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Friends Who Fight Part 2: Post Fight With Bryan Peden

2011-07-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my good friend Bryan Peden took his first amateur MMA fight for Barbarian Fight Club in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He won via 2nd round tap out due to strikes in the 2nd round in a very impressive performance. I had the chance to watch Bryan fight live in the front row and caught up with him shortly after his fight. Here's what he had to say:

Justin: Ok, so first of all congrats on the win Saturday. How did it feel to actually step in a cage and fight?

Bryan: Thank you. It was an awesome experience and one that I am looking forward to doing again in the future. It is kind of something that your not really sure what it is like until you actually do it and it was a lot of fun.

Justin: Now I understand that the guy you ended up fighting was not the guy you were originally set to face. What happened?

Bryan: Well I was set to face about 3 or 4 different people throughout the whole process but for the last couple of weeks leading up to the fight I was supposed to fight a kickboxer named Andy Loving I think. I got a call the Thursday night and he said that he had a rib injury and had to withdraw. Luckily Travis Davidson stood up and took the fight. The only thing that really sucked about the whole situation is it was supposed to be a fight at 185 but he said he would not be able to make that weight so I weighed 187 and he was 194.

Justin: Did you have any difficulty cutting the weight?

Bryan: I woke up Friday at 185 so it wasn't bad but I actually over shot what I wanted to be at. Next time I will be a lot smarter about it so I can be even stronger. All in all it was about a 30 pound cut.

Justin: Wow, that's a serious cut. Ok, let's talk about the fight. How did you feel about your performance?

Bryan: I was happy with the win but I could have done much better. I was really anxious leading up to the fight and couldn't sit still for about 2 hours before the fight. I didn't relax enough and had a major adrenaline dump which made my legs feel like lead. That is probably the biggest thing I learned from this fight, to just relax and know when to start warming up.

Justin: Now you got the win in the 2nd round after your opponent tapped due to strikes. Was that a part of your gameplan going into the fight? Did you want to take him down and finish the fight there?

Bryan: I think I was capable of finishing the fight anywhere but he kept clinching with me, so in the second I took him down and got good position. I had trained to do ground and pound for three 3 minute rounds so I was comfortable down there. I landed a few good elbows and body shots but I landed a good clean shot to hit orbital bone that made him think twice about staying in there any longer and a few more shots made him tap.

Justin: I was really impressed with your ground control leading up to the finish. I especially liked the transition from back control to the leg scissors then back to mount.

Bryan: The leg scissors is something I did a lot in wrestling so I knew I could control him there and next time I can hopefully get some more damage done in that position.

Justin: Well I know from rolling with you int he past that your leg scissors is not a great position to be in. I halfway expected him to tap from that alone.

Bryan: I couldn't get the good squeeze that I usually can do because my legs were shot by that time

Justin: Now I've heard a lot of fighters say they don't really remember a lot of their fights due to adrenaline rushes. Did you experience the same thing or do you remember the fight?

Bryan: Haha right after the fight I remembered very little but once people started talking to me about it more I started to remember more. In between rounds I don't even remember my corner talking to me, I just had my eyes locked on my opponent and I remember thinking "I hope I can stand up off this stool". I remember seeing my dad and he just gave me a head nod and I took that as permission to open up a can of whoop ass.

Justin: Haha nice. The ring girls and the ring announcer were not impressed with the liveliness of the crowd but did comment on how great your support crowd was during your fight.

Bryan: This is the first time I heard about that. That's a little sad I guess but I did have a good group of fans and am thankful for that. I will put on a more exciting fight next time.

Justin: Yea, I just think it was tough to expect people to be rowdy at 1PM, but I thought your fight was very entertaining. The only part I didn't like was when you got leg kicked when you guys were touching gloves. I thought that was a little cheap.

Bryan: So did I but he came over after the fight and apologized for it. He was a real nice guy and I am just thankful that he took the fight so I could get this first one under my belt.

Justin: I also think you got a little pay back with a leg kick of your own. A much harder one at that.

Bryan: Yah he kind of evaded it but it landed somewhat and he said something after I hit him with it to the sense of damn nice kick. That's when he started clinching with me more and going for the take downs.

Justin: Now one of your training partners fought at the show too right?

Bryan: Yes, Buck McLamb won in a first round TKO, just over 30 seconds I think. He did great and is fighting again in Harrington DE for Stellar Fighting promotion in September. He has a great wrestling and lots of power in his hands. He could be a force in any promotion's heavy weight division. I wouldn't be too surprised if he had a pro fight sometime in 2012.

Justin: Yea I was really impressed with Buck's performance. Once it hit the mat he really let the strikes fly and was nailing some nasty knees to the body.

Bryan: The funny thing is he found out the night before that he could knee to the body of a grounded opponent. He wanted to finish the fight that way but I know from experience that he could have finished it as soon as it hit the mat with an americana. Even as a heavy weight his strength from wrestling for so long is on a different level from most others.

Justin: Now you said Buck is planning to fight again in September, but when can we expect to see you back in the cage?

Bryan: Around this time next year. I will keep training and honing my skills but I have a lot of stuff going on with school in which any type of injury could hinder my future in it. It is just not too beneficial for me to be pursuing a penniless amateur career right now. Like I said I will keep training though and getting better. It will not be a stagnant time off for me.

Justin: What would you say is the area you that you need to improve upon most now that you've actually gotten in there and fought.

Bryan: Just my mental probably. I know it was a win but I do not believe it was a good showing for myself. My cardio going into the fight was great but it looked like I had been a couch potato for the past month. Experience is not something that you can practice and just getting in the cage and getting a fight in without any injuries and getting a finish just boosted my confidence. Like I have said, next time I will put on a good show and really portray my skills

Justin: Well as a fight fan I was thoroughly entertained by your fight and thought you looked very good, especially considering it was your first fight.

Bryan: Thank you. I will not look like the same fighter when you see me next time. I would like to do some BJJ tourneys with my time off just to keep in the competitive mode.

Justin: Very cool Bryan, I know I'm really looking forward to seeing you fight again.

Bryan: Thank you. I would just like to thank Travis Davidson again for being a stand up guy and taking the fight, Barbarian Fight Club for putting on 2 good fight cards at a great price. Buck McLamb and Ted Dabbs for helping with sparring and wrestling. Kyle King for tightening up my BJJ, and my brother, Billy, for working with me on everything and pushing me throughout the whole camp. I would also like to thank all my friends and family and everyone that came to watch the fight.

(Image from my personal collection)

Friends Who Fight: Bryan Peden

2011-06-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

I really got into mixed martial arts in college thanks to the first season of the Ultimate Fighter during my freshman year of college and I still remember sitting in a small dorm room with five or six other guys cheering on as Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar beat the crap out of each other for three incredible rounds. At that point I was hooked and researched/watched as much MMA as I could. While in college I first met my good friend Billy Peden who would eventually end up being my roommate and as it turned out, he was just as much of an MMA freak as I was. During breaks and summers Billy and I would often get together to watch UFC PPVs and Fight Nights. I eventually got to know Billy's brother Bryan who was a member of the wrestling squad at Cape near my hometown aand Billy and Bryan eventually joined gyms and started grappling and boxing. I've had the opportunity to roll with them a few times and have always been impressed in how much I've learned from just a few short rounds with them.

On Saturday, June 25th, Bryan will be taking on his first fight. I took the opportunity to chat with Bryan, so here's what we talked about.

Justin: So Bryan, you're scheduled to take on your first amateur MMA fight this summer?
Bryan: Yea, I'm schedule to fight on June 25th in Fredericksburg, Virginia for Barbarian Fight Club's Summerfest event.

Justin: What weight class will you be fighting at?
Bryan: I'm currently walking around at 205, but I'll be fighting at 185 and my opponent's name is Alex Loving.

Justin: For those people who want tickets to the show, how can they get them?
Bryan: Check out BarbarianFightClub.com for tickets. There are actually going to be two shows in one day. I'll be fighting on the earlier show which opens up at 12:30pm and starts at 1:30pm.

Justin: This will be an amateur fight, correct?
Bryan: Yes, it is an amateur fight, so there will be three, three minute rounds and will be held in a cage.

Justin: Can you tell us anything about your opponent?
Bryan: Not really, I don't know who he is as it only got posted to the website recently. He's from Richmond and trains at Total Victory. He's only 19, but he's 3-1.

Justin: Where do you currently train?
Bryan: Right now I'm training at Seaside Dojo with Team Buck Em Up but we're currently building it up. I'm working on my stand-up with Billy as he's trained in boxing, so he's really helping me out. My background is based in wrestling and I've been working with HW from Cornell as well. Kyle King has also been helping me out with my BJJ.

Justin: This is going to be your first time fighting, but I understand you've done some grappling tournaments as well?
Bryan: Yea, I competed in and won my weight class at Dog Fight: The Good Fight in Dover Delaware, which was a submission grappling tournament. I took on three guys at 190 pounds and won by neck crank/body lock combo, points, and finally by triangle.

Justin: Ok, lets talk a little about what got you into the sport.
Bryan: I really got into the sport after watched Diego Sanchez fight Nick Diaz on a UFC card. Sanchez was throwing punches so hard on the mat I thought he was going to break his hands. His intensity was crazy and made me want to watch more and more. I eventually started training 2-3 times a week and have been training heavily over the past 4 summers.

Justin: Would you say that is your favorite fight?
Bryan: It's one of my favorites, but my absolute favorite fight has to be Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg II. To see Matt Hughes get low blowed and almost choked out and then come back, carry Trigg across the cage, slam him and then choke him out was nuts. Just a crazy thing to see.

Justin: What fighter, past or present would you say you'd like to model yourself after?
Bryan: Hmm, that's tough. Right now I'm really enjoying watching Rick Story fight. He has a wrestling background like me, but has no problems staying on the feet and is always aggressive and coming forward. His last fight with Thiago Alves was a major step up in competition and Story still managed to win and do so impressively. We actually met Story at Fight Night 20, remember?

Justin: Oh yea, that's right. He had just beaten Jesse Lennox.
Bryan: Yea, I just remember him being cool enough to take some time to take a picture with us and to talk for a minute. I became a fan of his then and just watching his intensity and style make me want to fight the same way.

Justin: Great, well good luck Bryan, I'm sure we'll do a post-fight interview as well to see how things go, but until then is there anything else you want to say?
Bryan: Nah, I just want to get the word out their that I'll be fighting on the 25th and if people want to come check it out they should go to BarbarianFightClub.com.

Photo is from my collection.(Bryan is in the green)

UFC/Strikeforce Fantasy Booking

2011-04-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

Ever since Zuffa, the UFC's parent company, purchased Strikeforce last month, many MMA blogs, news sites and even fighters themselves have been discussing possible match-ups that could come about once the merger is complete. I've seen several ideas from several different sources, so I figured I'd throw my ideas out there, and while I agree with a lot of what others have come up with, a lot of it is champ vs champ and while that is certainly a way to go, I've got some other ideas ... and here they are.

LIGHTWEIGHT:

Shinya Aoki vs. George Sotiropolous
Lyle Beerbohm vs. Evan Dunham
KJ Noons vs. Melvin Guillard

WELTERWEIGHT:

Tyron Woodley vs. Rick Story
Marius Zaromskis vs. Amir Sadollah
Paul Daley vs. Anthony Johnson
Jorge Masvidal vs. Dan Hardy
Evangelista Santos vs. Nate Diaz
Nick Diaz vs. Jon Fitch: I just think Diaz needs to prove he can hang with the best of the UFC's welterweight division before getting an immediate shot at GSP.

MIDDLEWEIGHT:

Luke Rockhold vs. Aaron Simpson
Melvin Manhoef vs. Alan Belcher
Ronaldo Jacare Souza vs. Demian Maia
Robbie Lawler vs. Chris Leben
Jason Mayhem Miller vs. Chael Sonnen
Tim Kennedy vs. Michael Bisping
Cung Le vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT:

Ovince St. Preux vs. Phil Davis
Mike Kyle vs. Luis Cane
Dan Henderson vs. Randy Couture
Renato Babalu Sobral vs. Rich Franklin
Roger Gracie vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
King Mo Lawal vs. Rashad Evans
Rafael Cavalcante vs. Thiago Silva
Gergard Mousasi vs. Forrest Griffin

HEAVYWEIGHT:

Josh Barnett vs. Frank Mir
Daniel Cormier vs. Brendan Schaub
Brett Rogers vs. Shane Carwin
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Minotauro Nogueira
Alistair Overeem vs. Cain Velazquez
Antonio Silva vs. Junior Dos Santos
Fabricio Werdum vs. Roy Nelson
Shane Del Rosario vs. Cheick Kongo

Well there it is folks, so feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. Check me out on Twitter @JustinCohee.

My UFC 128 Experience

2011-03-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday night marked my 3rd UFC live experience with UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones. While the night did slow down at times (5 decisions in a row at one point) the atmosphere alone was giving me chills all night. On top of that the card was stacked from top to bottom with results that reach every spectrum of emotion. Here is what made my UFC 128 experience the best UFC live event I've been to yet...

When I first arrived I stood outside of the Prudential Center in line waiting for the doors to open. While waiting I got to talking to two guys who made the trip to Newark, NJ from Toronto, Canada. They said the drive was 10+ hours and that they were also going to be attending UFC 129 when the UFC visits Toronto for the first time ever. Interestingly enough, they actually paid for their entire trip by buying floor seats and then re-selling them on StubHub. I have to give them credit for their methods, especially since it got them to 2 events in a row, but it's a shame that people who don't join the Fight Club to get presale tickets ultimately have to settle for overpriced tickets.

After getting in I immediately grabbed a beer and headed to my seat. My ticket cost me $250 in total and had me about halfway down. During the fights themselves I could watch the cage during stand-up portions, but I had to settle for watching the screen when things went to the mat. I was there by myself as I couldn't convince any of my friends to shell out the money, but I lucked out with the people sitting around me. The guys sitting to my left actually lived right down the road from me when I was living in North Carolina, small world. Three quarters of the row behind me was empty, so myself and the guy to my left switched off sitting back a row to give everyone a bunch of room. There was a row of drunk idiots sitting in front of me, but they were replaced (once they realized they were in the wrong section) by a set of guys all decked out in Cro Cop colors and Croatian flags.

Erik Koch vs. Raphael Assuncao: Great KO to start the night off. Assuncao was out cold and didn't move for several minutes. I love how the Roufus guys are doing well as it's showing that they aren't just a punch of kickboxers.

Nick Catone vs. Constantinos Phillapou: Not much to report on this one. Catone was the big fan favorite here and he pretty much control the fight with his top control and ground and pound. Catone landed some good knees in the clinch as well.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Ian Loveland: I had high hopes for this fight, but it ended up being the disappointment of the night for me. Neither guy really seemed to find their rhythm which just led to a bunch of sloppy exchanges.

Gleison Tibau vs. Kurt Pellegrino: Had Pellegrino not been gassed out by the third he could have won the fight. He had Tibau rocked in the second, but Tibau stuck to his plan and mixed in tight boxing with good takedowns.

Mike Pyle vs. Ricardo Almeida: This was my bathroom break fight, but from what I saw I thought Almeida won the fight. I'd have to rewatch it to give it a fair assessment, but it was boring enough the first time around.

Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Njokuani: I was super excited for this fight, and while it didn't bring about the fireworks I had hoped, I still enjoyed the fight thoroughly. Barboza looked really patient and poised in the 1st, but Njokuani really came back strong in the 2nd. The 3rd round was relatively close, but Barboza really sealed the deal with a takedown and a spinning heel kick to the face at the close of the fight.

Luis Cane vs. Eliot Marshall: I'm a big fan of Cane, so I was really hoping to see him bounce back from consecutive losses and boy did he ever. Marshall's takedown attempts failed and he was quickly dropped and pounded out by the Brazilian. I'm hoping to see Cane continue with the success and would love to see him fight Thiago Silva.

Brendan Schaub: First of all, I have to say that it was an absolute honor to have the chance to see Cro Cop fight in person, but with that being said, I think it is pretty obvious that Cro Cop needs to start heavily considering retirement. Cro Cop looked lazy with his punches and pretty much just ran into the clinch for the entire fight. He did throw his patented left high kick a few times, but he never tried to set it up with anything nor did he mix his attacks up. Schaub's wrestling and takedowns looked great and he delivered on his promise when he knocked Cro Cop out cold.

Nate Marquardt vs. Dan Miller: Solid performances from both guys in this fight. Nate looked good on the feet and had some nice takedowns, but Miller constantly threatened with submissions and connected in some of the exchanges on the feet as well.

Jim Miller vs. Kamal Shalorus: Miller dominated the fight from start to finish and became the first person to defeat the Prince of Persia. Also, I refuse to believe Kamal's wrestling hype until I actually see him use it. With Pettis being promised the next shot at the LW title should he defeat Clay Guida, I think Dan Miller could very well be next in line should Guida defeat Showtime.

Urijah Faber vs. Eddie Wineland: Good win for Faber, but I think the most impressive part of the fight was Wineland's takedown defense. I think a lot of people expected Faber to run right through Wineland, but Wineland hung tough and made Faber earn that win. It was very cool to see Faber come out to "California Love" and see the crowd go nuts for him.

Shogun Rua vs. Jones: The crowd seemed like they were split between the two fighters throughout the night, but when it came time for Buffer to do his thing, the ENTIRE arena booed Shogun. I couldn't believe how so many people could boo a current champion who has accomplished so much in the sport and couldn't be more of a class as. The only thing I can say about the fight itself, though, is holy shit that was an absolute ass kicking handed to Shogun by Jones. At no point did Shogun look like he was in that fight and Jones simply did whatever he wanted.

All in all it was a great night and I really enjoyed the experience. From seeing Jon Jones start his reign as UFC LHW champ to watching Cro Cop compete in what could very well be his last fight ever, it was surely a night to remember.

Finally, here are the pics I took last night (the better ones at least).

(Image from MMANEW.COM)

UFC 127 Picks and Discussion

2011-02-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

Not the best card we've seen in terms of talent, but this card could potentially surprise many with the solid match-making from Joe Silva and the UFC. The main event will give us a new #1 contender at 170, but it's not entirely clear how this will work out considering current 170 champ, GSP, is one fight away from moving up to 185. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, but even with this being a weaker card and having a lot of lingering questions, I can't help but be excited to see how a lot of these fights play out.

Kyle Noke vs. Chris Camozzi: I haven't seen Camozzi fight at all, so I'm kind of hesitant to make a serious pick for this fight. I have seen Noke fight one two occasions, a KO loss to Scott Smith, and a submission victory over Rob Kimmons. Noke also holds a win over George Sotiropoulos and took Bellator's 185 champ, Hector Lombard, to a draw. Camozzi is coming off a win over Dongi Yang, but also has lost fights to UFC cast offs Jesse Forbes and Jesse Taylor. I'm going to take Noke by submission based of the fact that he has faced and beaten better competition, but that pick is essentially a blind guess.

