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UFC 124 Pierre vs Koscheck

Dec 29

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

This event was held on Dec. 11th 2010  in Montreal-Quebec Canada . A long awaited event and return of the welterweight Champion in Georges St. Pierre.   We’re just going to look at a few of the main bouts on the card.

Alves vs Howard – Alves is back! After all the trouble making weight and dealing with disappointing fights Alves came out and dominated. He had great hands and mixed things up with leg kicks. I was really surprised at how Howard handled the punishment. The few times the fight went to the ground Alves dominated there as well. I think its also important to mention the sheer conditioning of Alves in this fight.  It looked like Howard was taking so much damage, I was surprised to see him hang in there the entire fight.  Again, I think Alves had something to prove and it was his most impressive performance in a long time.  Joe Rogan mentioned during the broadcast that it was the most pumped he had seen Alves since the Matt Hughes fight.

Miller vs Oliveria – I feel like Joe Silva had over estimated Oliveria for this match-up. He was not ready for Miller. We saw gaping holes in his jujitsu and he was submitted quickly. After the fight, Miller started calling for a title shot. I don’t really get that. He hasn’t finished a top level fighter yet.   Hes won several fights against low level guys. He had a chance and lost to Gray Maynard and that’s why he is in the position he is in.  Yes he is a good fighter and yes he deserves to face the top of the division but not a title shot.  

Riddle vs Pierson – I really like Matt Riddle. I watched him all through his run on TUF. He got smashed in this fight though. His conditioning saved him but he was getting drilled in the face  the whole fight. He was able to press Pierson because he was getting tired. They went T2T but Piersons experience and much superior striking helped him soar to a win.  I have to say Matt Riddle kind of bothered me in this fight though.   He seemed like he was just a brawler.  It didn’t look like he any skill at all.  If he was getting jacked standing up he should have taken it to the ground and tried there but there was none of that and it kind of suprised me.  Sometimes I think we as fans have a tendency to make guys better than they really are because we like them, and that’s what I think I was doing to Riddle.  He needs to get deep in his camp and start getting some skills because he isn’t going to go anywhere with the performance he put on. 

Struve vs McCorkle – I thought Stefan “Sky Scraper” Struve had a big advantage in this fight. After the first minute or to Mccorkle came out strong with that big slam and a quick sub attempt. However, The longer the fight went on though it was a matter of time. Struve used a great move for the mount to close out the fight on “big sexy’s” face. You have to wonder if all the trash talking did McCorkle any good. It could have very well given the advantage to
Struve. After the fight, McCorkle blamed his performance on the pressure but wouldn’t that be mostly his fault? I don’t see him being in a Co-main event for a long time.  During his interview on the MMA Hour he was stated as saying that Dana came up to him and told him that this was his big chance.  It looks like he blew it. However, he will be set to 

GSP vs Koscheck – I was so pumped for this fight and I hated this event fell into the time period when I would be in India. As soon as I got back I began working to get a copy. I had to stay off my own twitter feed for nearly three days until I could see this fight. I didn’t watch TUF this season but I’m engulfed enough in MMA media and I know Koscheck’s personality well enough to know there was some trash talking going on before this fight. I knew Koscheck was a better fighter than he was before when he faced GSP. Of course we all knew GSP had gotten better as well. I think stylistically Kos had a chance and I still think that Kos was right about one thing and that is that GSP has never really had his chin tested. The last time was the Matt Serra fight. I don’t think GSP can really take a lot of damage but he takes such little damage in his fights no one really knows. Rush certainly put on a performance that night. He neutralized Kos’s right hand and pummeled him over and over with a jab and double jab. He didn’t go for many takedowns but I believe that was all part of his strategy. The one thing that bothers me about this fight after I watched it twice is just the lack luster striking of Koscheck in this fight. It was if all he had was that overhand right and he kept trying it over and over. There was nothing from his left hand at all. It really didn’t seem like he was doing anything. It looked like he was helping GSP look good. As Dana White eluded to after the fight GSP has cleaned out the division. Hopefully we will see him go up to middleweight and fight Anderson Silva.

