I'm Back!!! Thoughts on Strikeforce on CBS, UFC 105 picks and general MMA discussion

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.

UFC 101, WEC 42 Aftermath and thoughts/picks for Strikeforce this Saturday

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.

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!

Affliction: Trilogy picks and some random thoughts!

Hello, fellow MMA fans! We are not too far away from a busy month for MMA in August. I am truly excited for next month! Three big weekends in a row, my mind may go into MMA overload…August 1st we have Affliction: Trilogy, August 8th UFC 101: Declaration, August 9th WEC 42 and August 15th Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg!! Before I get into my predictions for the upcoming Affliction: Trilogy card I want to touch on a few topics that I’ve been pondering lately, so follow along with me as I let you in on my thoughts and opinions as of right now, regarding MMA.

First off is all the buzz surrounding Fedor Emelianenko being courted by the UFC…I for one, among many other MMA fan hope this happens! I don’t think the UFC will be able to come to terms with Fedor. Fedor wants to sign one fight deals, where he can jump around from place to place fighting wherever he wants. This would not make sense for the UFC business-wise…Fedor would become an instant huge star in the world if had the exposure the UFC could give him, not to mention if he were to fight Brock Lesnar for the heavyweight title and beat him! Fedor may have to eventually fight for the UFC, if he wants to cement his status as top heavyweight fighter in MMA. Lets face it; some of the best heavyweight fighters in MMA are in the UFC! If Fedor doesn’t sign with the UFC he may always be remembered as the guy ducking fights just to hold onto a impressive record. Lesnar and Fedor is a fight that must happen and one that I’m crossing my fingers on! Dana! Get your check book out!

Another thing I’ve been thinking about lately were the inductees into the UFC hall of fame. Chuck Liddell was a very good choice for the hall of fame but Charles “Mask” Lewis from the Tapout crew?? I know that Lewis has done great things for MMA and the MMA community but he was not a UFC fighter. I think past champions such as Don Frye or Pat Miletich are more deserving of hall of fame status. I hope the UFC chooses more carefully the next go around because in my opinion, that was kind of a joke…nice gesture but really kind of a slap in the face to some of the pioneers and legends of MMA….BTW, I will go to the next UFC fan expo! From what I’ve read and the pictures I’ve seen, it looks like a really good time!

I’ve read a lot recently on some MMA forums that people want the UFC to split up some divisions and create more weight classes, why?? I don’t want the UFC to become like boxing! So many different divisions and champions that it gets confusing. The reason that boxing did that was because of greed! They wanted all their fights to be title fights, so more interest would be created and more money would be made. Now you have fighters who have so many belts hanging off of them, that you have no idea what championship he has currently!! I like how in the UFC, I know who each champion is in every weight class without thinking about it. It would be so confusing if they split up divisions that I wouldn’t even want to think about it! Plus its so interesting and fun watching the fighters going at it for #1 contender spots!! You really wouldn’t have one truly undisputed champion and that would be stupid and would get stale after awhile.

Now onto my Affliction: Trilogy fight picks!! Here it goes:

Takanori Gomi vs. Rafaello Oliveira = Takanori Gomi wins by KO

Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel = Gilbert Yvel wins by TKO

Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago = Vitor Belfort wins by decision (split)

Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral = Renato "Babalu" Sobral wins by submission

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett = Josh Barnett by KO (Going out on a limb here and picking Barnett for the KO! I know I’m going to take some heat but I think Barnett might stand a chance and surprise some folks, just my opinion).

This will be my first time viewing the Affliction fights on PPV, I’m looking forward to seeing Affliction’s fights and seeing their production quality…I’m curious to see how it stacks up to the UFC/WEC shows as far as quality. Zuffa has enormous amounts of cash now; I’m just wanting to see how the smaller companies compete. Until next time MMA fans…enjoy the fights!!

UFC 100 Aftermath!! What a night!

