Well after 10 weeks I'm finally done studying for the Bar Exam. Hopefully that means I'll be able to post on here more. Anyways, onto the fights.
On August 1st, the UFC will hold it's second card on the VS channel, and once again the card will be headlined by the light heavyweight division's number one prospect Jon "Bones" Jones. After a bit of an MMA drought this month August is looking pretty damn good.
Takanori Gomi vs. Tyson Griffin - Gomi was originally set to face Joe Stevenson, but Griffin stepped in after Stevenson had to bow out due to an injury. Both fighters are coming off pretty one-sided losses and are looking to get back into the win column. Gomi made his UFC debut back in March and was out struck by Kenny Florian for two rounds before being choked out in the 3rd. Griffin last fought at UFC 115 and was controlled on the mat for three rounds by fellow Xtreme Couture fight Evan Dunham. Both Gomi and Griffin are strong wrestlers who often abandon that skill in favor of striking. Gomi throws wild powerful shots while Griffin is certainly more crisp and technical. I look for this to be a pretty straight forward stand up fight with Griffin winning a decision after three rounds of mediocre boxing.
Jake Ellenberger vs. John Howard - Ellenberger burst into the UFC with an exciting fight with Carlos Condit that he looked to dominate before falling short and losing a split decision that I actually scored in his favor. Since then Ellenberger defeated Mike Pyle with some vicious ground and pound was set to face Ben Saunders at UFC 111 before Saunders pulled out to replace Thiago Alves against Jon Fitch. Howard entered the UFC with consecutive split decision wins over Chris Wilson and Tamdan McCrory, but since then he has two consecutive KO wins over Dennis Hallman and Daniel Roberts. Howard is a super strong, compact guy with good wrestling and ground and pound. Ellenberger has good ground and pound as well and showed in the Condit fight that his stand up is very good and unpredictable. Tough fight to call, but I'll go with Ellenberger due to my liking him more.
Mark Munoz vs. Yushin Okami - Since dropping to 185 Munoz has looked great with his GnP wins over Kendall Grove and Ryan Jensen. Munoz has a strong wrestling base and his ability to posture up in his opponent's guard and drop BOMBS is a thing of beauty. What we did see in the Grove fight (and the in the loss to Hammill), though, is that Munoz still looks a little uncomfortable on his feet and even got dropped by Grove at one point. In Okami's last fight with Lucio Linhares we saw a vastly improved stand up game that utilized a powerful jab that Linhares ate time after time before the fight was eventually called by the doctors. Okami is no slouch on the ground either as we saw in less than exciting wins in the past. Okami does have the loss to a strong wrestler in Chael Sonnen, but I don't think Okami will be in too much danger with Munoz and will hold him off with his superior boxing en route to a decision win.
Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko - I think this a great fight for Jon Jones, and it clearly shows that the UFC is in no hurry to throw him to the wolves, but are not afraid to put him in fights with progressively better fighters. At no point in his UFC career has Jones looked like he was in trouble and at such a young age the kid is only going to get better. Matyushenko certainly has the edge with experience and has a smothering ground game, which is something we haven't seen Jones deal with yet (Jake O'Brien never got the chance). That being said I look for Jones to utilize his unorthodox striking to keep Matyushenko at bay and throw him to the mat anytime he tries to get close. The Janitor is a tough guy to finish but I wouldn't be surprised to see Jones get a TKO win in the 2nd or 3rd round.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Future of the Lightweight Division
Just a few guys that I see being the future of their respective division. I plan on doing this for the other major weight classes as well.
Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm: 14-0
Beerbohm started his career after a stint in prison for drug related charges. Since going pro he has won all 14 of his fights with 12 of those wins coming via stoppage. His biggest wins have come against UFC vets Rafaello Oliveira and Duane Ludwig (a win via bulldog choke that he predicted) as well as Victor Ribeiro. Beerbohm currently fights for Strikeforce and could be one win away from challenging for the promotion's lightweight title. After watching his beatdown of Josh Martin, it became apparent to be that Beerbohm is going to be a handful, even against Strikeforce's elite. With Josh Thomson's recent win, he has made a case for a 3rd match with current champ Gilbert Melendez. I'd like to see a fight set up between Beerbohm and Thomson to see who gets the next shot, but with the strange booking that has become routine with Strikeforce, who knows what direction the promotion will head in.