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UFC 121 Lesnar vs Velasquez

Nov 16

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

This event was held in Aniheim CA on October 23rd 2010. I considered this a stacked card. Some of my favorite fighters.

Gaberial Gonzaga vs Brendan Schaub

I think we saw in this fight that Gonzaga’s best days could be behind him. His gameplan was completely flawed. If something doesn’t work in the first round, why keep doing it? Brendan showed that he’s got some great striking and earned a big win. I found out laer that after this fight Gonzaga was released by the UFC.  After seeing someone that was a former top contender he just didn’t have what it takes in the end.  He’ll probably sign with Strikeforce and continue fighting for some time. As for Schuab of course things are looking good.  He’s looked good in his past several fights and I think the win here wil put him in the mix in the heavyweight division.

Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Tiiego

I love Diego. I think he’s a great Christian fighter with a ton of heart and a fighters spirit. It looked like after the first round that Diego could lose this fight, but he turned it up in the later rounds. Paulo ran out of gas and Diego was just relentless and started swarming all over him. I think this says a lot about where Diego is right now; he mentioned in  the post fight press conference that he has his ind straight and his goals realigned.  He said that he hasn’t always trained as hard as he could have and that he’s refocused now.  @danawhite has said that he looks good and he loves to see him fight. He mentioned he loves his attitude and the fighting spirit he brings to the table.

Jake Shields vs Martin Kampmann

I was so glad when I heard that Shiields had signed with UFC early this year. He’s been taking out guys left and right in the other orgs and he needed to come to the UFC and plug-in to see where he matches up. I didn’t know till I saw this fight that he was competing at Welterweight!   I heard Joe Rogan say how bad he looked at the weigh-ins and that the weight cut had been hard for him. Kampmann looked like a good matchup for him though. Kamp’s been around a long time and was good test. I would like to see Shields develop some striking. Even though we saw him get tired and gas early he was able to display some great grappling and ju-jitsu. He’s been promised a title shot now that he’s won the fight. I don’t see him posing any threat to Georges St. Pierre though.

Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez

I really didn’t know what was going to happen in this fight.  I realy think a lot of people didn’t know.  I mean Cain has been going through guys and knocking them out and submitting him.  We know he has conditioning unlike Shane Carwin.  We saw him pick his shots and not go crazy like the Carwin fight.  Then again BL ia BL He’s this giant of a human being and you wonder if he’s been training his striking or has he improved.  It seemed like he was able to take a punch from his lat fight so how does that apply to Cain?  Well, what we saw is that Lesnar cannot tae a punch.  We did see this  alittle in the Carwin fight but to be honest to be such a big guy when Cain starts punching him in the face he has no idea what to do and we saw him ball up in the fetal position like a six year old.   Now me personally, I would have done the same thing, but then again I’m not the UFC Heavy weight Champion that runs my mouth. Cain was able to get back up after Brock’s take downs; he was able to defend take downs and really put in some damage.

So where does leave the heavy weight division? Joe Rogan mentioned that this very well could be the era of Cain. He is 11-0 and has been finishing guys. Some are saying he could be the “Anderson Silva” of the heavy weights.  I think we will have to see  as his first title defense will be quite a test in Junior dos Santos.  Jr is probably his biggest challenge to date as I do not believe we have seen anyone fight like him before.  One thing you have to consider is how Junior could not put away Roy Nelson in there last fight.  It seems that if it wasn’t for conditioning that Nelson could have won it and I really don’t see Nalson beating Cain any time soon. having said this I would submit that we will see Velasquez defeat dos Santos and Roy Nelson in the future. I think Cain is here to say but then again this is the sport of MMA and you never know.  It will be a different fight and Jr has a lot to bring to the table.