UFC 100 has come and gone! I was impressed with all the fights, except the lackluster main event which left me feeling a bit let down. My predictions for the Jon Fitch vs Paulo Thiago fight and the GSP vs Thiago Alves fight were almost correct…they won by decision like I said they would but by unanimous decision, not split! However Dan Henderson beat Bisping by KO and not submission like I predicted and Brock Lesnar beat Frank Mir by TKO! Not too shabby, like I said in my very first post, I’m not a professional!! This is just for fun and giving people my perspective of MMA. If you enjoy it then great! If you don’t…that’s great too! I love hearing other people’s opinions and thoughts. That is what makes the world go around, a whole lot of different ideas and theories!

Lets begin now with my analysis of UFC 100 beginning with the Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama vs Alan Belcher. I was looking forward to this fight because I’ve never seen these two guys fight before! Akiyama is huge in Japan, a really big star over there and is on a winning streak!! It was going to be interesting to see if his fighting style would transition well in the UFC. Alan Belcher looked good at first but he seemed to get really sloppy with his strikes in round two and three. Akiyama ended up winning by split decision and people were booing him and saying Belcher got robbed…even Joe Rogan commented during the judges announcement that Belcher got robbed! After re-watching that fight, I have to say that I’m siding with the judges…Belcher won round one but Akiyama did win the other two and deserved that win. Akiyama didn’t totally impress me but neither did Belcher…it was a good fight to start off UFC 100 though!

Dan Henderson vs Michael Bisping was a great fight with a highlight reel knockout!! I predicted that Hendo would submit Bisping…I caught A LOT! of heat for that but you know what, it could have happened! Bisping did try a half ass takedown attempt, which Hendo just brushed off and smiled. Hendo wanted to keep it standing and beat Bisping up a little to shut his mouth….I’m not a big Bisping fan…I respect him as a fighter but I think the guy can be a little too cocky most of the time. Bisping just kept circling toward that big right hand of Henderson and sooner or later it was going to happen! POW! Huge right hand to Bisping’s jaw!! Bisping’s head torqued around so hard and fast, that I thought it was going to fly off! Bisping fell flat on his back, head bounced off the canvas then Hendo went in for the kill!!…Hendo jumped off his feet and came crashing down with an elbow right on Bisping’s jaw! It was brutal!! Some people have screamed that this was unprofessional and barbaric of Dan Henderson but the golden rule of MMA is never stop until the ref pulls you away!! You never want there to be a question about the stoppage or give Bisping time to recover. In my opinion that was a totally justified strike and Hendo now deserves a title shot with three straight wins, against tough opponents. Maybe Bisping will learn to not talk so much trash about his opponents in the future…what’s next for Bisping?? Will the UFC immediately throw him against stiff competition or will they try and build him back up again? Put him in against some middle tier fighters? You might not hear too much from Bisping after that ass whooping he took…I bet dude is hurting…maybe even facial damage!

George St. Pierre vs Thiago Alves was a classic example of wrestling and takedowns….Alves had no answer for GSP’s takedowns. Every time Alves tried to go on the offense, GSP would stuff it and take his ass to the mat again! From there commence to ground and pound “The Pitbulls” face into hamburger meat. Alves was from what many were saying going to be GSP’s biggest challenge yet! Alves is a monster among men! He is only 25 years old and has a bright future ahead of him, he’ll be back into contention soon but hopefully he works on some takedown defense! GSP just seemed to be able to take him down at will. I must add that GSP is one tough SOB!! He tore a groin muscle in the third round of that fight and still was able to secure the victory in a five round war! At least Alves took it like a man and acknowledged that he was beaten by a better fighter by raising GSP’s hand at the end of the fight. Does this fight solidify GSP’s pure dominance?? What’s next for GSP?? I know Mike Swick vs Martin Kampmann is scheduled and the winner gets GSP but I think GSP will make short work out of either of these two! Is there a possible super fight on the horizon between GSP and Anderson Silva?? This would be a great fight but also kind of a miss match in my opinion. Anderson Silva is way bigger than GSP! Silva cuts weight to make 185 lbs! GSP would have to gain quite a bit of weight to get on that level…might be a little unfair?? Jon Fitch is on his way back up…I wouldn’t mind seeing Jon Fitch get a rematch against GSP and try to avenge the beating that he was handed to him by GSP haha! I think that there are plenty others fighters in GSP’s division that need to be considered before they start creating these super fights…just a thought!

