UFC 107 Preview: How BJ Penn Became The Prodigy
November 30th, 2009
Archive
Archive for November, 2009
Jake Rosholt cut by the UFC after submission loss to Kendall Grove HT: t…
November 30th, 2009
Mike “Joker” Guymon vs. Rory MacDonald official for UFC Fight Night 20 prelims
November 30th, 2009
A long-rumored bout between King of the Cage world and Canadian 155-pound champion Rory MacDonald (9-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and 170-pound KOTC title-holder Mike "Joker" Guymon (11-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is now official for UFC Fight Night 20.The welterweight bout is slated for the night's un-aired preliminary card.
UFC Fight Night 20 takes place Jan. 11 at the Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. The main card airs on Spike TV.
Shane Nelson More than what youve seen on TV
November 30th, 2009
Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - For better or worse, what people see of you on reality television is usually what they'll base their opinions on. In some cases, that's enough, because what comes through on the TV screen is pretty accurate. In the case of Shane Nelson though, what people saw on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter didn't tell the whole story.
Fighting in the rain
November 30th, 2009
From Roxy:
“My teammate Yoichi Fukumoto just did something amazing, and I want it recognized. He fought IN THE POURING RAIN, got beat up, and managed to win via arm bar. I was reading the blog of his cornerman Iida and they were saying it was like a nightmare…how the heck do you train for fighting in the rain? I can’t imagine!”
(via Bloody Elbow. More cool pictures of the slip and slide fight at bert671’s flickr page)
UFC 107 Extended Trailer: Penn vs. Sanchez, Mir vs. Kongo, Florian vs. Guida
November 30th, 2009
(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)
The UFC hits Memphis for the first time on December 12th, and even though the card is short an Alves and a Duffee, it's still going to be an enjoyable night of fights. Headlining the card is BJ Penn's latest lightweight title defense against Diego Sanchez, who Joe Rogan describes as "crazy in the best way possible." Sanchez already believes that he's the best 155-pounder in the world, and looks forward to proving it to the rest of us. Penn is only looking to have some fun out there, and live his dream for one more night. "I'm going to race you to the center of that ring, player," Sanchez says. "Feel your legs burning in the third round. Feel your lungs gasping for air, but you don't get no oxygen. That's what BJ Penn's gonna feel come 12/12."
But wait, there's more. Frank Mir wants Cheick Kongo to know that "he'll never be the same human being when I get out of that cage with him...when I get a hold of him, it could be the last time he ever gets to compete as an athlete. You're going to see the difference between a well-rounded martial artist versus a guy who never expanded upon his abilities." Kongo, whose feelings are clearly hurt, warns Mir about his big mouth. And finally, Kenny Florian and Clay Guida look to get back to lightweight contendership following recent high-profile losses. The complete UFC 107 lineup is after the jump; your predictions are appreciated.
My UFC 107 Predictions
November 30th, 2009
Not knowing what my schedule will be like over the next few weeks, I decided to go ahead and share my brilliance with all of you a bit earlier than usual.
UFC 107, which will be held December 12 at the Fed Ex Forum in Memphis. will be the second UFC even in the state of Tennessee. In April, UFC Fight Night: Condit vs.Kampmann drew over 10,000 fans to the Sommet Center in Nashville.
The main event of UFC 107 was originally scheduled to be a grudge match between two former UFC light heavyweight champions—Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who were chosen as opposing coaches on the latest installment of The Ultimate Fighter.
The UFC chose Memphis because Rampage is from the area and specifically asked for a fight in front of his hometown fans. Unfortunately for all involved, Jackson is off filming movies.
As has been the case many times before, the UFC stepped up big time. Now occupying the main event slot will be a battle for the UFC lightweight championship.
Champion BJ Penn will square off against Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez in what should be an exciting bout to determine lightweight supremacy.
On to my predictions:
Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve —Heavyweights
Struve is filling in for an injured Todd Duffee. Struve was last seen submitting Chase Gormley at UFC 104.
Standing at 6′ 11″ tall, he is the tallest fighter in the UFC. Struve uses those long legs to catch his opponents in submissions. In fact, fourteen of his 21 victories have come by tapout. Eleven of those submission has been either a triangle choke or rear naked choke.