UFC 86 Jackson vs Griffin: A Look Back

Oct 27

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

 

I originally saw this event live. I must admit I didn’t remember what a great card this was until a recent review. This event was held on July 5, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Corey Hill vs Justin Buchholz

Hill was known as the tallest lightweight in the UFC. With the height came a seven inch reach advantage. He came out strong in the early rounds showing off his cardio and solid striking. It looked like early in the fight Hill was going to take it with ease. Buchholz has a wrestling base and had been training with then WEC Champ Uriajiah Faber. Even though Justin had been punched in the face several times but started to land a lot of good leg kicks. Later in the first round he started to look a lot more comfortable. Even so Hill kept bring superior striking and killer uppercuts. Justin was rocked more than once to finish the first.

In the second round it looked it was only a natter of time before Hill’s striking finished the fight. However, Justin came out with a strong leg kick and rocked Hill followed by a flurry of punches. As they went to the ground, Hill tried to seperate Justin’s arm and jumped to side control but as Justin rolled his able to get to Hill’s back and sink in a huge rear naked choke FTW.

Melvin Guilliard vs Dennis Siver

One of the best performances of Guillard’s career. He came out and almost instantly caught the German with an overhand right that knocked him to the ground. Siver survived the initial on slaught and they both stood-up. In only a few seconds though Melvin caught him again and then just reigned down a flurry of punches that reminded me of a Vitor Belfort finish. Currently he doesn’t look like Guillard has come very far. He still isn’t a well known lightweight and isn’t considered in the top five.

Jorge Gurgel – Cole Miller

Both of these guys opened with decent striking, clinche and working their opponent. Later in the 1st Miller got rocked. He was able to regain his composure in the clinche. After a few leg kicks round one was in the books.

After almost two rounds of back and forth striking with less than a minute when the fight went to the ground Jorge left his arm in the guard and Miller slipped in a nice triangle. This was an amazing submission of a long-time jujitsu black belt.

Gaberial Gonzaga vs Justin Mccully

Mccully had been working his way up the heavyweight ranks and caught Gonzaga on his way down. Geberial, once a title contender became a gate keeper and tested Mccully. This fight was all Gonzaga as he dropped Mccully early with a tremendous Leg Kick. This put Gonzaga on top and he was just to much. With the mount he easily put on an Americana.

Tyson Griffin vs Marcus Aurelio

Griffin basically dominated the entire fight. Oddly enough he hasn’t done a whole lot in his career since then. Griffin is one of those guys that’s hard to match up with the fighters currently in the division. It has yet to be seen whether or not Aurelio has since developed. After watching this fight it’s obvious that he needs to work pretty much everything except jujitsu.

Patrick Cote vs Ricardo Almeida

This was a really close fight. Usually even when the judges have a close decision I still have a clear winner in my head. It looked like Almedia ground n pounded the first round, but Cote scrapped out the second. The third round was extremely close. I believe this fight really gives props to Almedia though.

Looking back cote had a title shot against Anderson Silva because he beating and finishing guys and the fact he couldn’t do anything with Ricardo is kind of amazing. Cote has the Split decision. Watching this fight it’s easy to see how Almedia lost a fight to Matt Hughes.

Jackson vs Griffin:

Well, I certainly remember this fight quite vividly. All I can think about is leg kicks and Forrest taking Rampage’s belt. Jackson did do more damage in the first round than what I remember. Forrest had already worn that leg out in the 2nd and Rampage dropped so he could get elbows for the rest of the round.  I enjoyed this fight more the second time around. It’s kind of funny how irrelevant both of these guys seem now at the light-weight division has taken on a completely new form.

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UFC 119 Mir vs Crocop

Sep 26

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

119 is in the books and will be considered a mediocre event held Sept 25Th from the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. This event, while having no title fight, was supposed to be considered high octane for the potential explosiveness of the fighters on the card. However, as President Dana White admitted early that a few of the bouts did not live up to their hype. The prime example of this was Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens which I did not see because I was in Auburn, AL watching the AU Tigers beat the SC Gamecocks. From what I can tell I didn’t miss anything as this bout was considered to be the most boring of the night. The following fights besides the main event were much more promising.