The big fight between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir was next!! I was watching UFC 100 at a friend’s house and I’ll have to admit we were both amped for this fight!! There was so much promotion and trash talking back and forth between Mir and Lesnar, not to mention that Mir had already beaten Brock by submission in their first fight! This had the makings of a great fight!! Boy was I wrong!….Round one saw a little bit of striking with Lesnar eventually taking Frank Mir down and keeping him there for the entire round while he beat Mir’s face into pulp…Mir kept signaling to his corner that he was ok but those big hands of Brock Lesnar were doing some damage! When round two began I thought Mir would try to stand and bang with Brock…I mean that was pretty much his only hope in my opinion! In the few brief moments they were on their feet, Mir seemed to get the better of Lesnar…Mir landed a knee to Lesnar’s face that seemed to hurt Lesnar but then Lesnar took Mir down to the mat once again!! I couldn’t imagine having that big, crazy, giant on top of you!! Mir tried to escape but it was no use…Lesnar got him against the cage and started his ground and pound beating of Mir’s face, the ref stopped this fight and Brock Lesnar won by TKO and still remained UFC heavyweight champion! When the fight was over Lesnar went into a psychotic rage, getting in Frank Mir’s face and saying “talk all the shit you want now!”…then when being interviewed by Joe Rogan dissed one of UFC’s major sponsors Bud Light by saying he was going to drink Coors because Bud Light didn’t pay him anything, he also flicked off the entire crowd that was booing him. I’m sorry but that is WWE bullshit! There is no need for things like that in MMA…MMA is such a pure and respected sport and for some meathead like Lesnar to come in and give it a bad name is disgusting! I understand trying to create drama to sell tickets and get people interested but come on! I for one can’t wait to see someone test Brock’s chin! Possibly the winner of Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin??

The final fight was Jon Fitch and Paulo Thiago…for whatever reason (I couldn’t find out why) this fight was after Lesnar and Mir. I enjoyed this fight a lot!! Very technical matchup…it was back and forth with takedowns and submission attempts. There were a couple times I thought Fitch might be done when Thiago got him in some guillotine choke attempts but Fitch muscled his way out and regained position. Fitch won this fight by decision and hopefully is on his way to another title shot in the future.

Other random thoughts from the night…did anybody catch when they would show Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan? I know Joe Rogan likes his herbal medication, if you know what I mean haha! Dude looked stoned out of his mind sometimes! They would show him and his eyes would be almost bugging out! I was laughing to myself when they would show him. Also Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans got into a little argument and pushing match at ringside…is this for real or is the UFC just trying to create fake drama to sell tickets and pay per views?? There were a lot of shots of Shogun Rua at ringside…Lyoto Machida is going to destroy him! I really don’t think Shogun has a chance in hell against the dragon!

I didn’t get to see the preliminary fights but I heard Mark Coleman beat Stephan Bonnar by decision and Tom Lawlor beat C.B. Dolloway by submission, which surprised me! That was a huge loss for C.B. Dollaway, he is probably dangerously close to being cut by the UFC! Speaking of being cut! I heard Mac Danzig donated a gallon of blood to the UFC blood bank haha! That would explain why the mat looked like a slaughter house floor when the live show started…my friend and I were wondering if they forgot to clean the mat or were using an old one or something haha! Forgot about the preliminary fights. Overall I really enjoyed UFC 100, Dana put together a great fight card! Probably the best card in awhile. I’m looking forward to August 8th now! Can’t wait for Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin and BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian…both should be entertaining fights….we also have Affliction: Trilogy (Fedor vs Barnett) coming up, WEC 42 (Torres vs Bowles) and the Strikeforce show (Carano vs Cyborg). A LOT! of MMA in August! I’m pumped and ready to go…until next time folks! Keep supporting MMA!