Evan Dunham: 11-0
I had the opportunity to see Dunham fight in person back in January when he faced Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 20. After a back and forth fight Dunham finished the fight with a Dustin Hazelett style armbar in the 3rd round. I had seen Dunham fight once before when he knocked out Per Eklund, but I had no idea how truly talented he was. Since joining the UFC Dunham has the wins over Eklund and Escudero as well as wins over Tyson Griffin and Marcus Aurelio. In all of the fights that I have seen, Dunham has shown strong takedowns to go along with striking that continues to get better. Dunham's next fight will be against former UFC champ Sean Sherk, and if Dunham should win he'll be able to start making some noise for a title shot.
George Sotiropoulos: 13-2
George is probably one of my current favorites in all of MMA, so forgive me if I sound a little biased. George is another guy I had the opportunity to see fight in person at UFC 101 when he submitted George Roop via kimura in a dominating performance. Since then Sotiropoulos has a submission win over Jason Dent as well as one-sided decision wins over Joe Stevenson and Kurt Pellegrino. What I really like about Sotiropoulos is that despite his being a guy that was primarily known for his BJJ (and one of the few people I've seen implement the rubber guard correctly), his boxing continues to improve. As with Dunham, after one more big win, Sotiropoulos could start making arguments for a title shot.
Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm: 14-0
Beerbohm started his career after a stint in prison for drug related charges. Since going pro he has won all 14 of his fights with 12 of those wins coming via stoppage. His biggest wins have come against UFC vets Rafaello Oliveira and Duane Ludwig (a win via bulldog choke that he predicted) as well as Victor Ribeiro. Beerbohm currently fights for Strikeforce and could be one win away from challenging for the promotion's lightweight title. After watching his beatdown of Josh Martin, it became apparent to be that Beerbohm is going to be a handful, even against Strikeforce's elite. With Josh Thomson's recent win, he has made a case for a 3rd match with current champ Gilbert Melendez. I'd like to see a fight set up between Beerbohm and Thomson to see who gets the next shot, but with the strange booking that has become routine with Strikeforce, who knows what direction the promotion will head in.
Evan Dunham: 11-0
I had the opportunity to see Dunham fight in person back in January when he faced Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 20. After a back and forth fight Dunham finished the fight with a Dustin Hazelett style armbar in the 3rd round. I had seen Dunham fight once before when he knocked out Per Eklund, but I had no idea how truly talented he was. Since joining the UFC Dunham has the wins over Eklund and Escudero as well as wins over Tyson Griffin and Marcus Aurelio. In all of the fights that I have seen, Dunham has shown strong takedowns to go along with striking that continues to get better. Dunham's next fight will be against former UFC champ Sean Sherk, and if Dunham should win he'll be able to start making some noise for a title shot.
George Sotiropoulos: 13-2
George is probably one of my current favorites in all of MMA, so forgive me if I sound a little biased. George is another guy I had the opportunity to see fight in person at UFC 101 when he submitted George Roop via kimura in a dominating performance. Since then Sotiropoulos has a submission win over Jason Dent as well as one-sided decision wins over Joe Stevenson and Kurt Pellegrino. What I really like about Sotiropoulos is that despite his being a guy that was primarily known for his BJJ (and one of the few people I've seen implement the rubber guard correctly), his boxing continues to improve. As with Dunham, after one more big win, Sotiropoulos could start making arguments for a title shot.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Stop The Shamrock Hate
This past weekend Impact FC held its second card in Australia and featured several former UFC vets including Ken Shamrock and Pedro Rizzo. After a barrage of knees, punches, and brutal leg kicks Rizzo was awarded a TKO victory in the first round. This morning when I hit the computer to due my usual perusing of my favorite MMA sites I was inundated with articles and quips of what an embarrassment Shamrock has become and how he's only fighting to collect a paycheck.
I'll agree with a majority of what is being said given Shamrock's recent losses and his only win in the past 6 years being against Ross Clifton (a win marred by the fact that Shamrock tested positive for steroids). What bothers me, though, is who are we, as fight fans, to criticize a fighter and say that he should hang up the gloves and retire? Shamrock is a legend and pioneer of the sport, yet due to his strange behavior and string of one-sided losses there has been an outcry that Shamrock is simply making money off of the name he made in the UFC and WWE. All I have to say to that is ... So What??