Chris Lytle vs. Brian Ebersole: This was originally slated to be Chris Lytle vs Carlos Condit, which was a fight I was VERY excited to see. Condit was forced to bow out due to a knee injury and Ebersole took the fight on about 2 weeks notice. Once again, I have never seen Ebersole fight, but after checking out his record it is quite clear that he is Australia's journeyman. The man has over 40 wins in his career, but I don't think he'll be adding to those wins this coming Saturday. Chris Lytle has completely revamped his career in the past couple of years. Not only is he one of the most exciting fighters to watch, but he is clearly expanding his game. His submission victories over Brian Foster and Matt Brown have shown that while Lytle is not afraid to stand, he is equally savvy on the ground and can pull off things on the mat that I have never seen before. I'm taking Lytle via submission just due to the fact that at this point the guy is doing what he wants.

George Sotiropoulos vs. Dennis Siver: I've talked about this fight on Tom Van Stone's radio show on Wrestleview.com and as much as I love Sotiropoulos, I can't really get excited for this fight. I don't really think Siver has done enough to deserve a fight against an opponent of this magnitude. Sotiropoulos has beaten guys like Joe Stevenson, Kurt Pellegrino, and Joe Lauzon. Siver, on the other hand, has reached the peak of his wins by beating guys like Andre Winner and Spencer Fisher. I think this is simply a fight that George is expected to win in his home country to set him up for a big fight or a title show. Siver does have good striking, so he could surprise me, but I see George weathering an early storm en route to a slick submission victory.

Jorge Rivera vs. Michael Bisping: This is another fight with some strange match-making. I understand that this fight came out of Rivera calling Bisping out, but I think both fighters are in very different points in their careers as Rivera is likely reaching the end of his while Bisping is likely in his peak. Bisping is the better technical striker as his attack is much more varied and precise, but his footwork and pulling of his punches really causes him to lose a lot of power. Rivera is far less technical, but what he lacks in finesse he makes up for in power. I originally thought that this fight might be a bit of a step back for the Brit, but when I thought about it, I asked myself....who has Bisping beaten that he wasn't expected to beat soundly? All three of Bisping's losses have come when he's taken on a step-up in competition. I'm picking Bisping to win a decision here, but it's not because I think he's a top guy taking on a gatekeeper, but rather because Rivera falls right into that group of fighters than Bisping is designed to beat.

BJ Penn vs. Jon Fitch: I LOOOOOVE this fight. When I heard that BJ wanted to move back to 170 and then walked right through Matt Hughes, I was a little worried that he would get an immediate title shot. While I do think Penn would need at least one more quality win in addition to a win over Fitch to deserve a shot, I'm happy that he at least has to go through someone at the top of the welterweight dog pile. Penn is the better striker, but Fitch is not only much longer than Penn, but he will have a significant size advantage. Penn is walking around at 160-165 while Fitch has to cut to 170. We've also seen Fitch handle grapplers in the past and fighters who are much larger then him a la Thiago Alves. Fitch just has too many advantages in this fight and while I think he'll have a tough time finishing Penn I do think he'll win a one-sided decision and finally earn that title shot he's been promised for close to a year.

As always check me out on Twitter @JustinCohee, the Go To Sleep MMA Blog page on Facebook, and Wrestleview's Tom Van Stone Show.

(Image from Hooked on MMA)

Billy's Take On UFC 126

2011-02-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

Remember last night when Forrest Griffin worked his way tooth and nail past former middleweight champion Rich Franklin after a 14 month layoff? How about when Jake Ellenberger almost got the brakes put on his run to a welterweight contendership spot by an up in coming fighter no one gave half a chance to leading up to the fight, including Ellenberger? Of course you recall sharing that sense of surprise and overcoming excitement with Light heavyweight prodigy Jon Jones when Joe Rogan announced, unannounced to 99.999% of the onlookers, including Jones, that he would replace his training partner Rashad Evans as the number 1 contender set to face Shogun in under 2 months. How could you forget? These events ranked anywhere from curiously amusing to monumental as they are still fresh in our mind's, yet what do you think will be the one thing we will all collectively pull away from UFC 126 and remember with such "where were you when..." vigor, in years to come? How about the biggest middle weight fight ever in the UFC and possibly the biggest fight in all of Brazil ending with such quick, unbalking violence from, wait for it...a theep. The equivalent of smashing the game 7 world series winning homerun off of C.C. Sabathia with a perfect bunting technique. A big part of the game but certainly the acquired results were unexpected.

The "Theep" or "Push/Front Kick" can be described as a foot-thrust weapon and is executed by bending at the knee, then quickly extending your leg to use foot or heel to attack the target. In Muay Thai "Theeps" are different from any other attacks becuase of their objective. Foot-thrust will be mainly used as offensive technique to block the opponent's attack. The foot-thrust also use for make the opponent off balance and take a chance to attack. These kicks are typically aimed at targets below the chest: abdomen, thighs, knees or lower. In Kung Fu, a front kick to the face is a sign a disrespect as would be a slap in the face. Now, Anderson Silva seemed to mean no disrespect when crushing Belfort's mug with the base of his foot but what an embarrassing way to go for the former Heavy and Lightheavyweight champion.

So what's next? My guess is some sort of foot stomp, shoulder attack, or heel kick to the kidney while in your opponent's guard KO. If we wait patiently though I could see Koji Oishi's technique of blocking his opponent's punches with his own fists lead to some devastating highlight reels very shortly. What ever it is, we will always remember UFC 126 not for the first 5 hours but the last 5 minutes.

Post Fight Thoughts: UFC 126

2011-02-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

A lot went down at UFC 126 and it's really going to be interesting to see where the UFC goes from here. Here are my thoughts on what went down and where I see some of the fighters going.

Kyle Kingsbury quickly finished Ricardo Romero in devastating fashion in a performance that is certainly the most impressive of his UFC career. Kingsbury is one of those guys who is in great shape and a great athlete, but I'm not sure how far he's going to be able to take his MMA career. Some MMA journalists are calling for a step up in competition for Kingsbury, but I'm not 100% sure he's ready for it. The biggest step up I'd give him without getting too aggressive would be someone like Krzysztof Soszynski.

Gabe Ruediger has no business being in the UFC. His stand-up is awful and his stand-up defense is even worse. Paul Taylor beat him silly and finished it off with a beautiful headkick that will certainly be accompanied by Ruediger's walking papers.

Kid Yamamoto's UFC debut went pretty much like I expected. Demetrious Johnson's speed is seriously one of the craziest things I've ever seen as he was able to avoid Kid's power shots and transition into takedowns seamlessly. Johnson is one of those guys who would seriously benefit from the addition of a 125 pound weight class, but I expect that he'll continue to have success in the UFC. If Joe Benavidez gets past Ian Loveland in his next fight I'd love to see him and Johnson fight. As for Kid, I think you keep him around for at least one more fight and give him a gimme fight to let American fans see what all the hype was about.

Chad Mendes taking a decision over Michihiro Omigawa wasn't really that much of a surprise to me. Mendes is likely very close to a title shot while Omigawa is likely in the same position as Kid...he needs a gimme fight to justify why American MMA fans should give a shit about him.

Donald Cerrone's win over Paul Kelly looked a lot like his other wins in that he took some early punishment but survived it and turned it into a nice win. Kelly pulled a pretty BS move by trying to punch Cerrone during the opening fight glove tap, but ended up getting choked out in the end. It's pretty obvious Cerrone needs to be brought up nice and easy as he didn't look great in this fight, so a fight with Terry Etim or Joe Lauzon makes sense. Cerrone could be a potential draw, but he can't be thrown into the deep waters too early.

Miguel Torres got the win in his UFC debut but he certainly didn't look great doing it. A fight with Demetrious Johnson or the winner of Page/Bowles makes the most sense, but Torres needs to be impressive in his next appearance if he hopes to earn back the hype he had back when he was the WEC champ at 135.

Ellenberger learned that to be successful in the UFC he's going to have to learn that his wrestling will only get him so far and that strong submission specialists are going to be able to put him in danger even though he's on top. A fight with Mike Pierce could be a way to go, but a fight with fellow wrestler Charlie Brenneman makes a lot more sense to me.

Jon Jones got surprised with a title shot thanks to a Rashad Evans injury, and I can't help but be even more excited. I'll be at UFC 128 so the thought of getting to see Jones and Shogun facing off in the cage is already giving me goosebumps. Jones once again walked through an opponent that was supposed to be his stiffest test yet. Bader looked lost when he got put on his back, and Jones's striking is obviously well above and beyond most fighters in the division. I don't think this will hurt Bader too much as Jones has a reputation for embarrassing people, so a fight with fellow loss-sufferer Rich Franklin makes sense. As for Jones we know he'll be getting the next shot against Shogun, and I can't help but love his chances.

Forrest Griffin defeated Rich Franklin in a fairly uneventful one-sided decision. Griffin's size and strength made the difference in the fight and on top of that it looked like Franklin's age is starting to catch up with him. Franklin was obviously down on the scorecards yet he fought with zero urgency. I suggested Franklin be matched up with Bader next and I'd like to see Griffin face off against Lyoto Machida should he get by Randy Couture or Little Nog if he gets past Tito Ortiz.

Anderson Silva KO'd Vitor Belfort with a friggin front kick...Wow. Apparently if GSP gets past Jake Shields then Silva/GSP will finally come true. That's pretty unfortunate for Yushin Okami, who once again is being forced wait for his title shot. At this point I just think Jon Fitch should move up to 185 and he and Okami can fight each other for the rest of their careers. I look for the Silva/GSP fight to come to fruition as I don't think Shields is the guy to dethrone GSP. Belfort is an interesting case as he's a draw, but his career has pretty much peaked as it's apparent he's not able to to hang with the new age top of the food chain fighters. At this point in his career I think you just put Belfort in fights that are more about flash and excitement rather then trying to get him to the top of the division. I could also see Belfort moving back to 205 as his last cut to make 185 was around 30pounds. If he stays at 185 then fights with Leben, Wanderlei Silva, Akiyama, and Marquardt all options. If he goes to 205 then fights with Forrest Griffin, Randy Couture, Machida, or Thiago Silva would all be fun as well.

Follow me on Twitter @JustinCohee!!!!!

(Image from HeavyMMA)

UFC 126 Predictions

2011-02-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

Bout that time for the newest edition of the GTS fight predictions. UFC 126 is one of the most stacked cards I've seen in awhile and I am thoroughly excited to watch the action this Saturday. On to my picks...

Demetrious Johnson vs. Kid Yamamoto: I'm very excited to see Kid make his UFC debut, and I'm very happy the UFC decided to air it on Facebook. That being said, I'm not sure I see Kid getting the win here. Johnson, despite his smaller stature, has looked very good as of late, especially in submission victory over Damacio Page. Kid hasn't fought since May in a victory over 4-3 Frederico Lopez, which was his first win since 2007. I just think Kid's best days are behind him and we'll see that as Johnson grinds out an impressive, one-sided decision.

Chad Mendes vs. Michihiro Omigawa: It's funny to think that back in 2008 I watched Omigawa lose a fairly boring decision to Thiago Tavares and his job in the UFC. Fast forward to 2011 and Omigawa has dropped to 145, won 8 of his last 11 fights, and has a 5 fight win streak going. Mendes is a member of Team Alpha Male and has used his smothering wrestling to maintain an undefeated recorded and earn 4 victories in the WEC. Omigawa has certainly turned his career around since his first run in the UFC, but Mendes is quickly becoming the Sherk or Fitch of his weight class. His methods and wins aren't exciting, but they're effective and I think those methods will be able to smother Omigawa en route to a decision victory.

Paul Kelly vs. Donald Cerrone: Cerrone is taking this fight on short notice and is getting a nice little test right out of the gate with Paul Kelly. Cerrone is the much longer fighter and will likely have the advantage in the stand up department. Kelly has pretty good takedowns and grond and pound, but Cerrone has really worked on his takedown defense, is good with submission off his back, and has added takedowns to his own arsenal. Basically, Cerrone is just a little better than Kelly in just about every department and it will earn him a late TKO or submission victory.

Antonio Banuelos vs. Miguel Torres: Let's be honest from the get go, this fight was set up to be Torres's UFC coming out party. Banuelos is a game opponent as he's pretty happy to stand and trade with an opponent, which is exactly why he was matched up with Torres. Torres will use his reach advantage and pinpoint striking to pick Banuelos apart and take a TKO victory or a commanding decision win.

Ryan Bader vs. Jon Jones: Aside from the main event, this is the fight that I am most excited for. Both guys are up and comers in the weight class and are looking to break into the top ten and start making noise for title shots. Bader is coming off the biggest win of his career over Little Nog at 119 and Jones most recently ran through the Janitor at UFC on VS 2. The only loss between the two is Jones's DQ loss to Matt Hammill in a fight that Jones was absolutely dominating before making the mistake with the downward elbows. Jones is freakishly long and is the better striker, so I'll think he'll pick Bader apart if the fight stays standing. Bader is very strong physically and is likely the better traditional wrestler, so it'll be interesting to see if he can put Jones on his back and keep him there. Jones's takedowns are far more creative and unorthodox, so I'm curious to see if Jones will take Bader down and see if Bader can do anything off of his back. When it comes down to making a decision, though, I can't help but go with Jones. I think his striking is worlds better than Bader's and I don't think Bader's wrestling is going to be a major difference maker. Jones is a fantastic wrestler himself, and is also good with submissions, and on top of that I think his cardio is going to be significantly better. In Bader's fights that we've seen him go three rounds, it was apparent that the longer the fight goes, the more tired he gets and the lower his hands drop. Jones may have to weather an early storm, but as the fight goes on Bader will start to wilt and Jones will finish him on the feet.

Jake Ellenberger vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha: I can't say too much here as I've only seen Rocha fight once and it was a quick submission victory. Ellenberger has impressed the hell out of me as of late and I think his wrestling and ground and pound will earn him a definitive TKO victory.

Rich Franklin vs. Forrest Griffin: I have no idea who to pick in this fight. Griffin hasn't fought since UFC 106 in a split decision victory over Tito Ortiz and before that he was smashed by Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva. Franklin most recently KO'd Chuck Liddell at UFC 115, but it wasn't his most impressive showing as he was rocked and dropped several times. Franklin's key to victory is to keep his distance and pick apart Griffin with his cleaner striking. Griffin's key to victory is to use his size, press Franklin up against the cage in the clinch and eventually put Franklin on his back. This fight is a coin flip for me, but I'm going to guess that ring rust will be a factor and Franklin will be able to peck away at Griffin and earn a decision victory.

Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort: I have to admit that this fight didn't have me too excited until I watched the weigh-ins. Belfort hasn't fought since UFC 103 when he KO'd Rich Franklin, so he's going to have some ring rust, and on top of that I read that he had to cut 30lbs for this fight, so I was thinking that this fight could end up being very one-sided in Silva's favor. After I watched the weigh-ins, though, and they both got in each others faces and start shit-talking I got goosebumps. These guys genuinely do not like each other and I think it's going to show in this fight. Silva looked awful in his last fight against Sonnen up until the miracle submission, but hopefully he's recovered from any injuries and is in top shape, otherwise Belfort could have a serious chance. Both men are feared strikers, but Silva is a little more varied and volume-based while Belfort is all about power. I'm going with Silva to win by TKO as I think he'll be able to pick his spots when Belfort goes from the home run swing, but if Belfort can put the pressure on Silva early, he very well could walk away with a devastating KO win.

As always thanks for checking out my blog and be sure to follow me on Twitter @JustinCohee.

UFC Fight for the Troops 2: Post Fight Thoughts

2011-01-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday the UFC held another Fight for the Troops event to benefit wounded soldiers. I commend the UFC for putting together such events and apparently they raised well over a million dollars to go towards treating soldiers with serious head injuries. Now onto the fights....

Charlie Brenneman vs. Amilcar Alves: Not much to comment about this fight. Brenneman is a stellar wrestler and he used to it to constantly ground Alves and wear him out with top control and ground and pound.

Waylon Lowe vs. Willemy Freire: See comments from Brenneman fight.

Rani Yahya vs. Mike Brown: When the tale of the tape came up on the screen I made the comment that I had no idea Mike Brown was 35 years old. Despite his age I felt like Brown was going to walk through Yahya thanks to his superior striking. I also thought that Brown's strength would allow him to get out of any trouble he got into on the mat. Boy was I wrong. Brown played right into Yahya's gameplan and was simply outgrappled for three rounds. Brown really didn't offer anything in this fight and I worry that his days as an elite fighter are behind him.

DaMarques Johnson vs. Mike Guymon: I don't know how Johnson didn't win submission of the night. Body triangle subs are pretty rare and are pretty friggin sweet. Johnson is one of those guys who will continue to put on good fights, but will never really crack into the elite. I'd love to see the guy fight Matt Brown. For those of you who didn't see the post-fight backstage video, Mike Guymon seemingly retired from fighting in a pretty heart-breaking moment. Best of luck to whatever he chooses to do from here.

Yves Edwards vs. Cody McKenzie: A lot of people are giving McKenzie some love for hanging tough in this fight. I on the other, hand feel as if that praise is unjustified. Edwards destroyed McKenzie on the feet and even when McKenzie got Edwards down to the mat his ground work seemed sloppy. He even took Edwards's back several times and could do nothing with the position despite being touted as some ground expert. In the end Edwards got the better of McKenzie and choked him unconscious with a rear naked choke.

Matt Wiman vs. Cole Miller: I wasn't all that excited for this fight but was immediately intrigued when Wiman and Miller were talking shit to each other from across the cage. As for the fight, all I can say is wow. I've always been kind of "eh" in regards to Matt Wiman. I've never really been particularly impressed with anything he's done aside from get knocked out by Spencer Fisher, but he looked like an absolute animal in this fight. Miller looked like he got hit early in the 1st and was shook for the rest of the fight. From there it was all Wiman dominating with some brutal ground and pound.

Pat Barry vs. Joey Beltran: Not the coming out party it should have been for Barry, but a win is a win I suppose. Barry definitely had a look in his eyes that he was going to be more aggressive and look for the finish, but unfortunately that didn't translate into smart fighting. Barry was getting hit with a lot of punches when Beltran threw wild combos, and when Barry had Beltran hurt with the legs kicks he didn't continue to throw them. Barry is a talented fighter but he barely got past a mediocre heavyweight at best and even then he didn't look all that impressive.

Mark Hominick vs. George Roop: The only thing I got out of this fight was ... well there's Jose Aldo's next victim.

Matt Mitrione vs. Tim Hague: I understand that a lot of people think it's a little too late for Mitrione to be a top-level fighter due to his age and lack of experience, but I still have high hopes for the guy. He's aggressive, he's athletic as hell, and he has some big power. Hague isn't a UFC caliber fighter, but he's definitely a step up over guys like Big Baby and Kimbo and Mitrione still passed the test with flying colors. I'm very excited to see this guy take a step up in competition and I think he'll do very well.

Melvin Guillard vs. Evan Dunham: Holy shit that was one hell of a beating. Dunham is fairly notorious for being a slow starter and he certainly paid for it in this fight. Guillard has improved leaps and bounds since his early days, but I think any mention of him getting near a title shot is way way way premature. I still have memories of the guy getting handled by grapplers, so I'd like to see him get by a high level grappler before we start talking about his chances of wearing gold.

MMA Mind Dump

2011-01-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

Well once again work and other things have kept me from posting as much as I would like. This is just going to have to be one of those things where my levels of effort making need to rise and I promise that is what I'll do. Since a lot has gone on in MMA since my last post I'm just going to post a bunch of quick thoughts and come back with some more well-planned and detailed articles, as well as some contributions from Billy and Brian.

The Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament rules have been announced and I think the biggest surprise is that Overeem's title will not be on the line. The winner of the tournament will get a shot at Overeem's title, which seems silly to me considering Overeem could win the tournament, thus leaving no title match to set up, or Overeem could not win the tournament, meaning he lost a fight at some point yet remained champion. The Strikeforce Heavyweight title doesn't have much legitimacy as is, and this set up could only make things worse.

Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar will be the coaches on the next season of the Ultimate Fighter, which will be an all welterweight season. The coaches will then fight at the end of the season to determine who will face Cain Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight Title when the champ returns from injury. I have two thoughts when it comes to this decision: 1) It's a brilliant move by the UFC to put Lesnar in as a coach. While he is still fairly new to the sport he will bring monster ratings to a show in need of help and just because he has limited experience, he will bring a stellar cast of assistant coaches from the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy. 2) I'm not sure why Lesnar is getting the chance for another title show so soon, especially since he lost the title in a very one-sided fight. Also, if we learned anything in the fight between Cain and Brock it was that Brock doesn't take a punch to well. Not being able to react well to getting hit is something that might come back to bite Lesnar once again as he will be facing the UFC's most dangerous heavyweight striker.

Earlier this week I bought a ticket to UFC 128 which will take place in Newark, New Jersey, and will feature a Light-Heavyweight Title fight between Shogun Rua and Rashad Evans, Urijah Faber's UFC debut against Eddie Wineland, Brendan Schaub versus Mirko Cro Cop, Jim Miller versus Kamal Shalorus, and Yoshihiro Akiyama versus Nate Marquardt. I'll be tweeting live during the fights so be sure to follow me at @JustinCohee.

Rumors have been going around that Shinya Aoki is considering retiring from MMA after his KO loss to kickboxer Yuichiro Nagashima in an exhibition match at K-1 Dynamite!!! 2010. Aoki has always had a bit of an attitude problem, so hearing this really doesn't surprise me, but I'll be shocked if he actually goes through with it. Aoki didn't seem to take the fight to seriously and he paid for it, but I have trouble believing he'll end his career on such a sour note.

Shane Carwin is set to return to the UFC after successful neck surgery at UFC 131. Carwin's opponent has yet to be announced, but options are looking limited. Lesnar and Dos Santos are obviously tied up with each other, Carwin already walked through Frank Mir, and Roy Nelson is rumored to be facing Mir next anyways. Carwin is coming off a loss, but it only came after he dominated the then-champ for a round. I'd like to see Carwin take on Cheick Kongo next. Most of the top guys are already tied up and a fight with the imposing Kongo would be easy to sell. Kongo isn't my favorite fighter in the world, but it's hard to deny that he's a talented striker with big power.

UFC 125 Picks

2010-12-31T10:37:00.000-08:00

What's up guys, here are my picks for UFC 125!! Since ION is airing a bunch of the prelims I'll just fire off a bunch of quick picks versus my usual longer discussion of fewer fights.

Phil Baroni vs. Brad Tavares: If Baroni wants to win this fight he'll have to do so some time in the 1st round. I commend Baroni's attempts to revitalize his career by spending time in Thailand, but his gas tank has been and probably always will be his weakness. Tavares is younger and likely a little more well-rounded. I'll take Tavares by UD.

Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier: This is Grispi's fight to lose as he is being groomed for his eventual title shot against Jose Aldo. I haven't seen Poirier fight so it's tough for me to make a fair assessment, but Grispi has a lot of tools to win and I think he'll continue his string of submission victories.

Marcus Davis vs. Jeremy Stephens: I've been reading a lot of predicitions on the web and I'm surprised as to how few people are picking Davis to win. Stephens has balls out power, but Davis packs quite a punch himself and it much more technically sound in my opinion, and we that Stephens can fall victim to technique in the fight with Guillard. This will be Davis's first fight at 155, so the cut could drain him, but I'm taking Davis by UD.

Takanori Gomi vs. Clay Guida: This is the fight I'm having the most trouble picking a winner for. Gomi has tons of power in his hands and also has good wrestling. Guida will be the better wrestler, but his short reach really limits his striking. I'm leaning to wards Guida as I think takedowns and GnP will play a difference, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Gomi pull out the win.

Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim: This is a tough tough fight for Diaz and will be his first real test against a 170 fighter who plays right into his weakness. Diaz has trouble guys who can take him down and utilize smothering top control, and that exactly what Kim loves to do. Diaz's striking has come a long way since his UFC debut, and he's always dangerous with submission, but I think Kim will be too strong for Diaz to shake off the top. I'm taking Kim by UD.

Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera: Pretty funny how had this fight occurred a year or two ago it could have been for a title shot, but now it could be for jobs. Both men are dangerous strikers, but Vera has seemed to lose his edge and is hesitant to pull the trigger. Silva can be a force, but injuries have hampered him in the past and who knows if he is fully recovered. Both men are so-so on the mat, but Silva's GnP is just vicious. I'll take Silva via TKO just because I think Vera is a bust.

Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann: So Leben asks for Wanderlei Silva and gets Brian Stann. I'm not too excited for this fight as I was hoping to see Leben take some leaps in competition, and I think this is Leben's fight to lose. Both men prefer to keep fights standing, and while Leben will take some damage, his granite chin will keep him upright. Stann has been dropped and finished before and if he trades with Leben enough it'll happen again. I'll take Leben via UD or late TKO.

Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard: As much as I hate to say it, I don't see this fight going much differently than the first one. Edgar has definitely progressed more as a fighter, but Maynard's strength and wrestling are just extremely difficult to deal with. Edgar could shock the would once again and pepper Maynard with shots as he did with Sherk and Penn, but I look for the Bully to continually take Edgar down and grind out one of his typical decision wins.

UFC 124 Post Fight Thoughts

2010-12-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

Mark Bocek vs. Dustin Hazelett: Billy and I talked about this fight a little a few months ago when we tried to tape a conversation, and I picked Bocek from the start. Hazelett is flashy on the ground and can catch less talented fighters, but Bocek is much more technically sound. What we saw Saturday was a guy who uses his flashy rubber guard get easily subbed by a guy with sound fundamentals. Bocek calling Sotiropoulos out was weird since he's slated to face Siver in Australia, so I'd give Bocek Oliveira or a rematch with Jim Miller.

Thiago Alves vs. John Howard: Basically and very talented muay thai fighter versus a mediocre muay thai fighter. Alves looked like he was in amazing shape thanks to the Dolce diet and put on one of the best performances of his career. Howard isn't going to be much more then a mid level guy so he can get a new fighter to the UFC to bounce back. As for Alves I say give him another stand up fight and put him in the cage with Dan Hardy.

Mac Danzig vs. Joe Stevenson: Wow who saw that coming? I still want to see both guys go down to 145, but I imagine they'll both stick around at 155. Joe Stevenson vs. Tyson Griffin makes sense as they're both on losing skids but are fairly popular fighters. I'd like to see Danzig take on Terry Etim to see if he's truly turned his career around.

Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira: I picked Miller to win, but I certainly did believe that he would tap the young black belt prospect so quickly. Oliveira really impressed me with his off the back offense, but I think he severely underestimated Miller's ground game and thought he'd be able to cruise to an easy win. Big win for Miller and a title shot could be within his grasp if he can manage one more big win against someone like Sean Sherk.

Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle: I could have cared less about this fight. Big tall guy beats up gassed out tall guy. The end.

GSP vs. Josh Koscheck: Holy ass beating Batman. I know people have been giving GSP crap for being too boring and relying on his wrestling too much, but seriously, when did anyone ever think that Koscheck was a better boxer. Koscheck's stand up is mediocre at best thanks to his leaping jabs and predictable overhand right. GSP was a stellar kickboxer to begin with and his time with Freddie Roach has obviously helped his overall game as evidenced by the jab that literally broke Koscheck's face. Aside from Jake Shields GSP has cleaned out the division and I don't think Shields really offers anything that GSP can't handle, especially looking back on the beating GSP put on Jon Fitch (yes I think Fitch is better). Koscheck has a broken orbital bone so he'll be out for awhile, and after GSP embarrasses Shields I think it'll be time for him to make the move to 185.

UFC 124 Picks

2010-12-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

Aside from the main event and maybe the Jim Miller/Charles Oliveira fight I'm not terribly excited about this fight card, but I'll do my usual picks for the show.

Mac Danzig vs. Joe Stevenson: This is the battle of two Ultimate Fighter winners who are fighting for relevance in a stacked UFC 155 division. In all honesty, both of these fighters could likely make 145, a move that wouldn't hurt either fighter with the UFC and WEC merging. Stevenson hasn't fought since his loss to Sotiropoulos and Danzig's most recent fight ended in a controversial technical submission loss to Matt Wiman. I look for Stevenson to use his size and strength advantage to take Danzig down and wear him out. I'm taking Stevenson by late TKO or unanimous decision which will either lead to Danzig's dismissal or move to 145.

Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira: Part of me is very excited for this fight considering how talented both men are, but part of me is also disappointed that more time wasn't spent building Oliveira up. Miller is coming off an impressive win over Gleison Tibau and Oliveira submitted Efrain Escudero the same night. Oliveira is an extremely talented grappler but I don't think he is as well-rounded as Miller nor do I think he has faced the level of competition that Miller has faced. Miller's experience and all around skill set are going to be the difference in this fight, so I'm taking him to win via unanimous decision.

Sean McCorkle vs. Stefan Struve: Hard for me to call this fight considering McCorkle's only UFC fight was a quick submission victory over Mark Hunt. Struve is 4-2 is the UFC with those losses coming to top contenders Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson. McCorkle will be the much stronger fighter, but I think Struve's length and ability to take a beating will be the difference maker. Morecraft and Buentello really beat up on Struve and he still came out with victories, and that's what I think will happen here. Struve will be on the receiving end of a beatdown from McCorkle but will eventually pull one of his tricks out when McCorkle gets careless or tired.

Thiago Alves vs. John Howard: While this fight has the potential to be pretty exciting, it doesn't make much sense to me considering how it's a major step up for Howard when he's coming off a loss and it's a pretty major step down for Alves after fighting GSP and Fitch. Both men like to stand and trade, but Howard also has some good takedowns and top control. While Howard can take Alves down, Alves will certainly be the better striker and, despite what we saw in the last fight with Fitch, has some good takedown defense. I look for this fight to be pretty back and forth to start with Howard scoring a takedown, but eventually getting finished on the feet when he gets baited into an exchange with the Pitbull.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck: While Koscheck certainly holds some big power in his hands and is a decorated collegiate wrestler, I'm still struggling to think of a way he wins this fight. GSP is a much better MMA wrestler in that he's always looking to improve his position, he's active with ground and pound and submissions, and his takedowns and takedown defense are second to none. While Koscheck may have more power in his strikes, he's not nearly as crisp or technical as GSP and I can only imagine that GSP has gotten better since their first fight as he has spent more time at Tristar and Jackson's as well as with Freddie Roach. That being said, I don't see GSP losing this fight or even ending up in trouble at anytime. GSP has already beaten Koscheck once and since then GSP has beaten a better striker (Alves) and a better wrestler(Fitch), so I look for GSP to take a commanding win either by late stoppage or one-sided decision.

As always follow me on Twitter @JustinCohee and listen to me on the Tom Van Stone Show on wrestleview.com. Thanks and enjoy the fights!

Picks For This Weekend's UFC & Strikeforce Events

2010-12-02T12:03:00.001-08:00

This coming Saturday, we will not only see a new Ultimate fighter crowned, but we will also see a solid card from Strikeforce. I didn't watch to much of the Ultimate Fighter this season, but I'll do my best to make some intelligent choices. Lets get right to the picks.

UFC Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale

Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan: I'm glad to see Phan going back down to 145 as he was pretty undersized at 155. This may be Phan's first UFC fight, but he has a lot of experience and has fought for K-1, Strikeforce, and Sengoku. Garcia is heavy handed and usually goes for broke and throws haymakers. Phan showed on TUF that he has some pretty crisp striking, and if he can avoid the winging punches of Garcia, I think he'll take a close decision as Garcia will gas himself out.

Rick Story vs. Johny Hendricks: I think this has fight of the night written all over it. Both fighters are up and comers in the welterweight division and are looking to get some big tme exposure and possibly a main card spot on a big PPV. Both have good wrestling, but Hendricks will likely have the advantage in that department. I would say that Story might have slightly better striking, but Hendricks has a lot of power. Story is very capable with submissions, though, something I'm not sure Hendricks is well-versed in at this early stage of his career. Bit of a coin flip, but I'm going with Story. Hendricks could very well put a beating on Story with his big big power, but I just think Story's tenacity will win out.

Kendall Grove vs. Demian Maia: While this seems like an easy pick, an upset in Grove's favor is not out of the realm of possibility. Maia's striking has improved significantly, but Grove will not only have a striking advantage, he will also have a significant reach advantage. Maia is a BJJ ace and has great takedowns as well. In order to win this fight Maia may have to absorb a few shots to get close to Grove and get him to the mat. Even then, Grove is a talented grappler in his own right and could be a threat should the fight go to the ground, even on his back. I'm a big Maia fan, and think his BJJ is just too good for him to not win this fight. Grove could certainly make it interesting, but I don't think it'll be enough to stop Maia from winning via late submission or decision.

Jonathan Brookins vs. Michael Johnson: As I stated earlier, I didn't watch enough of this season of tough to get a good feel for these guys. From what I've seen, though, Brookins is a strong grappler and Johnson is more of a straight wrestler. The only fight I've seen with either guy is Brookins's loss to Jose Aldo. Given that Brookins has fought at 145, I'm thinking Johnson will be the bigger fighter. No idea who to pick here, so I'm just going to say Johnson by decision.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Igor Pokrajac: I'm not entirely sure why this is headlining the show given that Pokrajac is relatively unknown in the UFC and Bonnar only has one win in his past 4 fights. Bonnar rarely has a boring fight, though, so maybe UFC officials think this fight will end up be more exciting than the potential grapple fest that Maia/Grove could end up being. Pokrajac lost his first two fights in the UFC before submitting James Irvin at UFC on VS 2 in an impressive showing. Both men are pretty well-rounded, but Bonnar is a UFC veteran who has faced tougher competition over his career. I'm taking Bonnar by decision in a fight that will likely see Pokrajac get his walking papers.

Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu

Benji Radach vs. Ovince St. Preux: Tough fight for me to call since I've never seen St. Preux fight, but I do know he recently won at a Challengers event over Antwain Britt, and has an 8 second KO over UFC veteran Jason Day. Radach hasn't fought since he lost to Scott Smith back in April of 2009. Radach has some good striking and big power, but he's coming back from a lot of injuries and is taking this fight on short notice. I'm going with St. Preux, just because I don't think he's facing a 100% Razor.

Mike Kyle vs. Antonio Silva: Kyle is a late replacement for Valentijn Overeem and is stepping into a real tough fight. Kyle is undefeated in his last 6 fights, but has most recently fought at 205 pounds. Silva is coming off of a big win over Andrei Arlovski and even his most recent loss to Fabricio Werdum was an impressive showing. Given that Kyle is taking a fight on this short of notice against a bigger, more talented opponent, I can't see this fight ending any other way than with a TKO in Silva's favor.

Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Lindland: This is a test for both men to see if they can stay relevant in the fight game. Lawler is 2-2 in his last four fights with wins over Scott Smith and Melvin Manhoef and losses to Jake Shields and Babalu. Lindland recently broke a 2 fight losing streak with a win over Kevin Casey at a Challengers event. Lindland will be the better wrestler by far, but Lawler possesses big power in his hands, and Lindland's chin is certainly a factor. I'm taking Lawler as I think he'll be able to defend the takedown and will eventually connect on Lindland and knock him out.

Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith: This fight has huge potential to result in fireworks and a highlight reel KO. Smith has a habit of getting beat up before pulling a win out of nowhere, but I don't think it'll happen here. Daley strikes are just too hard to withstand for an extended period of time. I think Smith is extremely tough, but a fighter who takes as much punishment as he does will not likely last long with a striker as technical and powerful as Daley. I'm taking Daley by KO.

Dan Henderson vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral: This is a rematch from a 2000 Rings bout that saw Henderson walk away with the win via a majority decision. Henderson brings heavy hands and stellar wrestling to this fight while Babalu brings a more varied striking approach with high level BJJ and submission skills. Henderson didn't look great in his last fight against Jake Shields, but stated his poor peformance was due to a difficult weight cut as a result of pain killers. Henderson now returns to 205 and shouldn't have much trouble making a cut this time around. Babalu most recently defeated Robbie Lawler in what was mostly a kickboxing match. I was hoping Babalu was stick around at 185, but maybe he'll return after this fight. I'm having a tough time picking a winner here as Henderson could land a bomb of a right hand or he could grind out an ugly decision with takedowns and top control. Babalu could keep it safe on the feet with quick punches and kicks or could very well catch Hendo in a submission. I'm hoping for a Babalu win, but I think Henderson will be too strong and will grind out a decision win.

UFC 123: Post Fight Thoughts

2010-11-22T17:35:00.000-08:00

Well my friends UFC 123 has come and gone, and I have to say that after a disappointing UFC 122 event, the UFC bounced back nicely.

Paul Kelly/TJ O'Brien: After using his reach effectively in the first, O'Brien eventually folded to Kelly's pressure and was finished in the 2nd round when he couldn't escape punches and elbows from the crucifix position. Kelly continues to be a tough guy at 155 and really showed some great heart after getting beat up a bit in the first. I'd like to see him take on fellow Brit Terry Etim while O'Brien could get a fellow newcomer to the UFC.

Edson Barboza/Mike Lullo: This was the first time I had seen Barboza fight, and man was I impressed. Lullo had his moments and even showed some pretty decent rubber guard, but he had nothing for Barboza's brutal leg kicks. Some people are comparing Barboza to Jose Aldo, but I'm going to save those kind of comparisons for when I see him fight a little more. For a future match-up Lullo could take on TJ O'Brien in a winner keeps their job match. For Barboza, I think he needs to be brought up slowly, so fights with Aaron Riley or Paul Taylor could be ways to go.

Dennis Hallman/Karo Parisyan: Not much to report with this fight. Hallman quickly knocked down a clearly out of shape Parisyan early in the first and finished him with hammer fists. Big Tan Dan may have been a little quick with the stoppage, but I don't see how Parisyan would have done anything more than take more unanswered fists to the face. Dana White has already stated that Karo is done with the UFC and I think that's a smart move. Until Karo can get his shit together and get in shape he's not going to be able to compete against UFC caliber fighters. As for Hallman, I like the idea of a third fight with Hughes, but it doesn't seem like the UFC agrees. If not Hughes I say match up Hallman with Jake Ellenberger makes sense as both are on winning streaks and Ellenberger is without an opponent due to last minute changes.

Mark Munoz/Aaron Simpson: This fight was a little sloppy at times, but it was a good scrap to open up the show on Spike. Both men are heavy handed and threw caution to the wind on multiple occasions. The fight was marred by some bad officiating, though, as the ring official called for a horrendous stand up and allowed Simpson to recover from an eye poke that was simply a punch to the face (much like Sakara v. Irvin). Munoz eventually went on to win a unanimous decision in a super close fight that I'm shocked wasn't a split decision in the end. For Munoz, I say give him CB Dollaway while Simpson should get Nick Catone or Gerald Harris.