UFC 100 predictions and thoughts

UFC 100 is upon us!!! I am so happy that the UFC and MMA in general has made it this far. MMA has come along way from the bare fisted, eye gouging, craziness of the early 90’s. It also amazes me to see the caliber of athletes competing in the sport today….you have guys like Georges St. Pierre, who is just incredible and lets be honest! If I told you a few years ago that Brock Lesnar would be the UFC heavyweight champion come UFC 100, you would have probably laughed in my face and called me a moron! I for one am not surprised at the fast rise to stardom for Brock Lesnar…he was already famous due to his stint in the WWE and he is a gifted athlete, dude is a monster! I can’t help but think that he was pushed into the heavyweight title picture a little soon but the heavyweight scene in the UFC is seriously lacking talent and Dana White had to do something to breathe some life into a depleted roster…that’s business!! However UFC is running the risk that Strikeforce did with Kimbo Slice and putting all their stock into a relatively unproven fighter. If Lesnar loses to Frank Mir at UFC 100, that would mean that Frank Mir has beaten him twice and then Lesnar loses his label as an unbeatable, destroyer of all fighters that the UFC is trying to promote him as. On the other hand if Lesnar annilates Frank Mir in convincing fashion then Lesnar gets propelled into a UFC cash cow with the possibilities being endless! Especially if the UFC can sign Fedor Emelianenko or Josh Bartnett (depending on the outcome of their fight at Affliction: Trilogy on August 1st)…..then you have the very interesting aspect of Kimbo Slice being a cast member on the Ultimate Fighter in September. Whether Kimbo wins the show or not, if he wins a couple fights, without a dought he is going to be signed by the UFC! Can you imagine the money to be made on a Brock Lesnar and Kimbo Slice fight?? Dana White and the UFC have said they are not interested in promoting “Sideshow circus act” fights but that is exactlly what this fight would be! Brock Lesnar a former WWE fake wrestling champion and Kimbo Slice, the street fighter, internet sensation! Both fighters are so popular that a pay per view fight between the two of them in my opinion would break any record pay per view ever set by the UFC or any fight ever! Period! I for one wouldn’t mind seeing this fight…Get your buddies together and throw in some money to split the cost of the pay per view because if everything goes down just right, we’ll all be seeing this fight! Now I’ll get to my predictions for UFC 100! Is anyone upset that Limp Bizkit won’t be taking part in the festivities?? Haha, I know I’m not..I have to admit I was a fan of Limp Bizkit back in the day but then Fred Durst got all weird and the band just tanked! They will not be missed.

The first main card fight is Yoshihiro Akiyama and Alan Belcher…I don’t know too much about either fighter, I’m looking forward to seeing it so I can get a grasp on what they are all about. Can’t really give a prediction on this fight since I don’t know them, it’s a toss up!!

Prediction: Undecided

Moving on! Next we have Jon Fitch and Paulo Thiago. I’m very excited about Jon Fitch’s return to the octagon! I thought that Fitch and Dana White’s spat over contract issues was going to be the end of Jon Fitch in the UFC. He is a really great fighter and tough as nails! I’m glad that the UFC was able to reach an agreement with him to keep him in the roster, hopefully he can bounce back from the beating he took from Georges St. Pierre! Paulo Thiago is a very game opponent but I’m going to have to go with Jon Fitch on this fight..I’m thinking it goes to a decision, with Jon Fitch being victorious!