Buentello makes his return to the UFC after a three and half year hiatus. Buentello is by the far the much more polished striker of the two, having won sixteen times by knockout.
There is a nine inch height advantage here. If Buentello can get close enough, he could easily knockout Struve. If this fight goes to the ground, I can easily see Struve slapping on another triangle.
At only twenty one years old, Struve has already had 24 career bouts. I really like how he handled himself while on his back. I see another choke out here for the “Skyscraper.”
Stefan Struve via second round submission.
Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida —Lightweights
Both men are coming off of losses. Florian squandered his second opportunity at the UFC lightweight championship, while Guida came up short against Diego Sanchez in what may be the fight of the year.
This is going to be an all out war in my opinion. Florian has the edge in striking and submissions, Guida has the edge in wrestling.
Look for Florian to follow the same strategy that Sanchez had against Guida when he was on his back. Kenflo has some of the nastiest elbows in all of MMA.
There is no question that Guida can hang with anyone in the lightweight division, but can he beat the elite?
I don’t think he can. The fight will definitely be competitive and very close, but Florian just has way too many tools.
Kenny Florian via unanimous decision.
Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce —Welterweights
A battle between two former collegiate wrestlers. Pierce was slated to take on Fitch’s teammate, Josh Koscheck and Fitch was set to rematch with Thiago Alves. With all the injuries that have occurred, the UFC did some reshuffling and matched these two up.
Fitch is the more experienced of the two and has faced stiffer competition. He is riding a three fight win streak since losing to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 87 last August.
Pierce had an impressive UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 19. He defeated UFC & WEC veteran Brock Larson in what many people considered an upset
Pierce has knockouts (5) in ten career bouts, while Fitch only has four.
Fitch is one of the toughest fighters in the UFC, as evidenced by the beating at the hands of GSP. Fitch does not know the meaning of the word quit.
I think Fitch’s experience and tenacity will be too much to overcome for Pierce, who has the potential to be a very good fighter. Fitch is not a finisher, so I think it’s safe to say the judges will be involved in this one.
Jon Fitch via unanimous decision.
Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo — Heavyweights
Mir is looking to bounce back after having a golden horseshoe removed from his a** courtesy of Brock Lesnar.
I am not sure what the usual recovery time is for such a procedure, but it will be interesting to see how he performs.
Kongo is also licking his wounds after being punched in the head over 200 times at UFC 99 by Cain Velasquez.
The French Kickboxer did show just how tough he was, as he refused to allow Velasquez to finish the fight.
Kongo is one of the most powerful strikers in the UFC, but his ground game is basically non-existent. Mir’s striking is nowhere near as good as Kongo’s.
That should be enough to tell everyone just where Mir will look to take the fight. My bet is he’s successful.
Frank Mir via second round submission.
Diego Sanchez (Challenger) vs. BJ Penn (Champion) —UFC Lightweight Championship
Besides the fact that I am a huge Sanchez fan and I do not like Penn all that much, this fight interests me just about as much as any fight this year.
Judging by his fight with Florian at UFC 101, Penn seems to have improved his conditioning greatly. It was Penn who was the aggressor as the fight went instead of Florian.
Sanchez, like Guida, is a ball of energy. He doesn’t have a first or second gear, he completely skips over them. He will have to be much more careful against Penn, who has power in both hands.
One thing we do need to keep in mind, is Sanchez has never been finished. Both career losses have come by decision.
As good as Diego can be, Penn is just that much better. There isn’t one area, other than cardio, that Sanchez has an edge over Penn.
The fight will be competitive and exciting, but in the end, Penn shows he is the best 155 pound fighter in the world.
BJ Penn via unanimous decision.
On another note, I will be interviewing both UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader and Strikeforce middleweight champion, Jake Shields in the upcoming week. If anyone has any questions for either fighter, let me know.
Pete Spratt vs. Nathan Gunn fight video: HDNet Fights Video Vault
November 30th, 2009
In our newest installment of HDNet Fights Video Vault, we take a look
at a recent welterweight bout between UFC veteran Pete Spratt and
fast-rising Nathan Gunn.The undercard bout took place in early October and pitted the veteran Spratt (19-13 at the time) against Gunn (7-0), the undefeated prospect who hoped to claim the first signature victory of his young career.
