 105!! Free on Spike TV! I’ve said it before, I love free MMA! Looking forward to this card. Interested in seeing Randy Couture fight Brandon Vera in a fight that could very well be a coming out party for Vera. Brandon Vera has come a long way and seems to get better with every fight. If he can keep Randy from taking him down and getting him against the cage, I think we might see some of Vera’s Muay Thai skills come into play. This is a pretty decent card and I’m going to share my picks for the fights.
Ross Pearson vs Aaron Riley
Winner: Ross Pearson by KO/TKO
Both of these fighters are great and I expect a good fight! I believe Ross will over power Riley and get the better of him in the striking department. I look for Ross to land a knockout shot or to get a referee stoppage due to strikes.
Matt Brown vs James Wilks
Winner: Matt Brown by decision
Matt Brown is a tough dude! I don’t think the trip over to the UK will affect him and I look for him to be in awesome shape. Not to say James Wilks is a push over, this guy can fight as well. I’m seeing Brown take this fight in a split decision victory.
Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang
Winner: Michael Bisping by KO/TKO
Michael Bisping has to win this fight!! He is one of the UFC’s biggest draws in the UK and extremely popular. After that nasty KO that he suffered at the hands of Dan Henderson, he will be looking to bounce back! I’m looking for Bisping to win in convincing manner…I don’t think Bisping has one punch KO power but I believe he will get a stoppage due to strikes.
Dan Hardy vs Mike Swick
Winner: Mike Swick by decision
This one is going to be a fight! This has fight of the night written all over it! Swick is bouncing back from some injuries and has had some impressive wins since returning, if not for the injuries suffered from training, he might have already had a title shot. His opponent is a fairly new fighter to the UFC, he has strung together some nice wins, including a win over a very game Marcus Davis. I look for this to be a slugfest with Mike Swick winning by split decision.
Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera
Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO/KO
I’m really looking forward to this fight, a very interesting matchup. Randy lost against Nogueira but looked incredible! However, Brandon Vera is improving with every fight. I look for this to be another impressive battle for Randy Couture but Randy has a habit of dropping his hands and taking some nasty shots. If this happens I look for Brandon Vera to capitalize and connect with a punch or kick that will send Randy to the canvas with a devastating KO! I’m going with Vera by TKO/KO.
There you have it!! My picks for UFC 105 this Saturday. Again, these are just my opinions, so don’t jump down my throat haha. I hope everyone enjoys the fight this weekend, until next time, stay safe and support MMA.
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