Prediction: Jon Fitch (Judges Split Decision)

The fight between Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson has been hyped with the help of the most recent Ultimate Fighter show. I respect Michael Bisping as a fighter and I’m sure he might be a very cool guy in person but the show made him look like a real jerk. After watching Dan Henderson, reading up on him in interviews and such, he might be one of the nicest guys in MMA! Its hard not to like the guy and in my opinion he is going to school “The Count” Michael Bisping in wrestling 101. I’ve read that Bisping has been training in wrestling and is actually talking a lot of smack about being able to hang with Hendo at wrestling…I think Bisping just might be writing checks his butt can’t cash. Henderson is a tremendous wrestler and has a cast iron chin! Bisping really hasn’t been put to the test yet, he seemed to have trouble with Chris Leben when they fought in the UK and Leben (no matter how much I like the guy) is nowhere near the caliber of Dan Henderson! All I can say is Bisping better eat his wheaties on July 11th because Henderson is winning this fight and hurting Bisping in the process.

Prediction: Dan Henderson (Submission – round 2)

Next up, is the champ Georges St. Pierre and “The Pitbull” Thiago Alves for the UFC welterweight title. This is going to be a very entertaining fight! You got two guys who are in their prime and hungry! Georges St. Pierre is amazing and seems to just get better and better…I know that BJ Penn has been complaining about him greasing during their fight but truth of the matter is that Georges St. Pierre whopped that ass!! Thiago Alves is a whole different animal…Alves is going to come out swinging and swinging HARD!! If anybody stands a chance against knocking Georges St. Pierre off his thrown, it would be Thiago Alves. He is young, hungry and just an animal, he will definitely be looking for the knockout. This one is tough to call but I think I’m going to go with St. Pierre, I think it will be a brutal fight that goes the distance with St. Pierre still reigning as champion.

Prediction: Georges St. Pierre (Judges Split Decision)

Let us not forget the big fight everyone has been talking about! The UFC heavyweight champion of the world Brock Lesnar vs his nemisis Frank Mir. The last time these two guys tangled Brock was submitted in the first round with a heel lock. I don’t think Mir will catch Lesnar in something like that again because Lesnar has had a few fights under his belt now, the cage jitters are gone and he is confident! However I do think that Lesnar will slip up and get caught in a submission. Lesnar is big, powerful and extremly fast but Mir is a top notch submission artist and all it takes is one mistake by Lesnar and he’ll be tapping out again!! I’m going with Mir on this fight but he’ll take a lot of punishment from Lesnar’s size XXXL gloves to the face…YIKES

Prediction: Frank Mir (Submission – 2nd Round)

There you have it!! Those are my predictions for UFC 100…I also look for Stephan Bonnar to beat old man Mark Coleman by knockout, Jim Miller to beat Mac Danzig by split decision and C.B. Dollaway to get a much needed win against Tom Lawlor by way of submission. I pumped for July 11th and UFC 100! Buckle up MMA fans its going to be a bumpy ride but damn is it going to be fun!!

Free MMA is Great MMA!

Let me start off by welcoming everyone to my MMA Addict blog! I hope you get some sort of entertainment for this whether it be that you’re an MMA fan like me and want to see another person’s point of view on the sport or your just bored at work sitting at your desk and trying to kill some time…whatever the case may be I appreciate that your taking the time to read my blog and I hope you enjoy it!

I choose to title this post as “Free MMA is great MMA!” because I thought I’d share some thoughts with my fellow MMA fanatics. First off let me say that the recent WEC 41 event with the main event of Mike Brown & Urijah Faber for the WEC featherweight title and the most recent Ultimate Fighter finale with the main event of Diego Sanchez & Clay Guida were both amazing!! Couldn’t ask for a better night of fights, you know what else made them better?? They were F-R-E-E!! It seems like we have 2 or three MMA pay per views a month and it’s nice when they throw us a bone and give us a quality, free MMA event. I don’t know about you but the way things are right now with us being in an economic crisis, it’s hard for me to shell out $50.00 every month for a pay per view! Most of the time I’m forced to go to a local sports bar and watch it with a bunch of drunk wanna be fighters, who spend the whole night talking about how they can kick this fighter’s ass or that fighter’s ass all while I stare at their enormous beer belly! However that is a topic for another post.