Brian Foster/Matt Brown: I am quickly becoming a Brian Foster fan. Despite the fact that he has lost some fights to guys like Rick Story and Chris Lytle, the guy is still extremely dangerous on the feet and on the mat. Foster really showed some great ground and pound and had some nice grappling transitions with Brown as well. Unfortunately for Brown, though, he left his head out for the taking for a split second and Foster was able to snag the quick guillotine. I'd love to see Foster get in the cage with Rory MacDonald, the fighter he replaced in this fight. For Brown, he very well could be cut, but if he is given another shot I say a fight with John Hathaway or Matt Riddle makes sense.

George Sotiropoulos/Joe Lauzon: After the first round I really thought Lauzon was going to get the win. His striking looked faster and he was landing the much harder shots. He was also defending the takedown and early submission attempts as well. When the second round started, however, Lauzon was noticeably tired and that's when Sotiropoulos took over. Joe Rogan really nailed it on the head when he stated that Sotiropoulos has some of the best transitions in MMA. After getting Lauzon to the mat and masterfully moved from guard, to side control, to mount and eventually to North/South, Sotiropoulos finished Lauzon with a kimura, much like he did with George Roop at UFC 101. Lauzon's conditioning really was the difference maker, and unless he improves in that area he very could settle in as a gatekeeper at 155. For Lauzon I think a fight with the loser of Jim Miller/Charles Oliveira would be great. Apparently Sotiropoulos will be getting Dennis Siver next, which seem like a step back in competition. I'd rather see George get the winner of Kenny Florian/Evan Dunham.

Phil Davis/Tim Boetsch: Once again Phil Davis shows why he is one of the hottest up and comers in the UFC. While his striking is still a work in progress, Davis's wrestling and mat awareness are great and fun to watch. Boetsch hung tough and even threatened with a guillotine at one point, but was eventually forced to tap to a modified kimura/hammerlock that is being called the "Mr. Wonderful." Tough loss for Boetsch, but he should get another chance with the UFC. I think a fight with Steve Cantwell or Kyle Kingsbury would make sense. As for Phil Davis, a fight with Matyushenko or Matt Hamill would be a nice step up for competition without rushing Davis too far too fast.

Gerald Harris/Maiquel Falcao: Harris might have lost a decision, but he really lost the fight in the first round. The round looked as if it going to be a feeling out affair until Falcao blasted Harris with a flurry of punches. Falcao eventually got Harris's back and locked on a RNC, but it looked as if Harris was saved by the bell. Falcao seemed to hold the choke a little longer than he should have as he held it after the bell and had to be pulled off by the referee. It has been reported, though, that the round was called about 6 seconds too early, an additional 6 seconds that Harris would not have lasted considering that he was nearly tapping anyways. The rest of the fight, especially the third round, turned out to be uneventful and Falcao was awarded the decision. I'm a Gerald Harris fan considering how nice he was when he spoke to me and my friends, so I'm a little bummed he lost, but I think he'll be able to rebound nicely. Fights with Tom Lawlor or Alessio Sakara (a fight that was scheduled and then eventually canceled) could be fun while Falcao could be matched up with Brian Stann or Rich Attonito.

BJ Penn/Matt Hughes: Not much to report here as Penn knocked Hughes out cold with strikes just 21 seconds into the fight. A stated earlier, I'd like to see Hughes get Hallman, but if the UFC decides to go another way I think fights with Martin Kampmann or Diego Sanchez would be a lot of fun. Penn has already been matched up with Jon Fitch, and I have to say that I am super excited to see that fight go down.

Lyoto Machida/Rampage Jackson: From what I've been reading over the past couple of days, I've seen a number of varying opinions as to who won this fight. Personally, I gave the fight to Rampage as I thought he won the first two rounds. The third round was clearly all Machida, but I didn't think it was enough to steal the fight. I need to rewatch the first round to be sure, but Rampage's aggressiveness and strikes did more for me than Machida's leg kicks. For Rampage, I say give him the winner of Griffin/Franklin and then you can give Machida the loser.

Once again, thanks to everyone who has been checking out the blog and be sure to listen to me on the Tom Van Stone Show on Wrestleview.com. Listen in, continue to check out the blog, and follow me on Twitter @JustinCohee.

UFC 123 Predictions

2010-11-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

What's up everybody, I know it has been a while but between work, job hunting, etc. the blog has suffered, but I really hope to change that over the coming weeks. A lot has gone on during my little absence, particularly the merger of the UFC and WEC. I plan on writing a little something about it, especially some fantasy match-ups I'd like to see. For now, though, I'm just going to do some quick predictions for the fights this weekend.

Also, I'm going to be doing some guest spots on Thomas Van Stone's Internet radio show on Wrestleview.com. The site is primarily directed towards pro-wrestling, but the radio shows covering everything from pro-wrestling to MMA as well as other sports and even politics. Only VIP members of the site can listen, but at only $4.99 a month it's not a bad deal at all and you'll get to hear MMA talk from yours truly. Anyways on to my predictions.

Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcao: Since joining the UFC, Harris has gone 3-0 against highly touted UFC newcomers, and on Saturday night Harris gets his fourth prospect. I have not seen Falcao fight, but from what I've read he's a Chute Boxe member with 21 knockouts in 25 career wins. Falcao seems to be a quick starter as most of his wins come early in the first round. If Falcao wants to win here he'll need get that early finish, because a longer fight favors Harris greatly and he'll be able to use his wrestling, slams, and ground and pound to out work Falcao. Falcao could come out and bull rush Harris, but I'm taking the guy with more octagon experience. I'll take Harris via 2nd or 3rd round TKO.

Tim Boetsch vs. Phil Davis: Both men have wrestling backgrounds, but Davis has All-American caliber wrestling from his time spent at Penn State, while Boetsch has turned into more of a brawler. Boetsch will likely be the better striker as that is an area that Davis is still working on, but unless Boetsch catches Davis, I don't see how he can win this fight. I look for Davis to take Boetsch down, work top control and GnP, and maybe even try to sneak in a submission. Boetsch is a tough fighter, but it won't be enough to stop Davis from finishing him in the 3rd or taking a commanding decision.

Joe Lauzon vs. George Sotiropoulos: I love this fight, as it's not only a great match-up, but it could also have some title shot implications. Both fighters are coming off big wins as Lauzon ripped through Gabe Ruedigger in the most dominant win of his career and Sotiropoulos has gone 6-0 since joining the UFC and holds wins over Joe Stevenson and Kurt Pellegrino. Lauzon has good striking to go with great takedowns and a smooth ground game. Sotiropoulos has boxing experience and also has some super slick BJJ thanks to his time spent at 10th Planet with Eddie Bravo. Sotiropoulos will be the bigger fighter and I think that will make a difference in this fight. Sotiropoulos can hold his own on the feet and should the fight hit the mat Sotiropoulos has some of the best transitions I've seen, and he's great off his back. Lauzon can certainly hold his own on the mat, and mixes his strikes and takedowns very well, but I think Sotiropoulos is on too much of a hot streak right now and will win a close decision and maybe a title shot.

Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn: When this fight was first announced I had a little trouble getting excited for it, but over time I've warmed up to it. Hughes is certainly winding down in his career, but we're still unsure as to where Penn is. Is Penn winding down as well, or did he just find his foil with Frankie Edgar? Personally, I would have liked to have seen Penn take some more fights at 155 first, but it makes sense for him to take big fights like this and make the big money. Hughes has been on a roll as of late and has some much-improved striking in those bouts, but I'm still don't think his boxing will match up well with Penn's. Penn's jab is just too good at this stage of his career and if the fight stays on the feet, it will be a long night for Hughes and end up looking like the Sherk/Penn fight. Should the fight hit the mat, though, Hughes could use his size and strength advantage to keep Penn on his back. This is my coin flip fight of the night, but I'm leaning towards Hughes to take a decision or late TKO. I just think he'll be able to take Penn down and tire him out. If Penn defends the takedown, though, he'll just pick Hughes apart.

Lyoto Machida vs. Rampage Jackson: For the main event of the evening we get a match-up between two former champions who are coming off of losses, looking to get back into the title picture. Machida most recently lost by brutal KO to Shogun Rua while Rampage lost a one-sided decisions to Rashad Evans. Rampage is much more of a power puncher/boxer, but still manages to show good defense, something he will certainly need here. Machida's elusiveness and counter-striking have given several UFC fighters trouble in the past, and we could very well see more of the same come Saturday. Rampage may think that bull rushing Machida will work like it worked for Rua, but Rampage's attacks aren't nearly as varied as Rua's and Rampage will come in swinging first instead of making Machida punch first like Rua did as well. I see this fight being a typical Machida fight as Rampage will come in swinging and Machida will peck away at him over three rounds. If Machida does finish Rampage it'll be late in the fight, but I look for it to be a decision in Machida's favor.

Image From Bleacherreport.com

UFC 121 Predictions

2010-10-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not getting this up sooner. I've been putting in more hours at the internship, and I just found out I passed the VA Bar Exam, so I've been trying to get my life into order. I couldn't find Bellator's show on my cable box last night, so I had to settle for reading results. A few things that happened last night have gotten me thinking about some new entries I could do, but for now let's get to my UFC 121 predictions.

Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga: This is a great fight where you have a new up and comer versus one of the perennial contenders. Schaub looked great on TUF showing both strong hands and slick grappling, but lost in the finale when he was knocked out by Roy Nelson. Since then he's gone on to quickly finish his last two opponents. Schaub trains with Nate Marquardt and Shane Carwin at Grudge in Colorado, so he's got a good group of guys helping him prepare for this fight, especially since Carwin has a win over Gonzaga. Gabriel Gonzaga was finished by Junior Dos Santos in his last fight and also has losses to Carwin, Werdum, and Couture, but every one of his losses has come from the elite of the HW division. Gonzaga is a phenomenal grappler, but is good standing up and has sick leg and head kicks. If Schaub can keep this fight standing he has the power to put out Gonzaga's lights, and can certainly hold his own on the mat. Gonzaga, as I said earlier, is good on the feet, but even better on the ground thanks to his BJJ. If I were Gonzaga I'd try and get this fight down as soon as possible. This is a real coin flip fight for me, but I think I'm going to take Gonzaga by decision due to his experience.

Matt Hamill vs. Tito Ortiz: I'm not quite sure how I feel about this fight. I like Hamill in that he's a great story, but his sloppy boxing and poor defense show that he's not going to reach the top of the division anytime soon. Ortiz is simply in the twilight of his career and isn't near the fighter he was during his championship run. Hamill won his last fight against Jardine thanks to the fact that the guy can take one hell of a punch. He's also a tremendous wrestler, but doesn't really seem to use it all that often. Ortiz has subpar boxing, but has has good takedowns and ground and pound. Unfortunately for Ortiz he's going to have a real tough time getting Hamill down, and for all his striking deficiencies, Hamill is a better kick boxer than Ortiz. Ortiz will shoot, but likely fail, and even if he manages to hit Hamill, Hamill will walk right through them and pick Ortiz apart on his way to a decision or late TKO stoppage.

Paulo Thiago vs. Diego Sanchez: When this fight was first announced I got excited, but after Sanchez's recent comments, I don't know if he's taking it as seriously as he should. Sanchez stated that after this fight he's going to return to 155 and make a run for the title. While I think a return to 155 is a good idea, it makes me wonder how much time he spent putting mass back on for this fight. In his last fight against John Hathaway, Sanchez didn't look like he was in the best shape, so if he's planning to go right back to 155 I'm concerned that he didn't prepare for the fight as well as he should have. On the other hand, Sanchez has returned to Jackson's to train for this fight, so he'll definitely have a great corner working for him. Sanchez's strength is his tenacity, and he'll definitely look to put the pressure on Thiago here. Both fighters are good strikers, but Thiago isn't as predictable as Sanchez is. Thiago will also have the advantage when it comes to BJJ, but Sanchez has shown time and time again that his wrestling and ground and pound are hard to deal with. That being said, I look for Thiago to use his striking to keep Sanchez at bay, and even if the fight hits the mat, Thiago's BJJ will allow him to give Sanchez fits. I'm going with Paulo here via decision.

Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann: After months of talk, Jake Shields finally makes his UFC debut against a very tough Martin Kampmann. Shields is a former Elite XC Welterweight champ and former Strikeforce Middleweight champ. Shields will be going back to 170 for this fight, and I think it's a good move. Shields is primarily a wrestler with smothering ground control, but he also has good submissions. Kampmann is a Dutch Muay Thai champ, but is extremely talented on the mat as well. Shields most recently dominated Dan Henderson and Kampmann is coming off a commanding decision win over Paulo Thiago. Kampmann is likely the better striker, but while he is a good grappler, Shields is even better and has handled talented grapplers like Mayhem Miller. Kampmann isn't as much of an underdog as some people may think he is, but I still don't see him winning this fight. I see this fight going a lot like most Jake Shields fights go with Shield gaining top control and working GnP and submission for a majority of the fight. Shields could pull out a submission late in the fight, but I'll take him winning by decision.

Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez: HOOOOOLLLLLYYYYYY CRAP I am so so excited for this fight. Lesnar the casual fan favorite versus the hardcore fans pick for the fighter most likely to dethrone the champ. Both men are tremendous athletes with wrestling backgrounds. Lesnar will have a significant size and weight advantage, but Velasquez is a much better all around striker. Velasquez also has a ton of power in his hands as evidenced by his appearance on Sports Science. Lesnar recently brought in a new boxing coach to work on his fundamentals, so while he has a lot of power, his basic skill set is still in need of work. Lesnar will want to get this fight to the mat and work his vicious ground and pound, and I think Velasquez will want to keep the fight standing and pick Lesnar apart with his striking and speed advantage. Both guys has excellent conditioning so I wouldn't be surprised to see this fight make it to the championship rounds. This is an incredibly difficult pick considering how talented both men are, but I'm going to go with my gut and pick Velasquez via a 4th or 5th round TKO stoppage.

Image From Wikipedia

UFC 120 Post Fight Thoughts

2010-10-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Gustafsson/Diabate: This fight was an absolute beating. Diabate looked sharp in his octagon debut against Luis Cane, but he was overwhelmed by Gustafsson. I was really impressed with Gustafsson's striking as he was able to drop Diabate several times and then eventually use his superior grappling skills to get the RNC. I'd like to see Gustafsson get someone like Tim Boetsch or Jason Brilz and Diabate could be faced with Steve Cantwell or Kyle Kingsbury.

Kongo/Browne: Kongo is seriously a dirty, cheating fighter. Every time he fights you're guaranteed to see some low blows, and in this fight we not only saw a low blow but constant grabbing of Browne's shorts, even after a point deduction. Browne didn't look great with his strikes in the first, but they were definitely landing. Kongo looked OK in the second round, but was unable to implement his usual gameplan and had to settle for his sketchy knees to Browne's legs. Browne could take on Matt Mitrione, Ben Rothwell or Christian Morecraft, and the same could be done for Kongo.

Hathaway/Pyle: Man Pyle impressed the hell out of me with this performance. He dominated Hathaway all three rounds, and almost finished Hathaway with a crazy triangle in the second. People are hating on Hathaway and saying he was overrated and his win over Sanchez wasn't that impressive due to Sanchez being out of shape and having camp issues. I think that's a cop out considering Hathaway DOMINATED Sanchez and also has wins over tough guys like Paul Taylor and Rick Story. Pyle just used better grappling and some awesome takedowns to get the win. For Hathaway I say give him Claude Patrick and I'd like to see Pyle get Mike Swick or Dan Hardy.

Condit/Hardy: WOW talk about a sick sick KO. I seriously thought Hardy would use superior boxing skills to cruise to a decision victory, and I certainly didn't think Condit had the power to drop Hardy like that. I always figured Condit for a volume puncher versus power, but he showed everyone that he can put someone down with one shot. Huge win for Condit, and hopefully he'll get a game opponent in his next fight like Jon Fitch or the Kampmann/Shield winner. As for Hardy, I could see him getting matched with Anthony Johnson or Chris Lytle.

Bisping/Akiyama: Not a whole lot to report on this one. Akiyama looked for bombs while Bisping remained technical and took a unanimous decision. Bisping continues to make noise in the 185 division, but has yet to defeat a top 10 guy, which is keeping him out of the title picture. A win over someone like Demian Maia could help him, but with most of the top 185ers tied up at the moment, we'll have to wait and see what is next for the Brit. As for Akiyama, he is yet another Japanese star to come to an American fight organization and fail to impress. Fights with Wanderlei Silva, Dan Miller, or Palhares could be fun, but I'm not sure if the UFC will want to give him something a little less competitive so that Akiyama can rebound.

UFC 120 Thoughts & Predictions

2010-10-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

This Saturday UFC 120 will take place at the O2 Arena in London, England, and will be aired for free on Spike TV. There won't be any title fights, but there are some good match-ups, so let's get to them.

Claude Patrick vs. James Wilks: Ultimate Fighter winner James Wilks makes his return to the cage to face fellow submission specialist Claude Patrick. After winning the Ultimate Fighter by submitting DaMarques Johnson at the finale, Wilks was matched up against Matt Brown. Wilks lost the fight by TKO, but bounced back with a decision win over Peter Sobotta back in June. Patrick made his debut at the same event and defeated Ricardo Funch via submission, the ninth submission victory of his twelve wins. Patrick's lone career loss came to UFC-vet Drew McFedries in the second fight of his career. Both men are well versed in submissions, as evidenced by their records, but it is difficult for me to make an informed decision as I have not had the opportunity to see Patrick fight. Wilks looked good against Johnson, but really wilted under the pressure that Brown was able to put on him. After Brown escaped a Wilks submission attempt, Wilks looked defeated and was eventually pounded out. Patrick seems to favor the guillotine as half of his wins have come via that choke, and while he is very talented, I question if Wilks is truly UFC material. I'll take Patrick by submission as he seems to have a knack for catching necks.

Cheick Kongo vs. Travis Browne: After consecutive, devastating losses to Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir, Kongo got back into the win column after decimating Paul Buentello, making him tap due to strikes. Kongo is a talented kickboxer and has shown excellent ground and pound, but he seems to falter when faced with someone can turn the tables and take him to the mat. Browne made his UFC debut June, and easily defeated James McSweeney. Browne is undefeated and only one of his fights has gone the distance. I've seen Kongo fight many times, so I know what he brings to the table. He is a very strong striker who can easily toss someone to the mat, and rain down brutal punches. I've only seen Browne fight the one time against McSweeney, so it's hard to say what kind of fighter he is considering the fight lasted only 30 seconds. Browne is the bigger, taller fighter here, but I think Kongo will continue his reputation the guy who can beat most everyone, except for the best. I'll take Kongo via TKO as he'll continually dump Browne to the mat and beat him up.

John Hathaway vs. Mike Pyle: Pyle, from what I've heard, is the Wilson Gouveia of Xtreme Couture. That is, he's extremely talented in the gym and receives high praise from his teammates, but once he's in the cage, it's a coin flip. Pyle has collected wins over Chris Wilson and Jesse Lennox, but has also been defeated by Jake Ellenberger and Brock Larson. On the other hand, Hathaway is undefeated and most recently defeated Diego Sanchez in a very one-sided fight. I've sung Hathaway's praises in previous entries, so I'll try to keep it in check here. Hathaway has shown several times that he has an excellent jab thanks to his frame, and is very capable on the ground, especially his ground and pound. Pyle was able to survive Ellenberger's GnP for a round, but eventually couldn't deal with it. I think this will be a very similar fight for Pyle as he'll get lit up on the feet, and will only be able to defend himself against an onslaught of punches for a limited time. I'm taking Hathaway via TKO.

Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit: When I first heard about this match-up, I was thinking that this was a bit much for Condit, considering Hardy is coming off of a title fight and Condit was losing his last fight before finishing (a sketchy finish at that) Rory MacDonald with only 7 seconds left in the third round. After thinking about it, though, this fight has a lot of potential to be Fight of the Night. Condit has shown in the past that he is talented on the feet as well as the mat. Hardy, on the other hand, is primarily a striker, but showed in his fight against GSP that he is tough enough to survive dangerous situations. I don't think Condit is nearly as strong as GSP, though, so Hardy might be able to escape situations should Condit take him down. Hardy will want to keep this fight standing, and I think Condit will be happy to comply. Unfortunately for Condit, I think Hardy is the better, more technical, and stronger puncher. I see this fight going a lot like Hardy's fight with Mike Swick. Hardy will get the better of the stand-up and maybe rock Condit a few times, but I think Condit is too tough to finish here. I'll take Hardy by decision.

Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama: Am I the only one who finds it strange that Akiyama is headlining an event despite the fact that he is coming off a loss, and is a relative unknown to the casual MMA fan? Maybe it's his international appeal, but after barely beating Alan Belcher, dealing with a long lay-off, and then losing to Chris Leben (who had fought 2 weeks prior) I just don't get it. Also, Akiyama could really cut down to 170, but as with many Japanese fighters, weight cutting doesn't seem to be a priority or a concern really. Sexyama is a judo practitioner, but also has some big power in his hands. Bisping is probably the more technical striker, but he has a bad habit of pulling his punches, causing them to lose power. Bisping is good at defending the takedown, though, and will also have a much bigger gas tank, as Akiyama looked dead in the third against Leben. I see this being a typical Bisping fight as he'll use his superior foot work and speed to peck away at Akiyama and cruise to a decision victory.

(Image from MMAResolutions.com)

MMA Judging: How Do You Fix The Problem?

2010-10-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

Let me start off by letting you all know that my friend and GTS contributor, Bryan Peden, has started his own MMA website called "MMAtters." You should all check it out at www.mmatters.weebly.com. Feel free to check out the site as well as "like" MMAtters on Facebook. GTS will be getting it's own Facebook page in the very near future so keep an eye out for that as well.

I guess what really inspired this next post was the absolute robbery of a decision that was awarded to Sean Sherk over Evan Dunham at UFC 119. I definitely believe that Sherk won the first round thanks to his takedowns, ground control, and the cut he gave Dunham, but I thought Dunham overwhelmed Sherk with strikes in rounds 2 and 3, defended the takedown well, got up quickly when he was taken down, and even had several close submission attempts. At the end of the fight, though, Sherk was announced as the winner via split-decision, an announcement that was followed by a deafening chorus of boos. Dunham has taken the high ride since the loss and has blamed himself for not finishing the fight, despite the fact that even UFC President Dana White has stated several times that Dunham won that fight. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time a decision has been botched, and it certainly won't be the last (see Leonard Garcia's last 3 fights), but the question is ... How do you fix MMA judging?

GIVE THE JUDGES MONITORS: This seems like a pretty easy fix to me. Judges, despite sitting cage/ring-side, simply are not going to have the vantage points that are made available when watching the fight on a TV/monitor. Between the cage itself, camera crews, referees, and the position of the fighters, it is impossible for a judge to see everything from their seat with their own eyes. If the judges had monitors placed in front of them, then they could easily see every punch thrown(and whether it actually lands), every small transition made on the mat, etc. Monitors simply would allow judges to see everything they are missing by giving them angles and close ups that they are just not going to get otherwise. The scary thing, though, is that at a lot of events, monitors are placed in front of the judges, but they are never plugged in a turned on. That, to me, is completely asinine. I mean if the monitor is there and it gives you a better opportunity to make the right call, then why not use it?

TRAIN THE JUDGES: The worst part about most MMA judges, is that they really have no idea what they are watching. Most of these judges are coming over from boxing, and don't understand the intricacies of the clinch, takedowns, ground control, transitions, submission attempts, takedown defense, fighters working off their back, leg kicks, etc. If judges actually knew what they were watching, then rounds can be awarded to fighters based on actual knowledge versus awarding rounds based on personal belief. I've read articles in the past where a fighter would be working a submission, and a judge would ask someone close to them, "what is he trying to do?" Occurrences like that are inexcusable and are costing fighters fights, which in turn affects their purses and their livelihood. If Athletic Commissions could start bring in MMA instructors to do simple work shops for judges, then maybe the judges would be able to gain the proper knowledge of the sport to judge it correctly. I think it's also important that fans of the sport look into getting into judging as well as a casual UFC fan likely has a better understanding of the fight than most judges.

TWEEK THE POINT SYSTEM: Tweeking the current point system used to score MMA may be difficult, but I do think it is possible. Currently MMA is using the same 10 Point system used in boxing where the winner of the round is awarded 10 points and the loser of the round is awarded 9 or less. While it might be the best system at the moment, I still find it strange that a scoring system for one sport (boxing) is being used for one that not only includes boxing, but kickboxing, muay thai, wrestling, judo, BJJ, etc. Bryan and I had a discussion regarding scoring, and we both agreed that certain techniques are being given too much weight over others. For example, one takedown should not be given more points than a solid punch to the face. This likely goes back to training and educating the judges, but a takedown that results in the downed fighter immediately getting to his feet should not be given more deference than a solid leg kick, because when you actually think about it, which technique actually caused more damage? I think judges need to not be afraid to score a round 10-10 and I also think adopting some idea from Pride/Japanese MMA would work as well. What I like about that particular scoring system is that at the end of a fight, the judges would pick a winner based on you that they won the "fight", not who won the most rounds. I like to use the Michael Bisping/Wanderlei Silva fight as an example. Under the current system Wanderlei won a decision as he was awarded rounds 2 and 3. Bisping won round 1, but round 2 was very close, and round 3 ended with Silva knocking Bisping down and nearly finishing him. In what was a close decision under the current system, under a system like that used in Pride, Silva would've have been awarded the decision because at the end of the fight he was standing over Bisping raining down punches. The fight may have been close based on singular rounds, but when the final bell is rung and Wanderlei is standing over a nearly unconscious and bloody Bisping, it's pretty clear who just won a fight.

These are just a few things that I've thought about that could fix judging, so feel free to agree or disagree with me and sound off in the comments section.

Guest Post: Bryan Peden's P4P List

2010-10-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

The WEC was nice enough to give us a great fight card on the versus network for free, so if you didn’t see it last night you can still find it somewhere on the internet most likely. I have nothing against giving my thoughts on a card and hearing what everyone else has to say but that is not what this post is going to be about. For those of you that don’t know Jose Aldo fought last night and won in spectacular fashion, once again, against a game opponent in Manny Gamburyan. With Aldo having three consecutive title fights (two title defenses) and finishing two of the three in the manner that he did I thought to myself . . . How does he now fall in THE POUND FOR POUND LIST? So I did some research.

MMAWeekly.com has the feather weight (145 lbs) rankings as Aldo, Gamburyan, Brown, Faber as 1-4 respectively, so that’s good for business. Current #1 ranked fighters in their weight classes include 135 Dominick Cruise: 1-0 vs #2 ranked Brian Bowles and 2-0 vs #4 ranked Joseph Benavidez. 155 Frankie Edgar: 2-0 vs #5 ranked B.J. Penn. 170 George St. Pierre: 1-0 vs #2, #3, #4 who are Fitch, Koscheck and Alvez. 185 Anderson Silva: 1-0 vs #2, #4, #5, #6 (#3 shields isn’t going to fight at 185 in the near future so these are essentially #2-#5) Sonnen, Marquardt, Maia and Henderson. 205 Mauricio Rua: 1-1 vs #2 Machida and 1-0 vs #4 and #5 Rampage Jackson and little Nog. 265 Brock Lesnar: Has not beaten any of the CURRENT top 5 ranked fighters. Like it or hate it I developed my own top 10 pound for pound list.

#1 George St. Pierre (20-2) - No one can dictate where they want the fight to be better the George. He has the best MMA related wrestling in the business and can finish you on the feet or on the ground. With a win over Koscheck and a possible future fight with Jake Shields he wont have much business left in the welterweight division and can make a run at the middleweights to further cement his number 1 status.

#2 Anderson Silva (27-4) – Everyone knows that if you stand with Anderson and he wants to finish you, he can and will. He has shown off his bjj black belt skills lately with a come from behind victory over Sonnen where he also showed the desire of a true champion. He didn’t really test the waters of the bigger 205 pound division, he dove in head first and defeated former champion Forrest Griffin making one of the best highlight reels of MMA.

#3 Jose Aldo (17-1) – I do not know who is next for him after his KO of Gamburyan, but does it matter? He is as dynamic of a striker as fellow Brazilian Anderson Silva. Although we haven’t seen it too much due to solid take down defense he also is rumored to have very dangerous bjj skills as well. Oh yeah, he just turned 24!!!

#4 Jon Fitch (23-3) – 2 of his 3 losses were eight years ago and the other one was against my #1 P4P GSP. He has very technical kick boxing skills and can impose his will on almost anyone his wrestling. His BJJ skills are very much underrated because he mostly uses them for position rather than submissions. Earlier in his career he fought and won at 205 and 185.

#5 Mauricio Rua (19-4) - He is the champion of one of the most stacked divisions in any organization. He lost a highly disputed championship fight to my #9 Machida and then redeemed himself with KO in their second meeting. 16 wins by KO/TKO give a good picture of his capabilities on his feet while he uses his advanced BJJ skills to nullify submissions and stand back up to use his stand up weapons.

#6 Frankie Edgar (13-1) - The Answer has only been riddled once and he gets a chance at redemption in just a few months to fight the man that gave him the smudge on his career. B.J. Penn is still B.J. Penn which means that a win over him puts your name on the map. Fortunately his name was already on the map so he landed on the P4P list.

#7 Jake Shields (25-4) - Making the move to the stacked welterweight division of the UFC will prove a lot of what Shields has been showing us all along. He is a great fighter. He out wrestled former Olympian Dan Henderson at 185 while he can comfortably fight at 170. 3 of his losses were over eight years ago and he is on a 14 fight win streak which is more fights than #10 and just as many as #6.

#8 Fedor Emilianenko (31-2) – Yes his last fight resulted in a loss, yes everyone wants
him to go to the UFC to fight Brock and the other star studded cast of UFC’s heavyweight division. Strikeforce has a solid heavy weight division as well and with his powerful hands and slick BJJ he should not be looked down upon after his last fight.

#9 Lyoto Machida (16-1) – I’ve stubbed my toes more times today than Machida gets hit in a fight, and I haven’t even gotten out of bed yet. He is one of the most elusive fighters I have ever seen with lightning fast punches and kicks he is a dangerous man. With good take downs and submission skills he stays on the list after his last loss.

#10 Brock Lesnar (5-1) – The only reason I got turned down by an MLB team was because I was too old, not because I haven’t played in over ten years. Well that’s not true but it is for Brock when he tried out for the NFL’s Vikings. He is a freak athlete who is still young in this game. He already has the wrestling credentials to beat anyone and with his submission in his last fight and a win in his next fight we could see the not so little guy in the top 5.

Quick UFC 119 Thoughts and WEC 51 Predictions

2010-09-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Due to a friend's birthday celebration I was unable to catch UFC 119 live last Saturday. I did, however, order the fights the next day so that I could be sure to see all the fights with ease and in HD quality. I had managed to stay away from results and other reports, so I went into the event completely unspoiled. After watching I really wish I had read up on the fights beforehand so that I could just try and find the fights online rather than shell out the money for the PPV. The event had its moments, but some of the fights that I had high hopes for didn't really deliver.

UFC 119

Stephens vs. Guillard: This fight played out a lot like I expected with Guillard using his speed and accuracy to get in and out. Stephens threw his usual wild haymakers, but never really connected with a good solid shot. Melvin didn't engage as much as I thought he would, and Stephens didn't utilize the leg kick enough despite the success he was having with it. Not the barnburner many expected, but a good win for Guillard. Fights with Cole Miller or Evan Dunham would be good. As for Stephens I'd like to see him fight Duane Ludwig or Ross Pearson.

Dunham vs. Sherk: Definitely my pick for Fight of the Night, but also disappointment of the night thanks to the bogus decision. I gave Sherk the first thanks to the takedowns and vicious cut he put over Dunham's eye, but I gave Dunham the 2nd and 3rd. Dunham defended the takedown well (or got up quickly when he was taken down), had several deep submission attempts, and absolutely battered Sherk on the feet. I was impressed with Sherk, though, considering how long he's been away from the cage. Dunham won't be hurt too much by the loss, and as I stated earlier I'd like to see him fight Guillard or maybe Kurt Pellegrino.

Serra vs. Lytle: While I'm sure this was entertaining to some people, but I didn't see it as much more than a sloppy kickboxing match. This was definitely a much better fight than the first, though, and really showed how tough Matt Serra is. Lytle controlled much of the fight with his boxing and really took it to Serra all three rounds. I think a Serra/Marcus Davis fight makes a lot of sense, and would be a good fight for two guys looking to rebounded from losses. As for Lytle I'd like to see him take a jump in competition and maybe take on Thiago Alves in a rematch, or maybe Mike Swick.

Bader vs. Little Nog: Once again Little Nog showed that wrestling is a weakness in his skill set. He did show good takedown defense at times and clipped Bader a couple times, but Bader controlled most of the fight with his takedowns and ground and pound. Nog really needs to bounce back to show he deserves to be in the UFC, so fights Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin could be ways to go. As for Bader, he could get Jon Jones next, but to preserve both stars I think Bader vs. Forrest Griffin is a good way to go.

Cro Cop vs. Mir: I don't have much to say here considering how much of a dud this fight turned out to be. Neither guy looked impressive and the win doesn't really do anything for anybody. Cro Cop doesn't look motivated despite what he says, so if he wants to keep fighting then maybe a fight with Gilbert Yvel or Ben Rothwell could be the way to go. As for Mir, I think a fight with Roy Nelson makes sense considering how Nelson submitted him in a grappling match.

WEC 51

Leonard Garcia vs. Mark Hominick: I say Hominick by decision. Garcia will through his usual wild haymakers and look for a KO, but I think Hominick will be more technical and pick Garcia apart.

Chang Sung Jung vs. George Roop: I'll take the Korean Zombie by TKO. Roop will have a significant reach advantage but Jung can take so much punishment which leads to longer fights which leads to more opportunities for Roop to get dropped.

Miguel Torres vs. Charlie Valencia: This is an attempt to resurrect Torres, and I think he'll take a win via TKO here. Torres has been spending time at TriStar in Montreal and I think that will help him immensely.

Donald Cerrone vs. Jamie Varner: Tough fight for me to call. I don't really care for either guy, but I think Cerrone is the better fighter if he doesn't start of so slow. I'll take a stab at a pick and say Cerrone by submission.

Jose Aldo vs. Manny Gamburyan: Aldo by TKO. Aldo has already won fights against better fighters and I think he takes the easy W here.

Guest Entry: Billy Peden's Thoughts On Mir's Desire To Go To 205

2010-09-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Frank Mir, during his pre-fight media routine, has spoken of his thoughts of moving down in weight class to the Light Heavyweight division. Stating that, after seeing Forrest Griffin being able to walk around at the same weight as himself yet take that size to 205 has made Mir more aware of the possibility. Frank Mir has never been a huge Heavyweight and when he does push the limit of 265, he looks unnatural and bloated so; does this potential drop in lbs. improve his strengths and decline his weaknesses? Is Mir just too small to fight the likes of Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin? No and no. Frank Mir's disingenuous approach to conditioning and game planning as well as his inability to react intelligently when getting hit in the face play way more into his recent woefulness than the ill conjured excuse of "Oh, he's is too small for Heavyweight".

First of all, it is common sports’ science that it is more of a detriment to be a 285 pound behemoth and try and maintain a steady pace in any cardiovascular activity. Guys like Lesnar and Carwin do not have athletic doppelgangers in any other sport but Professional Football. These NFL linemen perform anaerobic activity for about 10 seconds then receive almost a minute’s break before the ball is snapped again. They are certainly not pushing and pulling an opponent 5 minutes straight. Packing on weight, whether it’s muscle or fat, exponentially deteriorates your cardio. Who were the “who’s who” of the Heavyweight division at the launch of the new millennium: Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Randy Couture who all weighed, in their prime, less than 240 lbs. Frank Mir would be entering a whole new class of athletes in joining 205. He is successful because he is able to use his dangerous guard against slower lethargic fighters, whom do not possess the explosiveness needed to stop a well strategized submission from the bottom. Not to be said for Machida, Rashad, Shogun, Griffin etc...Frank Mir has always been one to fold immediately when becoming the landing pad for a well placed fist to the grill.

Did size matter when Brandon Vera thrashed him senselessly in less than 2 minutes while weighing 25 lbs fewer than Mir, or when 5'11 Ian Freeman TKO'd him in the first round 4 years ago? The greatly physically inferior "Pe de Pano" picked up 1 of his 7 wins in 5 years at Mir's expense. What happened when Vera, Lesnar, Carwin, Cruz, and Freeman all put leather on his chin? Fight over. Maybe Mir is a natural 205'er but dropping weight does not buff out the noticeable chinks in his armor. Dropping weight is not the saving grace as many fighter/fans see it. Just ask Brandon Vera, Diego Sanchez, Jens Pulver, Justin McCully, Josh Haynes... So, as two “under sized” Heavyweights square off this Saturday, don’t imagine how they could be if they trickled down a division but how they could be if they fixed the reoccurring errors in their respective games. Mir is a great Heavyweight and deserves to be in big fights but until he starts following a game plan and learns to take a salvo of strikes without wilting, it does not matter what he tips the scales at.

UFC 119 Predictions

2010-09-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well I'm still not sure how to edit the video Billy and I recorded and I can't figure out how to make it into several shorter videos so that I could put them on youtube. I'll talk to my techy friend and hopefully we can figure something out before the video is irrelevant. Anyways, here are my picks for this Saturday's PPV.

Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens: This is my early pick for fight of the night. I actually called this fight after Stephen's win over Sam Stout. Guillard then called out Stephens after his win over Waylon Lowe. Thankfully Joe Silva was listening and set up this fight that is going to be an absolute slugfest. Both guys are known primarily for their striking, so don't expect to see too much, if any, grappling in this fight. Guillard is probably the better technical striker and will likely have a little bit of a reach advantage. What Stephens lacks in technique he makes up for with brutal KO power. In Stephen's last fight, he faced another technical striker in the Tompkins trained Sam Stout and dropped him several times. His power is just a game changer, and after seeing Guillard get dropped by a Joe Stevenson jab, it makes me wonder how he'll fair with a much better striker and much harder hitter. Guillard hits much harder than Stout, though, so he could stun Stephens as well. Guillard is also the better wrestler, and if the fight isn't going his way, Guillard has the ability to take Stephens down and steal some rounds. As much as I like Stephens and think he could certainly catch Melvin and put him out cold, I think Guillard's reach, smoother striking, and ability take the fight to the mat if he needs to gives Guillard the win by unanimous decision.