Evan Dunham vs. Sean Sherk:This bout was probably the most entertaining of the whole night. Evan Dunham is a young kid who I consider a phenom in the sport. He came into this bout undefeated, 11-0 MMA and 5-0 UFC. He has got striking and a very strong ground game. Sean Sherk proved to be a formidable opponent being a former lightweight champion and a seasoned veteran of the UFC. Sherk won the split decision in this fight because of his wrestling and power. In the first two rounds we saw Sherk control Evan and pin him on the ground and use some vicious Ground n Pound to open him up. The truth is it I still believe Evan won the fight. He showed his youth and a warrior heart. He had clearly not faced anyone as strong and powerful as Sherk at 155 but he almost submitted him several times. He showed superior footwork and head movement standing up, and destroyed Sherk during the 3rd round when he wasn’t able to take him down. During the third round he dropped the “Shark” more tha once with striaght jabs and uppercuts. This bout proved once again that the judging in the sport still has a long way to come. I would have given the 3rd round to Evan by three points and by one point in the second. Sean had the first round by one point. Sean the Shark is a long time veteran of the sport and seems to be a great guy as well, but he should not have one this fight. I look forward to seeing the effect the loss will have on Dunham and I expect him to come back even stronger next time. I definitely see him racking up more wins in the UFC and could potentially be a title contender as early as next year. I would like to see him in some catch weight bouts at welterweight with John Hathaway or perhaps Carlos Condit. I can see him facing Roray Macdonald for a good bout. More realistically at lightweight I would like to see him fight Sam Stout

Chris Lytle vs. Matt Serra:

This bout of two long-time UFC veterans seemed more reminiscent of two old friends having a sparring session in front of a bunch of people. While a lot of fans are saying this fight lived up to its hype, it’s really just because it was refreshing to see a stand-up battle like this. Lytle just seemed to be getting the better of the exchanges. Hence, fifteen minutes later a decision win.

Frank Mir vs. Mirko Crocop:

I really don’t know what to say other than this fight was really boring. I was waiting for some friends to join me at Buffalo Wild Wings while I was watching this fight and I basically just stopped watching it when they got there it was so boring. It was only after the fact when I saw the replay of Mir’s knee coming up to finish Crocop with a knockout. I really expected more from Frank Mir. I’ve always said if Brock Lesnar wasn’t just a bohemoth of a homosapian that Mir would undoubtably be the Heavyweight champion right now despite his loss to Shane Carwin, but after this fight though I still hae my doubts.

In conlusion, This is a sport that involves some sort of patienece and he can’t buy into the hype machine that is the UFC. Zuffa does a good job of promoting these fights and in a lot of ways they live up their hype a lot of times but we have to accept them for what they are and when you have guys fighting for a paycheck you can’t expect them to just run and do something stupid. That being said, the fighters need to remember why they are there. to be exciting is part of the job. We have seen what the need for ratings has done to professional wrestling. We don’t need that in MMA. Fortunately UFC 120 is right around the corner on OCT 6th. This isn’t a bad card but is being sold similarly as 119. We will see.

The End of the Iceman

Jul 1

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

According to UFC Boss Dana White Chuck Liddell ‘s loss at UFC 115 was his last. This loss was marked his 5th out of the past 6 fights. What is it about MMA’s most well known fighter that’s pushing him to retirement? Well, first we know this sport isn’t for the aged. Only the young and strong cam survive and with Chuck now in his 40s he’s pushing the limit. The main reason Liddell can no longer compete is he has a glass chin. There is no way the Iceman can be the Iceman without a chin. A couple of years ago he could have arguably had the best chin in the business. What happened? Who knows The fact is everyone gets old and some guys just aren’t going to be able to what they used to. This sport is not for the weary. It’s not even for the middle aged. Liddel needs to know when it’s time to hang it up.