Lets start off with the WEC event, the main fight was good…I think it may have been better if Urijah hadn’t broken his hand. I think the California Kid could have pushed the pace a little more if he hadn’t busted his hand. However! I don’t think that should be an excuse for not winning the fight, broken hands are a really common injury in MMA. At the Strikeforce event on Showtime on June 6th there was a matchup between “The New York Badass” Phil Baroni & Joe “Diesel” Riggs. Joe Riggs ended up winning the fight by decision but broke both of his hands during the contest and had the flu!! Riggs definitely earned some respect from me that night, I always knew he was tough but damn!! As far as Urijah goes, he did land some very effective elbows but without the use of his hand seemed to be lost. Urijah was like greased lightning, much, much faster than Brown and Urijah and the end of round five took Brown down and had him locked up tight in a guillotine choke but because of his broken hand could not put the required pressure on Brown’s Neck to tap him out. Not taking anything away from Brown, he is a monster in the featherweight division and Urijah really had his hands full because he was just out muscled by Brown…Urijah also had to be careful of Brown’s big right hand! Brown has a sledgehammer for a right hand and has the knockout power…ask Leonard Garcia haha! Brown won a hard fought decision victory but I have a feeling that Urijah will fight his way back to another title shot in the near future. My girlfriend loves Urijah, he definitely gets the award for the most pretty MMA fighter….it seems like every girl is a bandwagon California Kid fan, hopefully he can bounce back and impress his horde of groupies. With Jose Aldo a possibility for next contender for Mike Brown’s title the WEC is getting hot!! Jose Aldo scored a very quick knockout victory that same night with a flying knee to Cub Swanson’s head!! Under a minute in the first round! The flying knee opened up a huge gash on Swanson’s head that might have been one of the nastiest cuts I’ve seen in a MMA fight in awhile!! Swanson’s forehead looked like it was peeled back. A fight between Aldo& Brown for the featherweight belt would be very interesting! It would be a good test for Brown to see what he is made of, especially since he has beaten Leonard Garcia so easily and now Urijah twice! We’ll see if this fight happens until then I’m very much enjoying the WEC and being able to watch it for free, there are so many talented fighters in the WEC and its cool being able to watch them progress and turn into better fighters

Now let me give my thoughts on the Ultimate Fighter, team UK VS team USA finale. This was an incredible fight, I think that the free fight nights on Spike TV are just as good, sometimes better than the pay per views. Hopefully Spike continues to do this but I fear that as the sport becomes more and more popular that there will only be pay per views and no more free fights on television. The first fight of the night was Joe “Daddy” Stevenson & Nate Diaz. This was a hell of a matchup to start off the night! Very fast paced matchup and technical fight. Stevenson put on a wrestling clinic and just over powered Nate Diaz….I thought it was funny watching Nate Diaz try to lock Stevenson up in a triangle choke and Stevenson just posturing up and powering out of everything. I think the key to beating the Diaz brothers is to have a great wrestling game, Nate & Nick Diaz both have trouble when someone is stuffing their ground game down their throats. Joe Stevenson looked really good in this fight, I think training with Greg Jackson is doing him a world of good. He doesn’t try to just stand and bang anymore. Greg Jackson has given him confidence in his ground game, I expect Stevenson to be back in the title hunt before too long….maybe a possible rematch with Diego Sanchez?? That would be interesting!

The next fight was the Ultimate Fighter Lightweight finale between Ross Pearson & Andre Winner. This fight was pretty decent with both guys trading some leather, I believe that it could have been better but both guys have trained together and know each other well…it was a stalemate. It didn’t stop them from landing some vicious strikes! They stayed busy for the most part with Ross Pearson winning by unanimous decision. Look out for Ross Pearson! With some more fights under his belt and some more training, he is going to be dangerous.

