Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale

Thanks in part to circumstance and a very generous fighter I will be attending this weekend's TUF Finale... with excellent seats. The card is as follows (my predictions are in RED, there's a time crunch so I wont determine "how" for the W):


Main Card Bouts:

-Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove (Tanner)



-Ultimate Fighter 7 Final: Amir Sadollah vs. C.B. Dollaway (Dollaway)

-Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti (Sanchez)

-Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens (Fisher)

-Dante Rivera vs. Matthew Riddle (Riddle, KO)


Preliminary Bouts:
-Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett (Burkman)

-Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries (McFedries)

-Matt Arroyo vs. Matt Brown (Brown)

-Dean Lister vs. Jeremy Horn (Horn)

-Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough (Credeur)

-Rob Yundt vs. Rob Kimmons (Yundt)


I can't really express how excited I am.... we'll just say REALLY, really, really, really excited. It's going to be an action packed event with knock outs and stunning moments. I'll take pictures and post with a full write up upon my return from Sin City.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

In other MMA news...

UFC President, Dana White, announced in a recent ESPN interview that the UFC will be heading to Atlanta, GA for a show to be held in the Phillips Arena (21,000 seating) sometime in August. As with their ventures in other areas, one can only assume fighters from the southern region will flood the card.

JAKKS Pacific and the UFC have partnered to produce UFC action figures as well as accessories like an Octagon. The line will also include figures well known by fans such as announcers Joe Rogan, Mike Goldberg and Bruce Buffer. JAKKS did not have a size determined for the figures but speculated they would be similar to the 6" WWE (that's right, they make WWE figures too) s. They will make more high-end figures for collectors as well as marketing to children with "less authentic" options available.

Elite XC’s Scott Smith did not suffer a broken foot in his bout with Robbie Lawler. There was topical bruising but after a few days off the foot Smith reports he’s back to normal. A rematch between Lawler and Smith is expected to be the headlining match for the next Elite XC – CBS card; however, the date is yet to be announced.

UFC 85: Bedlam

June 7, 2008

Controversy leads the night

“That ref sucks!” was Brandon Vera’s first response when asked his thoughts on the controversial referee stoppage of his fight against Fabricio Werdum. To start the fight Werdum landed a good takedown, but Vera was quickly back to his feet. “The Truth” then landing a left hook that opened a small cut over Werdum’s right eye. Fabricio clinched and took the fight to the ground, passing Vera’s guard and moved to full mount. The Brazilian unloaded with a barrage of punches, leading Vera to cover up and expect to ride out the rest of the round. With twenty seconds left, Vera –unscathed- was shocked to hear Referee Dan Miragliotta call a stop to the bout. In post fight press conferences Vera claimed, “"The referee was asking me, talking to me, saying something like, 'are you okay?' He was talking to me. I remember he was talking to me and I was saying, 'I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.' I said it three times. I made sure I stressed, 'I'm.' My last fight I fought with a broken hand after the first thirty seconds, all three rounds, no complaints. I was getting punched in the face man. Come on. He hit me three or four times. The rest were on my arms." Vera asked for a rematch as soon as the fight was over; however, Werdum stated in the post fight press conference that Vera would have to “get back in queue” to fight him again. Most speculate that Werdum will fight the winner of the Noguiera – Mir title match.

The Vera-Werdum controversy was followed by the Leites-Marquardt dispute. Shortly into the second round Marquardt threw a powerful knee to the downed Thales (an illegal move). Leites only needed half of the allotted 5 minutes to recover, but Referee Herb Dean took a point from Marquardt as penalty. Back to action Marquardt comes out very aggressive, sure he has to win the round following his point deduction. After receiving a brutal punishing from the American, Leites reverses a takedown and mounted his opponent finishing the round with a choke attempt. Even with the one-point deduction the round would have been split on the judges’ cards.
The final round opened with Thales going for a flying knee only to be took down by Marquardt. Leites pulls from his Jiu-Jitsu arsenal and tried for a triangle choke. Marquardt worked horizontal elbows which the referee saw land to the back of Thales’ head; leading to another one-point deduction. Once the fight was restarted Marquardt opens another cut on his opponent’s head after taking the fight to the ground. With second left in the round Marquardt borrowed a move from the WWE and piledrived Leites into the mat. With a total of two points being deducted from Nate Marquardt, Thales Leites won via split decision. (28-27, 28-27, 27-28)