I think its hard for anyone to know when to quit. When the feeling of a KO is still fresh in your mind it can be very hard to admit its over. If you look at Michael Jordan he had the hardest time out of almost any athlete to know when to quit. There is one person however that Chuck Liddell sees in his dreams. One person that the Iceman just can’t let go of No, I’m not talking about Tito Ortiz. I’m talking about the Natural. Yes Randy Couture. Couture was not only the biggest obstacle to Liddell winning the Light Heavyweight title but he has also been the most successful fighter over the age of 40 and at this age he defeated Liddell more than once. The question Liddell is asking himself is. Why not me? Why can’t Liddell be a factor in the UFC as long as Couture has? The reason is Couture is a master game planner. Couture knows how to take his age, his strengths and his weaknesses as well as his opponents and turn then into a master game plan. Liddell on the other hand simply does not. The Iceman reminds me of a quote I hard in a movie once. “He comes from a much earlier version of the Matrix.” And Chuck’s fighting style comes from a much earlier earlier version of the UFC. Chuck is simply unable to adapt his fighting style to adapt for a glass chin.

I still believe he has one fight left though and as I foreshadowed earlier his last fight just might be Tito Ortiz. If this is the case, it will be a complete 180 degree turn from what Dana White has already said. If we have seen the last of the Iceman:

Chuck, you are and will always be a champion. Thank you for everything you have done and everything you will do for the sport.

UFC 115: Liddell vs Franklin

Jun 27

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

The fastest sell out in UFC history came in a mere thirty minutes as Canadian UFC fans wanted their chance to see the “Iceman” in his final performance on June 12th in British Columbia. Before I get into why it was his last fight and the performance speech we’ll start with the welterweight fight.

Carlos Condit vs Rory Macdonald – I love fights like this. Two very technical lighter weight phenoms going toe to toe. In the end however, A classic example of a more established and experienced fighter teaching the younger guy how it’s done. Condit started methodically picking Macdonald apart in the second and third rounds and you could see him slowly being overwhelmed. Now I say the later rounds because in the first round Macdonald came out to win it. He came out to finish the this fight like he had finished all the others. His energy was apparent and he landed more shots on Condit than in any other round. For Macdonald this fight could catapult his career if takes what he learned from this fight and apply it. For Condit, a significant victory like this (TKO due to strikes) solidify’s his position in the division and he will most likely enter the gateway to be a top player in the division.

Barry vs Crocop –  Pat Barry has a future in the UFC. He is one of the strongest and hard hitting heavy weights the division has ever seen. We seen this during his fight as he knocked Crocop on his head twice during the match. However, he has much work to do in controlling his emotions. He lost this fight via to much hero worship in the 1st. I could see this coming when I watched the countdown video and Pat talked about his mother and how much she meant to him. When you saw the replay of him crying in front of the cam after his last win. Even to how much he was talking about how much he respected Crocop. To be fair to Pat he was literally fighting his childhood hero. It looked much like the GSP vs Hughes 1 fight where GSP couldn’t even stare him in the eyes he was so intimidated. I must admit the mutual respect for both fighters was refreshing but when you step into that octagon as a professional fighter you must be a fighter. This performance by Barry did not impress me, the fans or @danawhite. Unfortunately for Crocop it does a disservice to his victory as well. Since Barry was the heavy favorite for this fight was his win to solely to Barry’s lack Crocop’s assertion? I think PB will learn from this experience and come back stronger than before. As for Crocop I think we still see him hanging in there. It was rumored after this fight that he may retire so go out in style and not let a string of losses affect his legacy.