Chris Lytle & Kevin Burns was a slugfest!! I really enjoy watching Chris Lytle fight, just because he is one tough, son of a gun! Whether you want to stand up and bang or not, Lytle is going to keep coming at you like the terminator and make you trade shots with him! Lytle has a cast iron chin, Burns connected with a solid shot in the first round that buckled Lytle’s knees but he kept his composure and fought through it. I must say that Lylte definitely wins the award for most ball shots taken in a fight! Wow! I think he got rocked in the jewels like three times! Hurt me just watching! It was totally accidental, Burns didn’t mean it. When your going for those inside leg kicks sometimes you accidentally hit someone in the pills…it happens haha! Chris Lylte wins a war by unanimous decision.

The following fight was the Ultimate Fighter welterweight final between Demarques Johnson & James Wilks. I enjoyed this fight! I’ll have to say that I was rooting for Johnson, just because he is an American boy but Wilks he impressed me with his ability and definitely showed that he has improved! They traded some heavy shots and Wilks was really working Johnson over in the clinch with some nasty knees. Johnson escaped a triangle choke then got caught in a rear naked choke and was submitted in the first round. Two brits win in the ultimate fighter! What’s next?? An all UK fight night or Ultimate Fighter?? I wouldn’t be surprised…those brits love to fight!!

The main event was what everyone was waiting for! I knew this one was going to be ugly…I’ve followed both Clay Guida and Diego Sanchez since they started in the UFC. Both fighters are tremendous athletes and their cardio is off the charts! Both fighters were intense! Guida never standing still jumping around and bouncing like the tazmanian devil that he is. Sanchez entered the cage intense as ever! When he got to the cage, where the cut man applies the Vaseline to their face, he just gave Guida the most crazy death stare I have ever seen. He entered the cage, immediately ran up to Guida and started yelling “Let’s get it on homie!”, “Let’s do this!”. Guida replied with “This is my house!”, Sanchez was so worked up, that when he started yelling again he spit his mouth piece have way across the octagon haha! Even Guida had to laugh at that! The fight started with both Sanchez and Guida charging at each other, letting their fists go in a blur of violence. Sanchez lands a flying knee that bloodies Guida, Sanchez has Guida’s back against the cage and is punishing him with strikes. Guida takes Sanchez down but both fighters stall with no action for 30 or 40 seconds. Sanchez gets back to his feet and they start trading punches again, Guida loses his mouthpiece and the fight is stopped. Upon the restart, Sanchez lands a beautiful kick that connects flush on Guida’s jaw. I thought the fight was over as Guida goes down but Guida gets back to his feet! Guida I swear is superhuman! Round two had Sanchez on his back with Guida landing some strikes but Sanchez appeared to be getting the upper hand with some vicious elbows from the bottom, Sanchez nearly locks on an arm bar but Guida escapes…this fight is getting good! At the start of the third and final round, Guida is bleeding from a cut on the top of his head…no dought from the elbow strikes Sanchez was landing. They counter punch each other for a bit in the beginning of round three, then it goes to the ground. Sanchez tries to score the kimura but Guida breaks free. Sanchez wins this fight by decision but it was very close, I would love to see a rematch some time down the road…I was laughing when Joe Rogan was trying to interview Guida after the fight! Guida has just taken a beating for three rounds and was still jumping up and down…this dude has crazy cardio! I don’t think you can tire him out! I also think you can hit him in the face with a shovel and it wouldn’t knock him out! Guida will be back, had he approached this fight differently I think he could have won.

Like I said these free MMA fights on television are good for the sport, I look forward to many more on Spike or the Versus channel. Maybe the UFC will actually have a regular UFC event on Spike?? As of right now, I’m pumped for UFC 100!! My next post will be my predictions for the UFC 100 fights. Hope you enjoyed my first post as much as I did writing it!!