The Swick-Davis fight was classic striker against striker. Davis comes from a boxing background and Swick’s first 4 fights (at 185lbs) totaled just more than 5 minutes, two due to KO. After three hard fought rounds “Quick” pulled another “W” via unanimous decision, leaving Davis with only a brutal gash under his left eye. The two started their exchange as soon as the opening bell rang. “The Irish Hand ” throwing punches, Swick with high kicks. After taking the fight to the ground Swick opened a cut on the bridge of Davis’ nose before the round ended.
The second round opened with another takedown by the Houston-native. Still on the ground, Davis tries for a kimura but Swick defends and continues his ground and pound assault. Getting back to their feet Davis caught his opponent in a clinch and lands uppercuts and a good takedown. They got to their feet in time for the round to end with Swick taking Davis down again.
With more intensity than before Davis is much more aggressive as the second round starts. While entwined in a clinch, “Quick” grabbed the fence, leading to Referee Herb Dean to direct the judges to deduct on point for the violation. This round ends with another Swick-takedown followed by more ground and pound.

After stepping in for Chris Leben, Jason Day thought he was getting his big break early. Michael Bisping was determined to clobber that fairy tale, as he defeated Day with an impressive ground and pound assault at only 3:42 of round one. After leading with a huge takedown the “Count” postured up beautifully out of Day’s guard. After moving to the Canadian’s back Bisping reigned down with unanswered hammers while Day could only turtle up in defense. Next up: “The Crippler”.

Most underestimated Thiago Alves… myself included. I thought the seasoned Hughes would have a challenge but ultimately he’d come out on top. The Brazilian proved every doubter wrong Saturday night with an impressive TKO delivered via a flying left knee.
Hughes tried to take it to the mat as soon as the first bell rang. Alves opened a cut over the bridge of Hughes’ nose before getting back to their feet. While executing another takedown Hughes was caught with a knee to the body; Thiago finished the round with powerful punches on the mat.
The Brazilian came out aggressive with another nice knee. Back on the mat Alves opens another large cut on the former champion’s face with some ground and pound. Just as they were back to their feet Alves delivered the knee that ended it all. 1:02 into the second round; "The Pitbull" claimed the victory that inched him closer to a title shot.

Young guns claim bonuses: Saturday night’s bonuses went to the young stars gracing the octagon.

Fight of the night: Matt Wiman & Thiago Tavares

Submission of the night: Kevin Burns (submitted BJJ Black Belt Roan Carneiro via triangle choke)

KO of the night: Thiago Alves

Ø All of the above fighters received a $50,000.00 bonus.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Elite XC on CBS: MMA or WWE?

Elite XC on CBS, Sat. May 31

Main Card

-Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson def. James Thompson by TKO at 0:38, R3
-Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith ruled a No Contest (Doctor Stoppage) at 3:26, R3
-Gina Carano def. Kaitlin Young by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 3:00, R2
-Joey Villasenor def. Phil Baroni by TKO at 1:11, R1
-Brett Rogers def. Jon Murphy by KO at 1:01, R1

Preliminary Fights
-Chris Liguori def. Jim Bova by TKO (Doctor's Stoppage) at 4:31, R2
-Carlton Haselrig def. Carlos Moreno by TKO (Unable to Continue) at 5:00, R1
-Matt Makowski def. Nick Serra by TKO (Unable to Continue) at 3:57, R2
-Wilson Reis def. Justin Robbins by Submission (Rear Choke) at 4:06, R1
-James Jones def. Calvin Kattar by Submission (Rear Choke) at 4:49, R1
-Zach Makovsky def. Andre Soares by Unanimous Decision at 5:00, R3
-Joe Sampieri def. Mike Groves by TKO (Strikes) at 4:58, R1