Carlos Condit

Liddell vs Franklin:

I had a tweet leading up to this fight insinuating that this would be Liddell’s last only because @danawhite said himself that if Chuck lost it would be time for him to retire. I have seen every Chuck Liddell fight in the past several years and did not see any change in his abilities for methodology towards fighting nor would I want to. When I saw him come out to the octagon I saw a much leaner and meaner Chuck than we have seen in a long time. He looked great and came out hungry. When the fight started he came out hard like he meant business. The high kick that broke Rich’s arm looked devastating. I believe I read his arm was broken in two places. I’m really an Iceman fan I would have loved to see him come out with a win. However, The Iceman lost this fight and several of his past fights for one reason: At his age, he has a glass chin. The very short jab that shut him off that night sealed the coffin to his fighting career. With this sport you have got to be able to take punches and as we have seen on multiple occasions Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell can no longer do that. I don’t want to take away from Rich Franklin on this fight. Rich looked fantastic after such a long layoff. He may not be able to beat Anderson Silva but I think he’s a great fighter and a great guy. I’m eager to see what he can accomplish in the new weight class.

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UFC 114 Jackson vs Evans

Jun 26

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

Another event where the preliminary bouts shined through to save from a lack luster (more lacking than lustering) main event. This event took place on May 29th at the MGM in Vegas. I was troubled to watch one of my favorite fighters Amir Sadollah lost his bout. He just gained a new sponsor and I was hoping to see a win for him. I’m not sure how much longer he will be around or how many more fights he has in his contract from winning TUF.

Duffee vs Russow: When Roy Nelson busted on the scene of the UfC’s reality TV show with a large gut and the ability to fight I thought that he would be the only fighter we would see in a long time to look in such bad shape and be so tough and a good fighter but wow at Russow. Duffee with this massive muscular physique came charging at Russow’s fat rolls like he was going to kill. For the most part he did though Duffee landed some pretty big shots but Russow just kept absorbing them and moving around. By trying to end the fight so quickly the Mr. muscle ran out of gas and out of no where Russow landed the big KO punch in the third round. While I was watching this fight there were a lot of guys laughing at Russow because he was so soft looking and over weight. It looked as though this fight was going to be a joke. One of the things I love about this sport is the surprises.

Diego vs Hathaway: Diego looked focused walking in. He always does. I’m definitely a fan of his attitude and zeal for his fights. He knows what he’s doing but this young British Hathaway kid looked really good. His striking and combos was on key – good head movement and foot work. I was really surprised as I had never heard of Hathaway before this event. He definitely has talent and a future in the UFC at his age. As for Diego, he seems to be moving into a more stagnant gate keeper role like Josh Koscheck to the true contenders in his weight class.

Noguiera vs Brills: A close fight. It was hard for me to really examine a close fight like this in the environment I was in. There was a lot of ground action. It’s been some time since I’ve enjoyed a fight with so much ground work. You could tell both of these guys wanted a win bad. This was a very good fight for the virtually unknown Brills. Even though he lost this fight to one of the Nog brothers it was a tremendous effort that put him in the spotlight.

Rampage vs Evans: Another fight that doesn’t live up to its hype. Say what you will about Anderson Silva but if he isn’t going to finish a fight at least he dances for you. After all the trash talking and verbal abuse by these guys you would think that there would be a little bit more going on. All they basically did was pin each other up against the cage and sit there. Okay, it was ‘wrestling’. Of course the brief moments of ground and pound by each fighter followed by more boring pins. Not enough to justify a PPV main event. It just goes to show the business is just as much about hype as it is fighting. Of course we also understand the case that these guys did want to play it conservatively. I mean who wants to go in guns blazing and get KO’d early in the first round?

I think the truth is it’s going to be hard for a fighter to focus on winning fights when they are doing everything but training for it. We have seen numerous examples of what happens when fighters focus on other things than the fight game and with all the tine and energy that goes into making the movie the distraction proved to be to much for Rampage. He looked out of shape.

Now that Rashad is looking at another title shot is anyone really interested in a Shogun fight? Does anyone really think that Rashad can beat him? Nope.

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UFC 113 Machida vs Shogun 2

Jun 3

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | 1 Comment

This was probably the best event the UFC had had in awhile.  This event took place on May 8th   There were a lot of good fights.  I was pretty surprised when it was announced that this fight was going to be in Canada.  You don’t really think of Canadians as MMA fans but hey you never know.   I thought the next time I see the UFC in Canada GSP would be fighting for sure.