Evan Dunham vs. Sean Sherk: After Dunham submitted Efrain Escudero at Fight Night 20, I was excited to see Dunham progress as a fighter. When I then heard that he was being put in a fight against Tyson Griffin, I was worried that Dunham was getting pushed too hard too fast, but I was totally wrong. Dunham is certainly among the new guard at 155 as has shown that he is able to hang with the UFC's elite. Sean Sherk on the other hand is coming off a loss to current champ Frankie Edgar, which was well over a year ago. Ring rust is a real issue here, and I think it will play a major role in this fight. Sean Sherk's bread and butter is his wrestling, but as we saw in the Edgar fight, Sherk seems to be content to strike despite his short reach and limited head movement. Dunham will obviously hold a major reach advantage and is also just a better striker. Dunham will have to deal with Sherk's wrestling and takedowns, but Dunham is good off of his back and is completely capable of taking Sherk down himself. Sherk is a talented fighter, but I think the long lay off and Dunham being much more well-rounded will lead to a Sherk loss by decision or late submission.

Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle: This is a rematch from the finale of the comeback season of the Ultimate Fighter. Serra won via split decision in a fairly lackluster fight. While the first fight was certainly not much to write home about, I think this fight will be much much different. Lytle has boxing experience, but he has shown that he has much more to offer in a fight. Lytle's last two wins have come via spectacular submission, showing that Lytle is extremely talented on the mat. Serra is coming off a KO win over Frank Trigg in a fight he showed that despite is small stature, his compact build allows him to put a lot of power behind his punches. Serra is a talented grappler, but he seems favor a stand up fight and in the Hughes fight, Serra wasn't able to do much once Hughes put him on his back. I'm leaning towards Lytle via submission because I think he'll find a way to get Serra on his back and out grapple him. I would not be the least bit surprised, though, if Serra was able to clip Lytle and put him off his game. Either way I'm expecting a great fight.

Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: After the Jason Brilz fight, this is a great fight to see if Little Nog is the real deal who just had a bad fight, or if he's got a major weakness that happens to be Bader's strength, wrestling. Nog showed in the fight against Luis Cane that he is an extremely dangerous striker thanks to his training with the Brazilian Olympic Boxing Team. Nog is also a talented grappler as one would expect with anyone who spends any sort of time training with Big Nog. The Brilz fight, though, showed that Nog can be taken down, put on his back, and kept there. Yes, Nog was able to sweep Brilz at one point, but that was one move in a three round fight that I scored for Brilz. Bader is a solid, strong wrestler who is also not afraid to throw heavy heavy hands. If Bader can win this fight he will certainly prove that he belongs in the upper tier of 205 and if Nog can win he'll show the casual fans that he deserved the hype he got when he came into the UFC and destroyed Cane. That being said, I'm going to have to go with Bader via unanimous decision. I think Bader is a better wrestler and striker than Jason Brilz and I also think he will be much stronger than Nog. Nog is the crisper striker, but I think Bader is smart enough to realize that he doesn't want to get into too many exchanges on the feet, will take Nog down, and work three rounds of top control and ground and pound.

Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop: The main event for UFC 119 was originally supposed to be the rematch between Mir and Big Nog, but Cro Cop stepped in after Big Nog was forced to back out due to injury. This isn't likely to garner a lot of PPV buys, but I still think it's a pretty cool fight. Cro Cop is coming off a win over Pat Barry while Mir is fighting for the first time since he was destroyed by Shane Carwin. Cro Cop has won 4 of his last 5 fights with the loss coming to Junior Dos Santos, but even in winning performances we've seen Cro Cop be tentative with his striking. After coming back from knee surgery it seems as though he's a little tentative and was even dropped a couple of times in the Barry fight. I'm hoping Cro Cop really lets his punches and kicks go so that he'll have more of a chance to keep this fight competitive. Mir has shown in both the Kongo and Nog fights that he has improved drastically with his striking to go along with his stellar BJJ. Mir doesn't have the best takedowns, though, and if Cro Cop is able to put on a performance of old, then he'll have excellent takedown defense anyways. Mir has been finished by guys not named Carwin or Lesnar as well as we saw that he can be knocked down and out in fights with Brandon Vera and Pe De Pano. For Cro Cop to win this fight, though, he's going to have to perform like the Cro Cop of old, and unfortunately I think those days have passed. I look for the fight to stay on the feet for the most part, but I think at some point during a scramble Mir will lock in a submission (likely a choke) and get the win.

UFC Fight Night 22 Post Fight Thoughts and Chael Sonnen F's Up Big Time

2010-09-20T17:47:00.001-07:00

Better late then never, but here are my quick post fight thoughts from UFC Fight Night 22. I apologize for not getting predictions up in time. I'm going to start having a couple friends write guest pieces so that we can have a little more activity on here, and we even recorded close to two hours of fight talk the other night. I start a GTS MMA youtube page, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get the video into smaller pieces so that I can actually post them.

I still don't really care for Cole Miller considering his recent and continuing comments towards wrestling, but I couldn't help but be impressed by his performance. Ross looked like he was landing solid in a couple of the exchanges, but I don't think he ever really got comfortable dealing with Cole's reach. Miller just called out Gomi, but it looks like Gomi and Clay Guida is being set up. I'd like to see Miller take on recent signing Antonio McKee, especially when you considering McKee's style is exactly was Cole has been hating on.

Jim Miller improved to 7-1 in the UFC with an impressive win over Gleison Tibau. I was hoping Tibau would switch his gameplan up after he started getting clipped by Miller, but even when he got Miller down, Tibau didn't really look like he knew what he wanted to do. Miller is definitely putting himself in a good position to earn a title shot, especially with one more win. Cole Miller is definitely an option.

Charles Oliveira showed that he's definitely going to be a force at 155 while Efrain Escudero became the first TUF winner (aside from Lutter) to be cut from the UFC. Efrain did not impress in this fight, and he also missed weight big time for the second time in his UFC career. Oliveira is only 20 years old so he's just going to get better with time. I'd like to see him fight Ross Pearson or maybe Aaron Riley in his next fight.

Wow Palhares really screwed himself. You HAVE to protect yourself at all times otherwise you're going to get popped and that's exactly what happened here. Marquardt saw an opportunity and he jumped on it, and got the quick win. Palhares pulled a Pe De Pano there and decided it be better to look at the ref instead of the guy trying to punch him in the face.

In other news, it was announced that Vitor Belfort will face Yushin Okami in main event of UFC 122 in Germany. It was originally expected to serve a fight to set up an eventual contender, but Chael Sonnen failed his pre-fight drug test for UFC 117, and is facing fines and suspension. It is now looking like the winner of Okami/Belfort will get the next crack at Silva, but we will have to wait and see how this fight goes, and if the winner comes out healthy enough for a quick turn around.

Shark Fights Updates

2010-09-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

Shark Fights is starting on PPV in the next few minutes. I will be tweeting updates throughout the night, so feel free to follow me @JustinCohee.

Wrestling In MMA Doesn't Suck - You Just Suck Cuz You Can't Wrestle

2010-09-10T16:31:00.001-07:00

Over the past week several fighters have made comments regarding wrestling's role in MMA. The first comments I heard came from UFC Lightweight Cole Miller. When playing a word association game, Miller described wrestling as the worst thing in MMA and something that will eventually destroy the sport. Miller stated that wrestlers make the sport boring and that judges favor wrestlers due to their position on top and how most wrestlers have impressive physiques. Dan Hardy recently stated in an interview that there is too much wrestling in MMA and that the rules should be changed to prevent long stalemates. Hardy's training partner Paul Daley basically said the same thing and said he believed rule changes would be good for the sport. Finally, Shinya Aoki stated that American wrestlers are boring because they never take risks and that BJ Penn didn't really "lose" to Frankie Edgar.

Comments like these aren't necessarily new to MMA, but the amount of comments being made and now the additional calls for rule changes really makes this subject interesting. With fighters like Gray Maynard, Jon Fitch, Frankie Edgar, and Jake Shields entering the elite of their divisions thanks to their wrestling backgrounds and stifling ground control, it is easy to see why many believe that wrestlers are beginning to take over. Many point to the fact more and more wrestlers are joining MMA every year as seen with guys like Johny Hendriks, Chad Mendes, King Mo, Daniel Cormier, and Ben Askren to show that the sport is becoming inundated with guys who simply want to take you down and hold top control while doing little else. While I can "see" where these arguments are coming from, I'm less inclined to take them seriously.

When Royce Gracie dominated his competition in the early days of the UFC, everyone thought that BJJ was going to be the skill to have in order to be successful in mixed martial arts. Before long kickboxers and muay thai specialists developed ways to prevent the fight from going to the mat and learned submission defense. The sport continued to develop and fighters soon learned that they could not simply be one-dimensional, but would have to learn every skill they could and become a true mixed martial artist. It is this realization that makes me almost angry to hear fighters say that wrestling is ruining the sport. If you don't want to be taken down, then learn how to sprawl and defend the takedown. If you don't want to have a wrestler on top of you for 3-5 rounds then learn some defensive wrestling techniques, some ground transitions, or learn how to throw submissions off your back.

Cole Miller's comments really caught me off guard considering how there are several wrestlers in his camp at American Top Team. I also think it's pretty odd to make comments about how he wants to make fights exciting and that wrestlers are boring. Last time I checked, Miller's last loss came from a wrestler in Efrain Escudero who slammed him repeatedly, out struck him on the feet, and eventually knocked him out cold.

Hardy and Daley's comments regarding rules changes are absolutely ridiculous. This is MIXED MARTIAL ARTS. These guys are calling for faster stand-ups basically because they are strikers and would rather play to their strengths. Hardy's most recent loss was to GSP in a fight in which Hardy was absolutely dominated on the mat. Not only was Hardy taken down several times, but he was nearly submitted on numerous occasions. If Hardy had his way, as soon as GSP slowed down or didn't improve his position immediately, the fight would be stood up. Hardy simply isn't comfortable on the mat and while he is a very talented striker, his call for a rule change to cater to his skill set is pretty ridiculous. The same goes for Daley. Koscheck went into that fight know that Daley had knocked out his first two UFC opponents and took Daley down ensure that he didn't put himself in any unnecessary danger. This whole "be a man and keep the fight standing" BS is really asinine. If you want to be a stand up fighter only then do boxing or K-1 or realize that hey I can't get away with being good at just one thing and make attempts to improve your skill set.

Aoki's comments didn't really surprise me considering his reputation for being a bit of a prick. What did surprise me, though, were his comments claiming that Penn was not defeated by Edgar. I don't know which fight he is talking about, but if he is talking about the second fight, then he is seriously wrong. Edgar is known for his wrestling, but what I saw in that fight was a well rounded fighter who not only used his wrestling when he could, but also out struck Penn on the feet by utilizing various techniques (i.e. cut kicks), and even showed great ground defense when Penn took his back. Wrestlers not taking risks is pretty strange too considering how wrestlers are not used to dealing with submissions, yet they still attempt to take down BJJ practitioners.

When Kenny Florian lost his most recent fight to Gray Maynard he didn't call Maynard a pussy for not standing with him, nor did he fault Maynard for laying on top of him for three rounds. What Florian did do, though, was re-evaluate his skill set, realize something was missing, and hired a wrestling coach. That is exactly the kind of attitude and drive you want to see in a fighter. Improvement and development is the name of the game, and as soon as a fighter thinks that they have enough skill in one area to get by, then that is when the sport passes them by. Yes wrestling may not bring about the most exciting fights in the world, but it is effective. Fighters should absolutely play to their strengths, but they really need to know what to in any situation. Don't like your position or the situation, well then do something about it. I mean, what would people say if a wrestler called someone a pussy for wanting to stand the whole time and being afraid to go to the mat?

Future of the Middleweight Division

2010-09-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Middleweight division is home of one of the best fighters in the world, UFC Champ, Anderson Silva. Along with Silva, the UFC is home to contenders Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami, Chris Leben, Michael Bisping, Wanderlei Silva and others. Strikeforce recently crowned a new champ in Jacare Souza after former champ, Jake Shields, left for the UFC welterweight division. Along with Jacare, Strikeforce has contenders in Tim Kennedy, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Jason Miller, and Renato Babalu Sobral. The Middleweight division is a strange division, specifically in the UFC due to the fact that Anderson Silva has been so dominant as a champion that most contenders (aside from Sonnen) never really gave Silva a competitive fight despite their talents. Sonnen recently showed that Silva isn't quite as invincible as once thought, and that Silva's days as champ could be numbered. Jake Shields was looking to start a similar trend in Strikeforce before jumping ship, but with Shields now gone, and talk of a Middleweight tournament floating around, things at Strikeforce could get very interesting. While there are several contenders already established in both organizations, there are fewer up and comers than I have discussed with the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions. That being said, there are three guys who are currently making noise at 185 and could very well add themselves to the contenders list.

Luke Rockhold: At 7-1 Rockhold is still in the early stages of his career. Despite that all 7 of his wins have come by stoppage in the first round, and six of those wins have been by submission. In his past three fights Rockhold submitted Cory Devela in 30 seconds, submitted TUF alum Jesse Taylor, and finished fellow up and comer Paul Bradley with brutal knees to the body. If I'm correct, Rockhold is supposed to be facing veteran Matt Lindland some time in the near future. Lindland is always a tough fight thanks to his wrestling credentials, but Rockhold can certainly handle himself on the mat. Rockhold has been featured only on the Strikeforce Challengers cards, so this is a good fight for him to show that he belongs on the big cards and deserves to fight stiffer competition.

Aaron Simpson: I first saw Aaron Simpson fight on the WEC 36 card against David Avellan in a fight he won by brutal knockout in the first 18 seconds of the fight. After the win, Simpson joined the rest of the WEC Middleweight in the UFC when the divisions were merged. Simpson made his UFC debut against fellow WEC veteran Tim McKenzie in a fight won in the first round via TKO. Simpson then went on to absolutely demolish Ed Herman, and won once again in a come-from-behind performance against Tom Lawlor. The fight with Lawlor was one I got to see in person and rightfully won fight of the night. Simpson lost to Chris Leben in his most recent fight, but Simpson looked good for most of the fight before succumbing to Leben's punches in the 2nd round. Leben would go on to submit Yoshihiro Akiyama just 2 weeks later, showing that Leben was definitely on a comeback surge. Simpson trains with Ryan Bader and CB Dollaway and has a strong wrestling background to go with his KO power. What I really like about Simpson is that he blends his striking and wrestling in every single one of his fights. He doesn't go into the cage with one mindset, but rather keeps his opponents guessing as to where he's going to want to take the fight.

Gerald Harris: I don't think I am alone in saying this, but I think Gerald Harris has one of the brightest futures of any fighter currently with the UFC. Harris started off with the UFC as a contestant on the Ultimate Fighter, but was eventually eliminated by the season's winner Amir Sadollah. Harris then went back to the independent scene earned his way back into the UFC with a knockout victory over WEC veteran Nissen Osterneck. Harris made his UFC debut against fellow prospect John Salter in a fight that Harris dominated with his striking, wrestling, and ground and pound. Harris won KO of the Night with the performance. I was at the fight and even had a chance to speak to Harris. He was nice enough to talk to my friends and I for several minutes and got excited when we alerted him to the fact that he was the lone KO of the night and would likely get a bonus check out of it. It was just very cool to see him get excited about the win and the bonus. Harris's second fight in the UFC was against BJJ black belt Mario Miranda. Despite being dropped early in the fight Harris surged back and finished Miranda with punches with just seconds left in the first round. Harris's most recent fight was against another BJJ stand out in David Branch, and once again Harris passed the test with flying colors. In the third round Branch attempted to pulled guard but was quickly and brutally slammed to the mat which resulted in one of the coolest knockouts I've ever seen. Despite ESPN's limited coverage of MMA, the KO was featured on Sportscenter's Top 10 and even earned praise from LeBron James. Harris's power, tight boxing, excellent top control, and brutal slams make him the hottest prospect in the Middleweight division, and likely the UFC.

Catch All Post: Quick Thoughts On What's Going On In MMA

2010-09-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

With most of my posts dealing with the UFC I'm going to be spending most of this post discussing what else is going in the wonderful world of MMA. Here we go...

Bobby Lashley vs. Chad Griggs: It's fights like these that really make me wish I was a betting man. Aside from washed-up fighters like Jason Guida, Bob Sapp and Wes Sims, Lashley hadn't really fought anyone with any significant experience or proven skill-sets. I was a little surprised when the Griggs fight was set up considering his record was 8-1 at the time. I guess Strikeforce thought they could give Lashley a little step up in competition without throwing him to the wolves with someone like Antonio Silva, Brett Rogers, Fedor, etc. Unfortunately for Strikeforce it seems that Lashley is just not that into being a fighter. To just give up like that really makes you question the motives Lashley had when we started training in MMA. With the success of Brock Lesnar in the UFC, I really think Lashley expected his amateur wrestling background and his WWE history would be enough to allow him to have some success in the cage while also collecting a hefty paycheck. Once Lashley finally saw that he wasn't going to be able to take someone down at will and got hit hard enough by Griggs, he wilted and probably started rethinking his career choices right that second.

Feijao vs. King Mo: As soon as this fight was set up, almost everything I read wrote Feijao off and expected an easy win for Mo. This is really just the continuation of a trend that I am seeing with the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight division. The belt has changed hands 3 times in 3 fights, and with each title change MMA sites are quick to call the loser overrated. When Gegard Mousasi beat Babalu in a minute, everyone sang his praises and expected him to hold the belt for awhile, especially considering the slim roster. Mousasi lost the belt in his first defense to King Mo and was then quickly excused of being an overrated fighter who belongs at 185 and had never really fought anyone in the first place (even though he has wins over Jacare, Babalu, Denis Kang, Hector Lombard, etc.). King Mo was then expected to steamroll Feijao in his first defense, but when he lost by TKO in the third, all of a sudden Mo is back to being inexpereinced and overrated. That's the problem I have with a lot of MMA sites, they don't know how to be OK with being wrong. I honestly thought Mo had an excellent chance to win, but I wasn't going to write off Feijao just because of the lost to Mike Kyle. Feijao trains with one of the best camps in the world and is an excellent striker. I think he will continue to get better a Mo will as well, but it's really time that fighters stop being defined by singular performances.

Kazuo Misaki vs. Jorge Santiago II: I don't want to say a whole lot about this fight simply for the reason that I want people to watch it and experience what is certainly going to be a fight of the year candidate. These two already had one amazing fight, and I think the second one was even better. Misaki really brought it to Santiago, and looked like he had the fight won. Santiago is a beast, though, and really came back strong and showed that he is one of, if not the best fighter to come out of ATT. Dropping Misaki with the head kick is just an absolute insane part of the fight, and the transitions on the ground were something that you'd only see with the most talented of grapplers. To see Misaki's corner throw the towel in with just 30 seconds left in the fight (even though he was likely ahead on the cards) just added to the emotion. Misaki may have won more rounds, but Santiago had him beat in the 5th. Just another amazing performance from these two, and I really hope they start getting a little more love state side from the UFC and Strikeforce.