Saturday marked a mile-stone for Mixed Martial Arts: it would finally be aired on network television. I was anticipating the event as much (if not more) than every other MMA fan… only to be seriously let down. Don’t get me wrong, most of the fights were great. But, when Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson is headlining there can only be so much to expect. Personally, I was most looking forward to the Scott Smith vs. Robbie Lawler fight -as well as the Carano vs. Young bout. There aren’t many people that would argue against the thought that Lawler vs. Smith’s title fight should have been the main event… but we are in the digital age and the man with the YouTube fame took over the headlining honors.

When the airing first started I was, to say the least, highly critical. Having Brett Rogers being accompanied by Busta Rhymes and Chris “Big Black” Boikin was something more reminiscent of a WWF (WWE) show than anything in MMA. Phil Baroni didn’t help the cause with his outlandish robe; taking just a long to get to the ring as he did to exit with his 1:11 R1 TKO loss to Joey Villaseñor. My criticism subsided as soon as the women’s fight got on its way. I was much more interested in the happenings inside the ring that pointing out –say- how annoying the announcer was. I made it almost through the women’s match when my scorning of this pitiful broadcast was brought back by the doctor calling the bout due to Kaitlin’s massive right eye (more detail on that later). The belligerence came back for a third time when the same doctor stopped the Smith vs. Lawler bout prematurely.

Back to the women’s fight: After not making weight (4.5 pound over the limit, resulting in 12.5% of her purse going to Young) Carano came out ready. Gina kept her distance with front kicks, limiting Young to feel her out for a while. Soon the two were locked up and blows were delivered by both. The round was soon over and though she was visibly fatigued Carano started the second round with power. The two exchanged jabs and hooks when “Conviction” caught Young with a kick to the head dropping her to the mat. Carano pounced trying for a rear choke but the round came to a close before the submission was totally sunk in. Young looked frustrated but not beat. However, the kick to her face created a huge amount of swelling under her left eye. During the break the doctor called the fight due to the swelling of Young’s eye. Given I’m not a doctor, and I have no medical training, it did appear as Kaitlin could have continued given the chance. She didn’t balk much at the doctor’s call (doctor’s normally know best), but you could tell she would have liked to carry on.

The Smith vs. Lawler fight was the one I was most looking forward to seeing. I’ve been a Smith fan for quite a while and his fight with Pete Sell (Nov. ’06) is still one of my favourites. Following the opening bell the man with the “Hands of Steel” came out firing blows, trying to stun the champion early on. “Ruthless” Lawler wouldn’t be taken so easily though; he retaliated with a barrage of jabs and body kicks. As the first five minutes wound down Lawler attacked with blows that seemed to catch Smith.

The second round opened with Scott getting what appeared to be a second wind. He got the champion with powerful punches and kicks to the body. The challenger controlled most of the second round in this impressive fashion. I believe the judges had it at 10-9 for each at this point. Round three opened with Lawler back on the offensive. He battered Smith with more jabs and body kicks. One of the kicks caught the Elk Gove native in the right side of his rib cage (his Achilles’ heal after the bout with Drago) visibly hurting him. The blows were going back and forth when Lawler went to block a jab by Smith and caught the challenger in the eye with his left index finger. Instantly Scott grabbed his eye and the referee Dan Miragliotta called a time out. Smith was initially told he had 5 minutes to recover (as the rules state). After roughly a minute the ring-side doctor came in to look at the eye. The injured Smith stated that he could not see at that time but would be fine after the allotted 5 minutes. Apparently the doctor didn’t think he could recover in time and called a stoppage to the bout. Scott begged for the contest not to be over; both fighters were noticeably distraught when the stoppage was announced. Since the injury occurred in the second round the bout was ruled a “no contest” (bouts called to a stoppage before the conclusion of the third round are ruled a no contest, after the third round would have gone to the judges’ score cards) and Elite XC President Gary Shaw declared there would indeed be a rematch sometime in the future. As well as promising a re-match, Mr. Shaw also awarded both fighters the amount they would have gotten as a win bonus. A bittersweet end to a fight that was called all too soon.