A couple of notables were:

 Jeremy Stephens vs Sam Stout which was a really good fight and Sam Stout’s third fight if the night in a row. 

Kimbo Slice vs Matt Mitrone  where Slice suffered yet another loss.  In the post fight pres conference Dana White said it would probably be his last fight in the octagon.

Patrick Cote vs Alan Belcher where Cote had his first fight after his loss to Anderson Silva in 2008 for the middle weight chamionship  I think this was a good fight for Cote after such a long layoff.

Koscheck vs Daley -  This was an interesting fight to see for me.   I couldn’t help but to root for the more established fighter.   JK basically just controlled Daley with his wrestling and kept him on the ground where he couldn’t land any shots.   I’m still confused on the knee to the face situation.   JK fell back like he got kneed in the face  but when they showed the replay he never got hit with anything.    It was like a major fake.   I don’t really see the point in this unless he was looking for a point deduction from the ref.   If so, then he deserves to get booed for that.   I don’t really think that he deserves to be booed just because he didn’t stand up and go to toe to toe with Daley.  I mean obviously Daley would have taken him down quickly.  You have to ask yourself would you really want Daley to fight GSP?  The results would have probably been similar to the fight with GSP except Daley would probably never get off his back the entire fight.  Having said all of that OMG Daley takes a shot at Kos after the fight had ended. A sucker punch from behind that ended Paul Daley’s UFC career and possibly his career in MMA.  I think Dana’a decision to kick him out of the UFC was a solid decision that sends a message to all the fighters about what is expected of them from a sportsmanship point of view. 

Machida vs Shogun -  Shogun did what he said he would do,  a big knock out victory that apparently sets the record straight after his controversial lost after his last fight with Machida.  I’m a fan of Machida’s because I was attracted to his fighting style and his aura of invincibleness.   It’s the same aura that attracts people to Tiger Woods.  You want to see those that are really good get even better.  You want fighters who are seemingly invincible to be invincible.  Then you can say you watched it all go down.   Unfortunately we saw in this fight that Machida certainly isn’t unbeatable at all and after blocking a kick dropped his hands so that he could get punched in the face. 

I think this could be a new era in the division.  I don’t see Shogun going anywhere any time soon.   The winner of the Rashad Evans vs Rampage fight at UFC 114 it logically the next bout to see gets to challenge him for the title.

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WEC: Aldo v Faber

May 25

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

My falling in love with MMA was a gradual process involving Spike TV and the UFC. I still don’t have a lot of knowledge about the other organizations like Strike force, WEC, Pride etc. However, since Zuffa has bought the WEC and it’s basically become a UFC type org the marketing has expanded into the mainstream channels that the UFC uses. I had taken the time to research Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber and decided that this really was going to be a good bout. What I didn’t know was that there was going to be so many good light weight fights. We always enjoy it when two good lightweights go at it because they don’t get gassed as easy. They have a lot of energy and the can end up quite action packed. This event proved that to its fullest extent.

This event took place at the Arco Arena in Sacarento Cali. or as everyone calls it, “sac town” on April 24th . Some notable bouts were ANTONIO BANUELOS VS. SCOTT JORGENSE, which definitely earned fight of the night and will be a talked about fight for a long time. Both of these guys left everything they had in the cage. ANTHONY NJOKUANI VS. SHANE ROLLER was a fun fight to watch as Roller came in and dominated submitting FTW with a rear-naked choke in first rd. Also, MIKE BROWN VS. MANNY GAMBURYAN really got the crowd going. You could tell both of these guys wanted it really bad. Brown was trying to be patient and stalk his opponent. When he did attack he took a big counter that took him out. After he got knocked out he got up and started protesting the stoppage. He was clearly gone. An exciting KO before the main event.