The world of mixed martial arts is becoming a young man's (or woman's) game, there is no doubt about that. Fighters like Rory MacDonald, Jon Jones, and Lady Cyborg have all shown that athletes are getting into MMA at a much younger age. Meanwhile, fighters like Mark Coleman, Cro Cop, and Shamrock have all been faced with criticism that they are far beyond their prime and should step down while fighters like Dan Severn and Don Frye can continue to fight with little to no comment despite their records or quality of their competition. If Dan Severn lost a fight tomorrow, would we see articles on every MMA site calling for his immediate retirement and calling him an embarrassment to the sport? I don't think so.
The issue that I'm seeing here is publicity. If an older fighter loses on a more publicized card, there is inherently more criticism thanks to the fact that more people are actually going to see the fight. With a more publicized card usually comes fighters of greater skill, which in turn means a greater challenge. Shamrock is being criticized for collecting a paycheck, yet he has the stones to step into the cage with a dangerous fighter like Pedro Rizzo. Where is all the criticism for Dan Severn who is fighting in the minor leagues against inexperienced fighters that present little to no challenge. Shamrock and Severn are making money off of what they do, FIGHTING. It's not like these guys can suddenly stop doing what they've spent a majority of their lives doing. There isn't a lot of money in fighting so it's unlikely that a lot of the older guard have a vast amount of savings. I guess what I'm getting at, is that if an older fighter is going to keep going past his prime, shouldn't there be some kind of admiration for the fighter who continues to challenge himself? Shamrock may be fighting for the paycheck, but in all honesty, who isn't? This isn't entertainment for the fighters, it's a job, and to criticize any of them for doing their job is simply playing armchair quarterback. If anyone is to be criticized it should be the fighter who goes through the motions, fights the small shows, and fights guys with 0-0 records. Shamrock may be a shell of his former self, and yea he might be in it for the money, but hell, I'll give him credit where it's due and commend for continuing to make good money and to do so by stepping in the cage with an actual challenge.
I'll agree with a majority of what is being said given Shamrock's recent losses and his only win in the past 6 years being against Ross Clifton (a win marred by the fact that Shamrock tested positive for steroids). What bothers me, though, is who are we, as fight fans, to criticize a fighter and say that he should hang up the gloves and retire? Shamrock is a legend and pioneer of the sport, yet due to his strange behavior and string of one-sided losses there has been an outcry that Shamrock is simply making money off of the name he made in the UFC and WWE. All I have to say to that is ... So What??
The world of mixed martial arts is becoming a young man's (or woman's) game, there is no doubt about that. Fighters like Rory MacDonald, Jon Jones, and Lady Cyborg have all shown that athletes are getting into MMA at a much younger age. Meanwhile, fighters like Mark Coleman, Cro Cop, and Shamrock have all been faced with criticism that they are far beyond their prime and should step down while fighters like Dan Severn and Don Frye can continue to fight with little to no comment despite their records or quality of their competition. If Dan Severn lost a fight tomorrow, would we see articles on every MMA site calling for his immediate retirement and calling him an embarrassment to the sport? I don't think so.