Now, to the night’s finale: Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. James Thomson. Let me start by saying that if this were any other person this would have only been a preliminary bout. But, since it was the Kimbo Slice, it was made the main event. Secondly, Did you see Thompson’s ear!?! Holy damn! How did the attending doctors not make him drain it before the fight began. They had to have known that after being hit with the right force it would explode like that. Being the that I am, I couldn’t wait for it to burst… just to see what was inside. However, I didn’t realize they would call the bout once it did burst. I can understand James Thompson being upset after the fight being called, but really, there was no need to paw the referee. As far as the action of the fight goes, it was boring. Ferguson was worn out before the first round was over; evident by how he just dropped to the mat and laid there after the fight was called. After a minute of is post-fight interview he was frank enough to say “I’m done talking”, obviously out of breath. To his credit, Thompson did his part, as much as you can when you have a 260 pound man mauling you. I think in the end it just gets chalked up to an out of shape, ove - , inexperienced fighter (Ferguson) being pitted against a mediocre -yet hungry- fighter (Thompson) putting on a show that was sure to bring the network ratings but leave real MMA fans with something to be desired.

To see Baroni's entrances go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu9htdwes4M


Monday, April 21, 2008

"The King is (Re)Born"

UFC 83
St. Pierre vs. Serra - TKO R2 M4

The first round opened with the deafening cheers of fans filling Montreal’s sold out Bell Centre being rallied ever louder as their native son almost instantly scored a massive takedown on the defending champion. Without hesitation St. Pierre began chipping away at his opponent with elbows and over-powering him on the ground. As the round progressed you could tell “Rush” had something to prove. Just as he had out wrestled Hughes and Koscheck it seemed as though he wanted to “out jiu-jitsu” Serra. When the fight got back to the feet mid-way through the round “The ” was sure to stay inside, trying to cut GSP’s 8 inch reach advantage. With another take down the Canadian showed he didn’t want to risk a repeat of the two’s last meeting. Serra gained some ground as he landed elbows from the bottom, but it wasn’t enough to defend against the challenger’s battering. Near the end of the first round St. Pierre caught Serra with left hook creating a mouse under his right eye.

During the minute between rounds Serra already looked defeated. The passion was gone from his eyes. It appeared the fight was over before the second round began. Ever the fighter though he came out ready to bang. Just as the first round had started the second round lead with Montreal’s native son quickly taking the American back to the mat. Over powering the older, smaller opponent, St. Pierre had an answer for Serra’s every move. “The ” scrambled back to his feet only to be taken down again. Met with a constant attack of knees and punches the New Yorker could do little to combat the barrage. The mouse St. Pierre had placed under Serra’s right eye in the first round was quickly swelling larger and was now coupled with a ballooning left eyebrow. Fueled by Serra’s pre-fight verbal jabs GSP unloaded a flurry of knees to Serra’s undefended body in an effort to end the fight. Referee Yves Lavigne called a stop to the fight with 15 seconds left in the round. As announcer Bruce Buffer was declaring the official winner the crowd drowned him out with cheers for their beloved title holder. Georges St. Pierre had successfully won back his title in front of 21,000+ of his biggest supporters. In an attempt to describe the crowd’s response the still-aw-struck champion simply stated “it was the most beautiful day of my life. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s amazing. Thank you Montreal!”

With the question of “Who is the real champion?” answered the post fight press conference opened new queries. Dana White, UFC President, made remarks that GSP might be making the move to 185lbs to face current champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva. In what some are saying could be a bigger, better match up than any UFC fight to date (Liddell-Silva & Silva-Henderson included) everyone is anticipating what will happen next. Not to cut off current welter weights, White also predicted Jon Fitch will most likely be GSP’s next title defense.