 JOSE ALDO VS. URIJAH FABER Was a good solid fight by two fighters with a lot of heart, especially Faber. Aldo basically picked Faber apart for five rounds. Faber certainly wasn’t able to out-strike him and he couldn’t take him down. Faber looked worse as every round went by. Aldo was hitting Faber with these devastating leg kicks. The pictures posted on Urijah’s twitter of his leg after the fight were absolutely amazing. He took a lot of punishment but wasn’t able to do a whole lot of damage to Aldo. Even though the fight was pretty lop sided I believe this fight still lived up to the hype. It will be interesting to see where Zuffa takes the WEC in the future.

UFC 112 Penn vs Edgar

Apr 20

Posted by Matthew Brown in MMA | Comments off

So many big events this month in MMA, let’s dive in.

Hughes vs  Gracie – When I first became a fan of MMA Matt Hughes was in his prime and a reigning UFC Welter Weight Champion with multiple title defenses and he will always be on of my most favorite.  I was excitied just to see him perform and I was sure he was going to win this fight.  There is no doubt that he is not the same fighter and not at the same level he used to be. However, it’s been fun to watch him work his way through all of the Gracie fighters and put them on his list.  I was greatly encouraged by the amount of respect that both fighters showed each other.  It was obvious Matt could have finished this fight much earlier. 

Penn vs Edgar – this was a interesting fight. It actually reminded me of the Machida vs Shogun fight that everyone was so worked up about. I’m not going to say I know how to judge fights because I don’t. However I know a lot of people out there share the same sentiment – That to defeat a champion you must clearly and decisively do so. I don’t believe Frankie Edgar did that. There is no doubt in my mind that FE scored more points, had more takedowns, and perhaps more strikes but the fight I saw had no clear victor. You shouldn’t be able to take the belt from someone just because you scored a few more points. Let us not make a sport where the belts are just feathers in the wind. They float to whomever just happens to land a few more jabs. On the other side, I like the fact that title holders must stay on their toes and cannot get lazy. I like the fact that if you are a world champion it is your job to remain ever evolving and to continue to get better no matter what. A lot of fans and fighters have said the Prodigy was “on another planet” including @mfg16 Mike Goldberg. Mike (whom I respect a ton) was just plain wrong. You look at this guy putting away all of his opponents and people truly believe he can’t be beaten. BJ Penns spanking of say Kenny Florian was not a testament to BJ Penn but more of a statement that KF was not ready for a title shot. Has anyone answered the question yet of why BJ Penn did not take this fight to the ground? I mean after the 3rd round we saw that Frankie did have a chance of winning this fight yet BJ was willing to risk it and stand and bang….

Silva vs Damien Mia – A match that proves there can be more things entertaining about a fight than just big strikes, slick submissions and huge finishes. I brought two friends (non-MMA fans)  to watch this fight and they both found it rather entertaining. I did as well but the true MMA fan in me was yet again disappointed in a lack luster Anderson Silva performance. What UFC fans truly want is a middle weight champion that finishes fights. The cat and mouse game Silva likes to play with his opponents is getting old. I understand that Silva does not want a 13 second fight like with Forrest Griffin. He wants to be challenged. He wants to make the clear statement that there is no one that can even touch him.  Silva needs to understand that not only is he involved in a sport but also a business.   I respect the business aspect of the apart because that’s what grows the sport and brings it to more people.  The business aspect makes the sport what it is today.  I found UFC President Dana White’s comments particularly interesting regarding Silva’s performance stating that if he ever acts like that again Dana will in fact “cut him”.I was actually surprisedby this.  In an interview with ESPN (see below)  Dana stated that he got up and left and refused to put the belt on Silva, that he was embarrassed and furious   I think the time is here in MMA when we need to figure out punitive standards for fighters who act like Silva did.  Another thing I thought was particularly interesting is how Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg had to move their commentating to Silva’s eventual fight with GSP.  Until that moment I have never heard any official UFC employees talk about this fight.  It was my opinion that the UFC has avoided this match,  saving it  They can’t avoid chanting though as everyone in the crows started chanting G-S-P.     Silva is still no doubt the best PFP in the world. However,  he needs to humble himself and respect the sport and the business.

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