The issue that I'm seeing here is publicity. If an older fighter loses on a more publicized card, there is inherently more criticism thanks to the fact that more people are actually going to see the fight. With a more publicized card usually comes fighters of greater skill, which in turn means a greater challenge. Shamrock is being criticized for collecting a paycheck, yet he has the stones to step into the cage with a dangerous fighter like Pedro Rizzo. Where is all the criticism for Dan Severn who is fighting in the minor leagues against inexperienced fighters that present little to no challenge. Shamrock and Severn are making money off of what they do, FIGHTING. It's not like these guys can suddenly stop doing what they've spent a majority of their lives doing. There isn't a lot of money in fighting so it's unlikely that a lot of the older guard have a vast amount of savings. I guess what I'm getting at, is that if an older fighter is going to keep going past his prime, shouldn't there be some kind of admiration for the fighter who continues to challenge himself? Shamrock may be fighting for the paycheck, but in all honesty, who isn't? This isn't entertainment for the fighters, it's a job, and to criticize any of them for doing their job is simply playing armchair quarterback. If anyone is to be criticized it should be the fighter who goes through the motions, fights the small shows, and fights guys with 0-0 records. Shamrock may be a shell of his former self, and yea he might be in it for the money, but hell, I'll give him credit where it's due and commend for continuing to make good money and to do so by stepping in the cage with an actual challenge.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Filho Makes Weight
Just a quick post on the Filho situation in Australia. Filho eventually was able to drop another pound, but had to weigh in nude a la Gina Carano ... minus a towel. That's right Filho stood in front of everyone at the weigh-ins completely naked for his final attempt to make weight. Check out Jordan Breen's article on Sherdog to get the full story. This is just more wacky behavior from Filho that really makes me question his mental capacity to do anything really. I mean, does he have a complete understanding of what he is doing or the consequences of his behavior? It sounds like he's still dealing with personal issues that his camp should get him to straighten out before allowing him to put his health at even more risk by fighting.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Impact Down Under and Shields in the UFC
I've been following Jordan Breen on Twitter to get the weigh-in results for the Impact FC card going down tomorrow night. Breen has been absolutely hysterical describing the weird press conferences and is now reporting the wackiness occurring at the weigh-ins. Paulo Filho is 2 lbs. over and has about 10 minutes left to make weight for his with Denis Kang. Filho is an extremely talented fighter, but his reputation for missing weight and other strange behavior is really making people forget that. I'm really hoping he can lose the weight and the fight with Kang goes on without any further issues. Kang versus Filho is a great fight that I think many people are overlooking due to Filho's personal issues and Kang's losses in the UFC.
In other news, several MMA sites reported today that Jake Shields has either signed or is very close to signing with the UFC and is going back to 170. While he has looked great at 185 I think the move back to 170 is an awesome idea. Shields really added some size for the Henderson fight so I think he'll be an even bigger force at 170. Not only will Shields be one of the bigger guys at 170, but it gives the UFC more potential challengers to GSP who haven't already fought and lost to the Canadian. I just saw that Bloody Elbow is reporting that Shields's first fight will likely be against Martin Kampmann. This is a great fight and is easily the best fight they could give Shields with Hardy tied up with Condit, Fitch and Alves facing each other next month, and Koscheck getting the next title shot. Kampmann really shocked some people with his domination of Paulo Thiago and is bouncing back nicely since his disappointing showing against Paul Daley. Kampmann's Muay Thai background will likely give him the advantage on the feet, but Shields is a first-class grappler and is a threat to anyone he can put on the mat.
In other news, several MMA sites reported today that Jake Shields has either signed or is very close to signing with the UFC and is going back to 170. While he has looked great at 185 I think the move back to 170 is an awesome idea. Shields really added some size for the Henderson fight so I think he'll be an even bigger force at 170. Not only will Shields be one of the bigger guys at 170, but it gives the UFC more potential challengers to GSP who haven't already fought and lost to the Canadian. I just saw that Bloody Elbow is reporting that Shields's first fight will likely be against Martin Kampmann. This is a great fight and is easily the best fight they could give Shields with Hardy tied up with Condit, Fitch and Alves facing each other next month, and Koscheck getting the next title shot. Kampmann really shocked some people with his domination of Paulo Thiago and is bouncing back nicely since his disappointing showing against Paul Daley. Kampmann's Muay Thai background will likely give him the advantage on the feet, but Shields is a first-class grappler and is a threat to anyone he can put on the mat.
1st Post
Well, I'm not 100% why I've decided to start blogging on Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), but I think it has a lot to do an interview that I watched today between Ariel Helwani and Joe Rogan. Listening to Rogan talk about his job and his views on the sport really got my attention due to his sheer love of the sport. He's not in it for the money or the recognition, instead he is doing it because he is a huge fan of the sport. I really admire his desire to not only see the sport continue flourish, but to see it flourish in an environment that is supported by the fans. The fans are the people who can really ensure that the sport stays on the right track and can get involved by learning the intricacies of the the fighting styles, getting into reffing and judging, etc. I guess what I'm hoping to do here is nothing special or out of the ordinary as I want to give my thoughts on what's going on in the MMA, but if I can get convince one more person to sit down and watch some fights, I'll feel like I accomplished something.
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