Each week HDNet and MMAjunkie.com release a new and exclusive fight from the ever-growing HDNet Fights video library. Stunning knockouts, slick submissions, shocking finishes and legendary brawls are the norm for this weekly feature. And Spratt vs. Gunn is no exception.
M-1 Global and HDNET Team Up To Anoint Fedor Emelianenko As A God
November 30th, 2009
For those of you who have criticized the UFC media train for being embarrassingly one-sided, I give you M-1 Global.
Fedor Emelianenko’s management group teamed up with HDNET to produce a half-hour-long stroke job about the man many consider the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Talk about waxing poetic. I was so turned off by the piece that I stopped watching it halfway through.
M-1 proceeded to parade out executive after executive, who each took turns at kissing Fedor’s Russian a**.
From Dana White’s favorite target, Jerry Millen, to Jimmy Smith, Ian Freeman, and Joe Kelly, they all basically anointed Fedor as a God.
Also included in the video were Sports Illustrated ’s Josh Gross and HDNET’s Bas Rutten, Kenny Rice, and Ron Kruk.
I completely understand the need to build Fedor up in the eyes of the American fans. As great a fighter as Fedor is, he has yet to prove he is a pay-per-view draw.
I was excited at the prospect of the video, but what killed me was the fact that there was not one mention of his failure to lead Affliction to the promised land, nor was there any mention of the failed negotiations with the UFC.
If you are going to produce a documentary about a fighter, it is my belief that it should never be as one-sided as HDNET and M-1 Global have made it out to be.
I am not here to argue Fedor’s place in the sport of mixed martial arts.
Before I watched him destroy two former UFC champions and hand Brett Rogers his first career loss, I was not a believer in his standing as the best fighter on the planet.
He has gotten as far as he has because he is so damn good—there can be no argument there.
I do not need Kenny Rice to tell me how great he is, and I don’t really care what Jerry Millen has to say; he has made a big enough fool of himself already.
If their main goal was to make Fedor look like a great fighter, they failed.
At the end of the video, they showed his bouts with Hong Man Choi and Andrei Arlovski.
Of course, both of these bouts were produced by none other than HDNET, or were at the very least called by their announcers.
I am the type of fan that likes to hear both sides of the argument. This production was a complete snowjob and will do nothing to increase Fedor’s visibility with the fans.
They never even interviewed any of his previous opponents. No referees, no former Pride execs.
Any rational fan would realize that anyone associated with M-1 Global or HDNET would never risk their jobs by saying anything other than Fedor is the greatest.
If I had to hear one more time, how special, how kind or how warm Fedor is, I would have gotten sick.
Insane MMA Offshoot of the Day: ‘Triple Warrior Combat’
November 30th, 2009
(Props: HDWSHOWS via Fightlinker)
You know, it's easy to dismiss San Do as a crackpot gimmick created by mentally handicapped people. (See also: Xtreme Arm Wrestling, Kung Fu Football) But watching this promo trailer for a new three-man MMA league, I can't help but wonder if "Triple Warrior Combat" could be the future of the sport. Think about it: MMA is popular because human beings — particularly dudes in the 18-34 age range — have a weird compulsion to watch people fight. (Remember Dana White's four corners analogy?) And fight promoters have always assumed that one guy vs. one guy is the smartest way to do things — and it is, without question. But is a fight between two people inherently more interesting than fights involving three or more people?
In other words, which would you rather see: This Saturday's lightweight tilt between Frank Edgar and Matt Veach, or an out-of-control Russian supermarket brawl? To me, San Do seems like an attempt to regulate street fights and present them to paying audiences. People love street fights. Who knows what the combat sports landscape will look like in another 20 years, but I won't be surprised if a multiple-combatant league becomes a legitimate option for fight fans. All I know is, one day there will be an undefeated heavyweight champion of beating-two-guys-at-the-same-time, and you will not want to fuck with this man.
(BG)
UFC 107 video preview for ‘Penn vs Sanchez’ on Dec. 12 (Extended)
November 30th, 2009