Shine Fights will be holding a one night lightweight tournament just down the road from me at the Patriot Center. The tournament will feature fighters like Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett, Marcus Aurelio, Drew Fickett, Conor Heun, and others. I'm going to buy my ticket as soon as I finish up here and plan on taking pictures as well as posting live updates on my Twitter (@JustinCohee). Feel free to follow me on Twitter too as I mostly post MMA news anyways.

Also, I just read that Bellator will be coming to Philadelphia in October. There are only two fights announced thus far, but they are the "super fight" between ROger Huerta and Eddie Alvarez, and the welterweight title fight between champ Lyman Good, and wreslting stand out Ben Askren. I'm hoping I'll be able to go to that event as well and provide live coverge.

Post Fight Thoughts: UFC 118 Edition

2010-08-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Last night's fights kept me thoroughly entertained despite some MMA sites claiming that this card was boring compared to UFC 116 and 117. While we didn't see anything that could be called a back and forth classic, what we did see was ever single facet of MMA put on display in its highest form.

Nik Lentz vs. Andre Winner: Probably my least favorite fight of the night. Despite the fact that British fighters are usually lacking in the wrestling department, I was impressed with Winner's ability to defend the takedown (even when both of his feet were off the ground at one point) and get up quickly when the takedown was successful. Lentz got lit up a couple times on the feet, but he used his wrestling background to stuff Winner against the cage and control the fight. Winner really missed some opportunities to create some space that would have allowed him to get his composure back and utilize his significant advantage on the feet. Lentz did what he needed to do to win the fight, but if he is going to take a step up in competition he needs to work on his striking as well as figuring out what to do once the fight hits the mat.

Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger: Holy shit that was an absolute beating. There was not one second of that fight that Gabe looked like he had a chance. The slams were awesome, Joe's transitions into the armbar were picture perfect, and the shots Joe was landing on the ground were absolutely brutal. Gabe may be one and done, or he could get another shot against a newcomer. As for Joe I think a fight with Clay Guida or Gomi would be fun to watch.

Dan Miller vs. John Salter: It was really great to finally see Dan Miller get a good win after all of the personal issues he has to deal with. Miller was coming off three straight losses, but they were to 3 of the best 185ers the UFC has to offer (Sonnen, Maia, Bisping). I saw Salter fight back in January when he was stopped by Gerald Harris. Some people are pretty high on him, but I'm not seeing anything special. I think he's a good wrestler, but that's about it. Miller's stand up definitely looked better, but once again it is his submission skills that get him the win. Miller looked content to stay standing his last few fights, but with his wrestling and BJJ credentials, it just makes more sense for him to try and get things to the mat. I'd like to see Miller take on Mark Munoz or maybe Aaron Simpson for his next fight.

Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz: I picked Diaz to win, but I was really pulling for Davis in this fight. I got super excited when he clipped and dropped Diaz in the first, but after that it was pretty much just Diaz putting on a show. I was talking to a friend about the Diaz brothers and their striking and we both agreed that they've really found a way to throw as many strikes as possible but still throwing power shots as well. I don't know if Davis was frustrated or what, but he looked like he aged a lot in that fight. Usually Davis is light on his feet and is able to get in and out of the pocket without taking a lot of damage, but in this fight he was flat-footed and slow. Once the fight hit the mat in the third it was all Diaz with great transitions and a fight ending guillotine that put Davis to sleep. Yves Lavigne should really be catching some crap right now for not stopping the fight sooner. Davis was out for a good 8-10 seconds before Lavigne finally stopped the bout. I'd rather see a semi-early stoppage than someone end up with a permanent injury. Not sure what's next for Davis, but a fight with Matt Brown or DeMarques Johnson is a direction I'd go in. As for Nate, his next fight depends on what weight he wants to go with. Maynard obviously isn't happening, and I think Diaz should stick with 170 for a little bit longer. I'd love to see him take on Diego Sanchez at either weight.

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard: During the entire time I've been doing my fantasy UFC picks I don't think I've ever picked Gray Maynard to win. I don't know what it is about him, but I just could not get sold on him despite that fact that he's beaten some really tough guys, including the current world champ. I really thought Florian would light Gray up on the feet, but he did pretty much nothing except wait for the takedown. Even though he knew it was coming and trained with GSP for the fight, Kenny couldn't stop Maynard and offered absolutely nothing off of his back. Kenny has looked like a complete fighter on so many occasions, but last night he seriously looked helpless. Maynard didn't do much once he got Kenny down, but it was enough to take a commanding decision. PS, is it just me or is anybody else sick of hearing about Gray's power and striking? I've yet to see it against anyone that matters. Gray is a wrestler, an excellent wrestler, so it's ok to not talk about his striking. Maynard is like 155's Jon Fitch. He's strong, he'll take you down, and he'll completely neutralize you. Maynard is getting the next title shot, but I'm thinking Edgar will be able to make this fight much more competitive than their first meeting. As for Florian, I think a fight with Nate Diaz would make sense if Nate really wants to move back down.

Demain Maia vs. Mario Miranda: I didn't know a lot about Miranda prior to this fight, so when I saw Anderson Silva in his corner and heard that he also had a black belt I started to think that Maia could be in a little bit of trouble. My worries soon melted away when Maia looked better than Miranda on the feet, took him down with ease, and used his far superior BJJ to control the fight. It just goes to show how far ahead Maia is than most fighters when it comes to BJJ, even other black belts. Maia didn't get the submission like I thought he would, but he got close several time. Kudos to Miranda for defending the armbars the way he did, especially the one in the 3rd that he rolled out of beautifully. Miranda is 1-2 in the UFC so he might get one more crack at a newcomer or maybe one of the recent TUF guys. I'd like to see Maia take on the winner of Akiyama/Bisping or the winner of Belfort/Okami.

James Toney vs. Randy Couture: Man Toney really had no chance at all. Couture got the easy takedown in the opening seconds of the fight and got mount with no problem at all. From there it was all Randy working his trademark ground and pound before finally sinking an arm triangle. Dana White stated after the fight that this would be the last time he'd let a boxer come into the UFC like that and I got say I'm pretty happy to hear that. You can't be good at just one thing and come into the UFC and expect to be successful. Toney just looked lost, and it would just be more of the same with any other boxers. PS Randy is not a human being. To be 47 years old and to be in the kind of shape is just beyond my comprehension. Toney is one and done, so peace out, but for Couture he can now go back to working for a title shot at 205. Fights with Jon Jones or Rich Franklin would be my top picks.

Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn: I picked BJ Penn to win this fight, but I was really hoping that Edgar would be able to shock the world again and get a second win against Penn. Edgar won every round with ease and really made Penn look completely lost for 25 minutes. Edgar was quick on his feet, landed far more and harder shots, and took Penn down a couple times. Frankie kept moving the entire fight while Penn looked slow and flat-footed and didn't really try to use his jab, which has been his go to on the feet for quite some time. The one time Edgar might have been in trouble was when Penn took his back in the 5th, but Frankie stayed calm and managed to roll into top control ... just beautiful mat work. Frankie's next fight is already set with Maynard, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him attempt to avenge his only career loss. I'm not really sure where BJ goes from here. He could go up to 170 and test the waters there against guys like Matt Hughes or Matt Serra, or he could stick with 155 and take on someone like Gomi or Tyson Griffin.

UFC 118: Fight Predictions

2010-08-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

With my internship starting this week I haven't had too much free time and the blog was temporarily placed on the back burner. I apologize to my readers and I will definitely will work harder to keep it updated. I want to do an entry talking about the last Strikeforce card as well as the epic Santiago/Misaki rematch. For now I'll just do my predictions for UFC 118 since the card is going down tonight.

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis: This will be Diaz's second fight at 170 after a dominant performance over Rory Markham back at UFC 111. Diaz quickly finished Markham by TKO and looked good despite the fact that he's been fighting at lightweight. I was curious to see if Diaz would add a little more mass since the last fight, and he definitely looks a little bigger. Diaz's striking is good as it is pretty similar to his brother's, but I don't think he's nearly as accurate nor as powerful as Nick. Davis, on the other hand, is a former professional boxer and has KO power to go with his quick hands and solid footwork. Diaz will absolutely have the advantage should the fight go to the ground thanks to his training at Cesar Gracie's camp. Davis has shown that he's capable of staying alive on the mat, but he's going to keep this one standing at all costs. Davis will also have to deal with Diaz's reach advantage and pawing jab, so Davis will want to keep his distance, come in, get his shots in, and then get out fast. I'm a big fan of Marcus Davis, but there are just too many things he's going to have to deal with in this fight. Between Diaz's jab and overall striking game that is continually improving and his slick submission skills I've got to go with Diaz by submission late in the fight.

Kenny Florian vs Gray Maynard: This fight will determine who gets the next shot at the lightweight title. Florian is coming off victories over Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi after a submission loss to BJ Penn back at UFC 101. Maynard is undefeated thus far in his career and most recently defeated Roger Huerta and Nate Diaz. Since the loss to Penn Florian has looked great. His striking is seriously some of the best in the lightweight division. The jab utilized in the Gomi fight was especially impressive and all the while Florian remains exceptional on the ground as shown by his most recent wins coming by submission. Maynard's go to is obviously his wrestling and that is what he is going to want to use here as Florian's weakness is strong wrestlers as evidenced by the Sherk fight. Maynard is also capable of negating a fighter's submission game off their back as seen with his wins over Jim Miller and Rich Clementi. Maynard also has a win over the current lightweight champ Frankie Edgar. The difference in this fight will definitely be in the stand up department. I've continually heard people talk about how good Maynard is getting on the feet and how he has all this power behind his strikes. Personally, I thought Maynard didn't look anything special on the feet against Diaz and the only time he has knocked anybody out was back in 2007 against Joe Veres. I just don't see Florian losing this fight as I think he'll use his superior striking to take a commanding decision win.

Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda: Maia was originally set to face Alan Belcher at the next Fight Night, but Belcher had to drop out due to a detached retina and may never fight again. Maia was then scheduled to fight at UFC 118 and Mario Miranda was brought in as his opponent. Maia hasn't fought since the decision loss to Anderson Silva back at UFC 112, but prior to that Maia had only one career loss, which was a KO defeat to Nate Marquardt. Most of Maia's wins have come by submission due to the fact that he's likely the best BJJ practitioner in the UFC. Miranda debuted in the UFC against rising start Gerald Harris and lost by KO. Miranda rebounded, though, with a dominant TKO win over David Loiseau. Maia has shown that he's working on his standup as seen in the win over Dan Miller, but Miranda is likely going to have the advantage on the feet. Maia is great at dragging guys down to the ground and has shown that he has some crafty takedown ability as well. I see this going a lot like Maia's other fights have gone with him tying up with Miranda, dragging him down, and notching another submission win.

James Toney vs. Randy Couture: I love how this is being built up as MMA vs. Boxing when this a MMA fight. Toney keeps making his comments about how he's going to KO Couture, and while it is certainly possible, I don't think it is likely. Couture has been KO'd before Toney has not had much time at all to work on every skill needed to be successful in MMA, let alone in the UFC against a legend of the sport. All this talk of Toney subbing King Mo and giving Dean Lister on the ground is absolute BS. Toney is out of shape, well past his prime, and is clearly just trying to make a buck. Toney's only chance of winning this fight is clipping Randy on the feet. I see Randy pressing Toney up against the cage, dumping him on his head, and working ground and pound until the fight is called. I'd love to see Randy choke Toney to sleep, but I feel like the beating he'll give him on the ground will be more than enough.

BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar: The first fight between these two was definitely not the most exciting fight I've ever seen, but I still thought it was entertaining due to how close it was. I scored the fight for Edgar, but the judge who scored all five rounds for him was out of his mind. Going into this fight I'm not 100% sure Frankie Edgar has actually faced BJ Penn yet. In their first fight Penn looked tired and worn and was apparently suffering from a pretty bad sinus infection. Prior to that Penn absolutely dominated Florian and Diego Sanchez and looked like an absolute animal. Frankie shocked a lot of people with his win over Sean Sherk and has shown that he's more than just a wrestler thanks to his striking ability. Even with his continually improving striking and stellar wrestling I just don't think it will be enough to take a healthy, motivated, and angry BJ Penn. I say Penn takes this with a submission in the third or fourth round.

Post Fight Thoughts: WEC 50 Edition

2010-08-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

First off, I have to commend the WEC for putting on yet another exciting card with great match making that has continually led to close and ultra competitive fights. I started off well with my predictions, but then I hit a skid and went 2 for 5 (hey Ariel Helwani picked Roller too so I don't feel too bad about it).

Bart Palaszewski vs. Zach Micklewright: In my predictions I was a little critical of Bart's striking, but he really proved me wrong last night. He put together some really nice combinations and displayed some quick head movement that I had not seen him utilize in past fights. He also kept himself out of dangerous exchanges and backed off when Micklewright connected or when he was getting backed up against the case. Micklewright just looked like he was a step or two behind Bartimus the entire fight and was eventually finished off in the 2nd round. Micklewright looked like he was a little upset by the stoppage, but he looked out of it before a crazy flurry and then a final right hand that dropped him to the mat. Great win for Bartimus. That's 4 in row for Bart, so I'd like to see him take a step up in competition and maybe face Shane Roller or the loser of Varner/Cerrone.

Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett: In the predictions I stated that I thought Jorgensen's wrestling would be the difference in the fight, and it definitely was, I just didn't think the fight would be that close (despite what the judges thought). The first round went to Pickett in my opinion as he got the better of the exchanges for the most part and got up quickly from Jorgensen's takedown. The second and third rounds were Jorgensen's as he wobbled Pickett with a couple counters and worked takedowns, some really nice elbows from Pickett's guard, and a couple passes to side control. Jorgensen looks like he's next in like for title shot at 135 against Cruz, and while I think Cruz is the better striker, Jorgensen's wrestling and GnP could be a real difference maker. Tough loss for Pickett, but he stayed tough the entire fight and even put his mouth guard back in while he was getting punched in the face. Tough guy who gained a lot of fans with that performance last night.

Cub Swanson vs. Chad Mendes: Well now that I've seen Mendes fight and seen his fighting style I know not to write him off so quickly now. Not a whole lot to comment on here as Mendes took Swanson down with ease, held on to top control, and earned a decision win. Not the most exciting fight in the world but it was a good win for Mendes. If he can add some submissions and GnP to his skill set he'll be a real tough guy to beat. His stand up was OK, but he kind of looked like Sean Sherk with his muscular build and short arms. Swanson should seriously ask that his fights not be televised due to the fact that when they are ... he loses.

Anthony Pettis vs. Shane Roller: Wow, this was one hell of a performance from Pettis. I realize that he got submission of the night, but it's fights like these that make me wish there was performance of the night bonus to go to a single fighter. Pettis threw some wild kicks that really rocked Roller, showed some amazing takedown defense, and showed even better escapes when Roller did manages to get him to the ground. The reversal in the 2nd round where Pettis used the cage to roll out of Roller's mount was a thing of beauty and showed great awareness. Any other time it looked like Roller might work a submission Pettis would escape with ease ... just great great stuff. Roller really landed some good right hands on Pettis, but he didn't have much success with takedowns and couldn't get anything done on the mat. On top of all that he was giving up more triangle than Chael Sonnen. Great win and performance from Pettis, and I hope he gets the next shot at the 155 belt.

Dominick Cruz vs. Joe Benavidez: Once again I went with my gut instead of my head and my gut was wrong again. All in all it was a good, close fight that has really had a bunch of MMA sites turn out really different scores. I scored it 48-47 Benavidez based on the fact that I didn't think Cruz's attempts to steal rounds with last minute takedowns made up for the fact that Joe B. was putting together some really nice counter strikes that wobbled Cruz on a couple of occasions. FightMetric had Cruz winning all five rounds, but I think the fight appeared to be a lot closer, especially with Joe B. landing the harder shots. All in all it was a good fight and I was not surprised or angered that Cruz was awarded the decision. If you're going to beat a champ you better do it decisively.

On a slightly unrelated note, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has been visiting the blog. The blog got like 30 hits last night which is around 3 times what I have been getting on a daily basis. I encourage everyone to keep coming back, follow the blog, and leave comments. Again, thank you for all the support.

WEC 50 Predictions

2010-08-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well ladies and gentlemen we're one night away from WEC 50 in which we will see Dominick Cruz defend his bantamweight title for the first time against Team Alpha Male member Josepth Benavidez. This will be a rematch from WEC 42, but I'll talk more about the title fight in a little bit. Here's how I see the night going down.

Bart Palaszewski vs. Zack Micklewright: After consecutive losses to Ricardo Lamas and Anthony Njokuani, Palaszewski has rebounded with a trio of wins over Tyler Combs, Anthony Pettis, and Karen Darabedyan. I've always been a fan of Bartimus, so it's nice to see him bounce fights from two pretty one-sided losses. Bart has loads of experience and most of wins have come either by KO or submission. He's good on the feet and is skilled on the ground as well. On the other hand I didn't think he looked to great on the feet in the Njokuani fight and was smothered by Lamas on the mat. Micklewright has only fought for the WEC once and won a decision over Mushin Corbbrey in a fight that I haven't seen. Micklewright is undefeated, but only has 7 career fights. It's hard for me to call this since I haven't seen Micklewright fight, but I'll go with Bartimus due to his being far more experienced.

Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett: This is my early pick for fight of the night. Since joining the WEC Jorgensen has gone 6-2 with his only losses coming in a controversial decision against Antonio Banuelos and another decision against destroyer Damacio Page. Jorgensen avenged the Banuelos loss in his most recent outing, and prior to that win he destroyed Noah Thomas with elbows, dominated Takeya Mizugaki, and put Chad George to sleep with a standing guillotine that actually lifted George off the ground. Jorgensen is decent on the feet, but his bread and butter definitely has to be his wrestling and ground and pound. Pickett joined the WEC and debuted against Kyle Dietz in a fight that saw Pickett win by the rare submission known as the peruvian necktie. Since then Pickett fought for the WEC once more and earned a decision victory over Demetrious Johnson. Pickett is very dangerous on the ground, as evidenced by 9 of his 19 career victories coming by way of submission. As much as I like Pickett I foresee Jorgensen taking the fight to the mat, using his wrestling to keep Pickett on his back, and working his usual vicious ground and pound. I say Jorgensen by decision or late round TKO.

Chad Mendes vs. Cub Swanson: Another tough fight for me to call. I've yet to see Mendes fight, so I really don't know too much about him. He's undefeated, won his last fight by submission, and is also a member of Team Alpha Male. Swanson is 3-2 in his last 5 fights, but out of those 5 fights only the 2 losses were televised. One loss was a 35 second submission to Jens Pulver, and the other was an 8 second KO loss to Jose Aldo. Swanson is obviously a talented fighter given that he has a career record of 14-3 and had an 11 fight win streak prior to the Pulver loss. This is a total guess but I'm going to go with Swanson due to his experience edge and knack for submissions.

Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis: The first time I saw Shane Roller fight he had a strong start against Ben Henderson but was eventually knocked out by the future champ. Since then Roller has won 3 straight against Marcus Hicks, Danny Castillo, and Anthony Njokuani. Roller also submitted Takanori Gomi in a grappling match held at a UFC Fan Expo. Pettis is coming off of two straight victories after a loss to Bart Palaszewski. Pettis knocked out Danny Castillo via head kick and submitted Alex Karalexis with a triangle choke. As a member of Roufusport, Pettis is obviously a dangerous kickboxer, so Roller is going to want to get this to the ground. As we saw in the fight with Njokuani, Roller is very capable of dealing with a dangerous striker. Pettis could very well hit a home run shot on Roller, but I see Roller getting Pettis to the mat and finishing the fight by submission in the 1st or 2nd round.

Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez: As stated earlier this is a rematch from WEC 42. Since the first fight Benavidez has rebounded from the lone loss of his career with two straight stoppage victories over Rani Yahya and former champion Miguel Torres. The win over Torres was especially impressive as Benavidez dominated every aspect of the fight, opened an enormous gash on Torres's head, and made him tap to a guillotine. Cruz also has one career loss, which came against Urijah Fsber, a teammate of Benavidez. Benavidez is a smaller guy, but his striking is good and his wrestling is really strong. Cruz will have a significant reach advantage, but Benavidez overcame a massive reach difference in the Torres fight. Here, though, Cruz will bring some crazy footwork to go along with that reach. Brian Bowles was completely lost in his first title defense against Cruz, and it cost him his belt. I liken Cruz's footwork to that of Rashad Evans. Technically it's not good, but it's varied and wild enough to throw people off of their game. This is once again another tough fight to call. Cruz is the champ for a reason and already won their first meeting, but on the other hand, Benavidez has looked great in last 2 fights and finished a former champ. My head says Cruz, but I'm going to go with my gut and pick Benavidez to win by decision.

Future of the Welterweight Division

2010-08-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I started a little series discussing who I thought was going to become the future of their respective weight classes. I started with the lightweight division and will now move onto the welterweights. The welterweight division, especially in the UFC, is one of the most stacked divisions in terms of talent. The UFC's welterweight champ, Georges St. Pierre, is one of, if not, the best fighter in MMA. Strikeforce's welterweight champ, Nick Diaz, has been extremely successful as of late, and is certainly someone that we could see added to pound for pound lists in the near future. The division also has guys like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves, Martin Kampmann, and Jake Shields.

Tyron Woodley - Up until his most recent fight against Nathan Coy (a win by split-decision), American Top Team member Tyron Woodley had won his first six fights all by submission. Woodley has an amateur wrestling background from his time spent at Mizzou, but he's shown that he is well versed in submissions as well. With Strikeforce's welterweight rosters looking pretty thin, Woodley good start making some noise for a title shot, especially if Jay Hieron keeps getting looked over.

Jake Ellenberger - After Carlos Condit made the move to the UFC and lost to Martin Kampmann is his debut, I thought that the UFC was basically feeding Ellenberger to Condit and that Condit would walk right through him, boy was I wrong. Ellenberger rocked Condit on several occasions and continued to show how talented he is when the fight hit the mat. After three close rounds Condit was awarded the victory by split-decision, but even though I'm a huge Condit fan, I really thought Ellenberger won the fight. Ellenberger bounced back nicely with wins over Mike Pyle and John Howard. In both fights Ellenberger showed great takedowns and wrestling along with vicious ground and pound. The TKO win over Pyle was especially impressive as Pyle was able to show good defense off his back at first.

Rory MacDonald - When I went to UFC Fight Night 20 in Fairfax back in January, I was pretty excited to see MacDonald's fight with Mike Guymon. Both fighters were making their UFC debuts and I had heard good things about both guys. I was especially excited to see MacDonald due to his being 20 years old. After getting rocked early in fight by Guymon, MacDonald controlled the rest of the fight, took the Joker down, and finished him with an armbar. Guymon looked to be the much bigger fighter but looked like he had nothing to defend MacDonald's onslaught. MacDonald returned to face Carlos Condit at UFC 115 and eventually lost via TKO in the 3rd. The stoppage was somewhat controversial and came after MacDonald won the first two rounds. At such a young age MacDonald is only going to get better, and I think a fight with Ellenberger would be a great fight.

Rick Story - I first saw Story fight in a performance that won him bonuses for both fight of the night and submission of the night when he submitted Brian Foster with an arm triangle while still in Foster's guard. Since the win over Foster, Story has earned decision victories over Nick Osipczak and Jesse Lennox and most recently finished Dustin Hazelett via TKO. The win over Hazelett was impressive in that he completely nullified Hazelett's ground game and brutalized him against the cage with strikes that were coming from every angle. Story has the tough loss to John Hathaway on his record, but if he continues to perform like he has over his last four fights, he'll be someone to keep an eye on.

John Hathaway - After watching the vicious beatdown that Hathaway gave Tom Egan back at UFC 93, I was immediately a fan. After decision wins over Paul Taylor and Rick Story, Hathaway was given a real step up in competition at UFC 114 against Diego Sanchez. Hathaway went on to completely dominate the fight and utilized a quick jab that caught Sanchez the entire fight. While Sanchez certainly did not look like he was 100% ready to return to 170 and was in the process of changing camps, it was still an extremely impressive win for the Brit. I'd love to see Hathaway face any of the guys I've mentioned in this post.

Honorable Mention: Johny Hendriks

Post-Event Thoughts: UFC 117

2010-08-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a week since the event, but I figure this post is better late than never, so without further delay here are my thoughts on UFC 117.

Several MMA sites are reporting that the event did very well in terms of PPV sales and could be close to the 1 million orders mark. A lot of people are giving the credit to Chael Sonnen thanks to continual smack talking leading up to the event and I think that credit is deserved. Anderson Silva, despite being one of the best fighters in the world, has never proven to be that big of a PPV draw. Arguments were made that the sales of UFC 101 and UFC 112 changed that perception, but I disagree. UFC 101 piggy-backed off of the success of UFC 100, had Forrest Griffin as Silva's opponent, and also featured the BJ Penn/Kenny Florian title fight. Penn has proven to be a draw on his own as evidenced by the 700k-800k PPV buys seen with UFC 107 and was once again paired with Silva for UFC 112. Unless Silva is paired with a proven draw, or is given an opponent like Sonnen who will seriously hype the fight, Silva is going to remain a moderate draw. This could very well change thanks to Sonnen making Silva look human for once, so it is very possible that people will actually tune into see if Silva's next opponent can dethrone him, especially when it seems possible now.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson: Due to cable issues and dealing with Mediacom over two separate phone calls I missed the first two rounds of the fights. I've since gone back to watch highlights, and it is apparent that the first two rounds of the fight were an absolute beating. Major props to Nelson for hanging on like he did and staying busy despite the fact that Dos Santos was landing several clean, hard shots. Some criticism of Dos Santos has come up due to his inability to finish and his looking a little gassed in the 3rd, but I don't think those criticisms are necessarily valid. Dos Santos stayed busy in the third and despite slowing was still landing shots, throwing knees, and defending the takedown. As for not finishing Nelson, well Dos Santos has finished every other UFC opponent he's faced, so I don't think a lack of a finish should be call for concern, especially when you consider how tough of a guy Nelson is. Dos Santos gets the winner of Velasquez/Lesnar and I couldn't be more excited for either one of those fights. Nelson faces a little bit of a set back, but it shouldn't hurt him too much. I'd like to see Nelson get the loser of Mir/Nog or maybe Cro Cop.

Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida: Wow what a finish. After the losses to GSP and Thiago Alves and the lackluster wins over Matt Serra and Renzo Gracie I really thought that Hughes's best days were behind him. While Hughes may not be holding UFC gold again anytime soon he certainly proved that he is still a threat to anyone at 170. After catching Almeida with a beautiful hook Hughes put him to sleep with one of the craziest submissions I've ever seen. Apparently it's a classic hold used in wrestling, but if I had to describe it I'd call it a blend between a simple front headlock with some anaconda choke/arm triangle thrown in. Hughes is going to take some time off, so we'll have to see how the division shakes out before he makes his return, but I still would love to see him face any of the guys from AKA. As for Almeida, I really expected him to win, but he got caught and put out with ease. I guess it's back to the drawing board for Ricardo, so you could have him face a UFC newcomer or be a step up for guys like Johny Hendriks or Jake Ellenberger.

Clay Guida vs. Rafael Dos Anjos: After the first round it looked like Rafael was going to have a significant advantage on the feet, but when I heard the translation of what his corner was saying, I got scared to think that he had a broken jaw, especially when they talked about him not being able to bite down. From there Dos Anjos looked tentative and was unable to defend Guida's takedowns. Guida is just an animal and it's fun to watch him go and never seem tired, just unbelievable stuff to see. Not sure how long Dos Anjos is going to be out, but when he comes back, fights with Thiago Tavares or Paul Kelly could make sense. As for Guida, I'd like to see him take on Gomi.

Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves: Man this really turned out to be disappointment of the night for me. Fitch is seriously the best at what he does, and I certainly thought it was a fight he could win, but I seriously thought that Alves would be able to put something together and make that fight competitive. I don't know if it was the long layoff, the issues with cutting weight, or a combination of the two, but Alves just did not look like he was in that fight. In fact, he looked complacent at times and was just going through the motions. Dana White originally stated that the winner of the fight would get the next crack at the welterweight title, but he seemed to back off after the fight. I wouldn't be upset if Fitch got the shot now, but I think I'd rather see him face the winner of Shields/Kampmann to determine a true number one contender. Then again, if you give Fitch the show now, you can let the Shields/Kampmann winner have the following shot. It would potentially put guys on the shelf for awhile, but it also allows for more potential title contenders. As for Alves, apparently Dana wants him to go to middleweight, but Alves wants to stick at 170 and has even hired Mike Dolce to oversee his diet to make the cut easier in the future. Assuming he stays at 170 I'd like to see Alves take on Paulo Thiago or Diego Sanchez (since that was a fight Sanchez had to miss due to injury and one that I was super excited for).

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen: I've never been so shocked while watching a fight in my entire life. I expected Sonnen to have about as much success on the ground with Silva as Dan Henderson did, but man, I was WAY off. Sonnen completely dominated that fight for 4.5 rounds before tapping to a triangle in the 5th. Sonnen took Silva down with ease, and even rocked him on the feet on more than one occasion. Sonnen is always susceptible to triangles, though, and there were countless occasions that Silva could have taken it before finally going for it in the fifth. Silva looked like he was working an armbar a bunch of times, but the triangle was just there every time he got control of Sonnen's wrists. The tap was sketchy at first, but after the replay it was pretty obvious that Sonnen tapped. It looks like Silva is going to be out for awhile, but I hope he ends up coming back sooner rather than later. Belfort is waiting for his shot, and I wouldn't be upset if Sonnen got an immediate rematch either. Okami is making noise in the division as well, so there are several options that the UFC could go in determining the next contender.

UFC 117 Predictions

2010-08-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well we are just one day away from UFC 117 and will finally get to see the Middleweight Title fight between champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen. There are a lot of great fights on the card, so lets get to it with my predictions.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson: This is probably the fight that I am most excited to see. I've been a big Dos Santos fan ever since he blew away Werdum with a huge uppercut in his UFC debut, and since that win he has remained unbeaten in the UFC with finishes over Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Gilbert Yvel. Nelson won the Ultimate Fighter Season 10 by knocking out fellow cast mate Brendan Schaub and then went on to finish Struve back in March. Nelson is certainly known for his ground game and holds a black belt in BJJ, but as we saw in his last two fights, he has good striking with solid power. That being said, though, I think Dos Santos will have a significant edge on the feet thanks to his reach and his training with Brazilian Olympic boxers. Dos Santos trains with the Nogueira brothers on a regular basis and claims that he could surprise people on the ground as well. The most we've seen of Dos Santos on the mat, though, was in the Gonzaga fight in which he popped right back up to his feet with no problems whatsoever. Nelson is going to want to get this to the mat, but in order to get close for the takedown he's going to have to walk through the heavy hands of JDS, something I don't think he'll be able to do too often. If the fight ends up on the mat, Nelson's girth could certainly help him control JDS on the mat, but I see this fight ending on the feet with a second round TKO in favor of Dos Santos.

Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Hughes: I'm having a little trouble getting excited for this fight, but it could very well surprise me and end up being much more exciting then I'm giving it credit for. Hughes is a legend of the sport, but hasn't looked great in his last few performances. His loss to Thiago Alves was a beating, and the TKO over Renzo Gracie was simply a kickboxing match between two guys who are not known for their stand up. I saw Almeida fight in person last summer at UFC 101 against Kendall Grove and while he won the decision he had trouble taking Grove down at times and almost got caught in an armbar. Since then, though, Almeida defeated the always tough Matt Brown via RNC back at UFC 111. Almeida will have the reach advantage over Hughes, but I don't believe that he will have a significant advantage in the striking department. Both fighters are known for their mat work, and I think this is where the fight will end up. I look for Almeida to eventually get the fight to the mat, work submission from top control, and dominate the fight. Hughes is no slouch, though, so I could be wrong, but I see Almeida winning the fight either by a commanding decision or a late round submission.

Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Clay Guida: This is just some great matchmaking on Joe Silva's part, I just love this fight. Dos Anjos is another fighter I saw fight live when he dominated Kyle Bradley back in January. We knew that Dos Anjos was a fantastic grappler as evidenced by the win over Terry Etim, but in the Bradley fight he showed that he is certainly talented on the feet as well. Guida is just a cardio machine, and just works at a pace that most guys are not able to keep up with. Wins over Mac Danzig and Nate Diaz showed that he has good takedowns and smothering wrestling, but due to his short reach his striking isn't going to become one of his most effective tools. Losses to Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez showed that Guida is prone to getting involved in exchanges on the feet that he is not likely to get the better of. In this fight I see Dos Anjos getting the better of Guida on the feet, with it eventually ending up on the mat, which is a place Guida is not going to want to be despite his wrestling. After controlling the stand-up Dos Anjos will once again show his grappling skills with a second round submission win.

Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves: Dana White recently stated that the winner of this fight will get the next title shot against the winner of GSP/Koscheck. While I don't hate the idea, I don't exactly love it. Fitch has won every one of his fights since his loss to GSP, so he is probably more deserving of the shot that Alves, especially since this will be Alves's first fight since the one-sided loss to GSP. The problem with Fitch, though, is that he got pounded by GSP in their first fight, and I haven't seen any real significant changes in Fitch that would lead me to believe that a second fight would go any different. Also, Fitch has stated on numerous occasions that he will go to 185 should Koscheck win the title. I'd much rather see the winner of this fight face the winner of Shields/Kampmann to determine the next challenger. Anyways, on to the actual fight at hand. These two fought once before 4 years ago in a fight that was pretty much dominated by Fitch and ended with Fitch winning via up-kick KO. Since then both have enjoyed a lot of success in the UFC, but I think Alves has progressed much more as a fighter than Fitch has. Alves's takedown defense is leaps and bounds better than what it used to be and his muay thai is simply devastating. Fitch can get lit up on the feet as we saw in his fights with GSP and Mike Pierce, and I look for that to happen here. Fitch is notoriously difficult to finish, so I could see this going much like Alves's fight with Koscheck. Alves will defend the takedown, dominate the stand up, and maybe rock Fitch a few times en route to a decision victory.

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen: It's pretty funny to see how far Chael has gotten himself with his talking considering how it wasn't too long ago that he was tapping out to Paulo Filho and Demian Maia. I will give credit where credit is due, though, and commend Sonnen on his dominating performances over Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt. Sonnen brings with him a strong wrestling background and a good camp with Team Quest. Sonnen isn't much of a finisher, though, which means he'll likely be placed in danger several times over the course of a potential five round fight. While I don't think Anderson Silva is the P4P best in the world (I think he's #2 after GSP) he's probably the most dangerous striker in the world. Even when he's acting like a jerk he has the most precise striking of any fighter in the world, period. I'm hoping that Sonnen lit a fire under Silva's ass with all his shit talking, and we'll see the champion fight like he should. I do believe that Sonnen will get Silva down, but from there I don't think he'll be able to do much else. Silva is a black belt in BJJ and can certainly defend himself off his back as well as work submissions as seen in the win over Travis Lutter. Sonnen will have as about as much success on the mat as Dan Henderson and will eventually succumb to Silva's strikes sometime in the 3rd round.

MMA In DelaWhere? Support Local MMA

2010-08-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

After surviving the two day hell that is the Virginia Bar Exam I headed home to the beaches of Delaware to take a little vacation time and to see some family and friends. When driving to Ocean City, Maryland last weekend I heard an advertisement for cage fights that were going down in Ocean City at the Convention Center. I was pretty excited to hear this, but soon realized that the fights were the following night and I had already made plans that I couldn't break. Thankfully, my disappointment was relieved when I heard ANOTHER advertisement for MMA fights to be held in the town that neighbors my hometown! Primal Fights 5 will be held at the Georgetown Fire Department on August 14th. I checked out the promotion's website which gave a listing of the night's fights as well as a place to order tickets.

Most of the guys on the card only have one or two fights on their records, and some of them will be making their fight debuts on the 14th, Nevertheless, I can't pass up the chance to go check these out. I'm not sure whether we'll see any future UFC stars in the making, but I don't know how any MMA fan could pass up the chance to see some fights for 20 bucks, especially when the event is 10 minutes away. I can only hope this is the beginning of more local MMA in Delmarva as well as maybe spreading to areas over the Bay Bridge like Annapolis, Baltimore, and the DC area. Support local MMA and give the sport the legitimacy it deserves!

UFC on Versus 2: Post Fight Thoughts

2010-08-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Gomi/Griffin: Man that was one hell of a punch. Griffin can protest all he wants, but he was face down and had his arms flat ... no chance of recovery what so ever. Gomi will always be a threat with that balls out power. Griffin has lost two in a row so he needs to get back on track if he wants to stay relevant in the division. Kurt Pellegrino or Joe Stevenson would be good fights. Gomi vs. Stevenson is something I want to see too.

Ellenberger/Howard: Great performance by Ellenberger. I really thought Howard might pull out the win out of nowhere when he had Ellenberger rocked a couple times, but Jake really used his strong wrestling base to get Howard on his back, keep him there, and get his shots in when he could. Howard's eye was just gross, that was a legit stoppage. I think Ellenberger vs Rory MacDonald makes A LOT of sense and Howard could use a come back fight against a newcomer.

Munoz/Okami: I had Okami winning the first and third rounds, so I'm not sure where Cecil Peoples pulled out his scores. Okami's stand up looks really good, but Munoz was able to answer back with his wild, go for broke hay makers. Is it just me, or does Munoz's set ups and shots look super ugly despite his wrestling pedigree? Okami could be one win away from a title shot, and with Alan Belcher out of his fight with Maia, if Okami is healthy he could step up. Munoz is back to the drawing board so a fight with Brian Stann could be a good way to go.

Jones/Janitor: Wow, enough dicking around, just give Jones some tougher competition. Jones vs Forrest would make a lot of sense and would give Jones that upper level push without putting him in there with someone like Rashad, Rampage, or Little Nog. Tough break for Vlad, but he should be able to bounce back nicely and settle in as a gatekeeper.

UFC on Versus 2: Predictions and Discussion

2010-07-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

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.

Future of the Lightweight Division

2010-07-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Stop The Shamrock Hate

2010-07-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Filho Makes Weight

2010-07-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

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.

Impact Down Under and Shields in the UFC

2010-07-16T21:45:00.001-07:00

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.

1st Post

2010-07-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

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.