Thursday, December 27, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
UFC 79
- Interim welterweight championship bout:
Matt Hughes vs. 
Georges St. Pierre [6]
- Light heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs.
Wanderlei Silva [2] - Light heavyweight bout : Lyoto Machida vs.
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou [4]
- Lightweight bout: Rich Clementi vs. Melvin Guillard [7]
- Heavyweight bout: Eddie Sanchez vs.
Soa Palalei[8]
Preliminary Card
- Light Heavyweight bout: James Irvin vs. Luis Cane [9]
- Welterweight bout:
Tony DeSouza vs. Roan Carneiro [10] - Lightweight bout: Nate Mohr vs.
Manvel Gamburyan [11] - Middleweight bout: Dean Lister vs.
Jordan Radev [12]
- Lightweight bout: Doug Evans vs. Mark Bocek [13]
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Fedor vs. Couture
Last night as I watched HDNet Fights I saw Couture talk about the inevitability of a fight with Fedor once his current contract with the UFC is up and was overjoyed. I always believed this would happen eventually, it was just a matter of ironing out the issues between Couture and the UFC. It looks like one of the gifts we're going to get next year is this highly anticipated fight.
Couture Awaits UFC Contract Expiration, Fight with Emelianenko
DALLAS, Texas — UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture, who resigned from the UFC in October over what he perceived to be a lack of respect from the organization, is counting down the days to his contract-expiration date, and he’s leaving open the possibility of fighting former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko.
Couture was in Dallas over the weekend for “HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon.” The event included a few Xtreme Couture fighters, including victorious Frank Trigg and Jay White. However, the 44-year-old UFC hall-of-famer couldn’t avoid the inevitable questions about his future.
While a guest on the HDNet broadcast of Saturday’s event, Couture said he’d still like to fight Emelianenko. While still with the UFC, Couture expressed his desire to battle the legendary Russian fighter, but when UFC President Dana White couldn’t make it happen, Couture cited it as a reason he wanted to leave the organization.
During the broadcast, Couture said the soonest he could fight Emelianenko would be October 2008, when both his fight contract (July) and employment contract (October) expire.
It became a hot topic again in a post-fight press conference.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen with me at this point,” Couture said. “I have a contract with the UFC that I have to honor. I can’t breach that or I’ll end up in litigation, so I don’t intend to do that.
“That contract expires in July, and we’ll see what happens after that.“
Emelianenko recently signed a non-exclusive, long-term deal with M-1 Global, an organization that was recently purchased from Emelianenko’s manager and restructured by its American investors.
The organization is allowing Emelianenko to compete New Year’s Eve at a show in Japan against the 7-foot-2 Hong Man Choi (1-0).
Couture weighed in on the match-up.
“Obviously, it’s a big guy, and it’s still a fight,” he said. “Anything can happen in a fight… The guy can hit you across the ring as soon as the bell rings, so who knows.“
The reference was to Couture’s victory over giant Tim Sylvia in March. Couture tagged the then-champ in the bout’s first few seconds to send him to the canvas. It set up the eventual unanimous-decision victory.
Couture, though, is pulling for Emelianenko. After all, he wants to be the first to post a legitimate victory over the fighter.
“I hope it goes successfully for him because I want to be the first one to beat him,” he said.
Emelianenko’s only loss was in a 2000 RINGS event against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. The bout was stopped just 17 seconds in because of a cut caused by a glancing elbow from Kohsaka. Because of the event’s tournament format that required one fighter to continue on, the fight was ruled a loss for Emelianenko rather than a no-contest or disqualification.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Not since Louden Swain dropped to 168lbs to wrestle Brian Shute has anyone been crazier for changing weight classes.
Yet that’s exactly what Michael “The Count” Bisping plans to do: Drop to 185lbs and set his sights on middleweight deity Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
From UFC.com:
Dana thought it was a great idea, he said I’d be ‘a monster’ down at middleweight. In fact all sorts of people like Rampage (with whom Bisping is close) were telling me this was the best thing for my career. Really, I knew middleweight was the place to be. When I went to train with Rampage in America over the summer, when we’d go eat he’d have half a lettuce leaf; I’d have a pizza or a couple of foot-long Subways and a couple of sneaky cookies.
Sneaky cookies notwithstanding, dropping to middleweight could inject new life into the 14-1 Brit. After a split-decision loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 78: Validation (the first of his professional career) “The Count” was still unsure about whether or not to change weight classes.
His camp was not:
Even though I train as hard, if not harder, than anyone else for a fight, I wasn’t making sacrifices like other fighters do. I’ve had world class nutritionists like (boxer) Ricky Hatton’s strength coach Kerry Kayes tell me I could be so much stronger at middleweight, so I was getting this same advise from all sides.
Look for the new and improved Bisping to re-emerge sometime this spring. Hopefully he can find the improvement he’s looking for. I don’t want to use a chum reference here but there are plenty of gifted strikers in the middleweight division just waiting for new blood.
And it’s not like he has to fight Anderson Silva right out of the gate. I’m sure guys like Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson would be more than accommodating.
Godspeed Mike!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
News and Worlwide Rankings
1. The UFC has stripped the LW belt from Sherk so now the Penn v. Stevenson bout is for the REAL TITLE. The winner will face Sherk for sure and you can bet that little roided out freak is going to fight like a madman to take it back. In my opinion, he's not guilty for sure because there were some serious questions about the testing process and there is evidence that some of the (many) supplements who was taking might have actually caused the positive results. Either way, he won't be testing positive again.
“I think BJ Penn is a punk. Who the hell is he? He’s won one fight in a couple of years now and it’s just whatever man. He wants to make all of these rules and regulations, but who the hell is he? I’m the champ in my eyes so I don’t care if he fights me or not, there’s a whole bunch of guys that could fight me right now. It’s his loss, not mine. He needs me more than I need him.”
– Sean Sherk — who was just stripped of his lightweight title — shares his feelings on BJ Penn via FightHype.com. Penn will now challenge Joe Stevenson for the vacant 155-pound belt at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire.” The winner of the championship match up is supposed to fight Sherk next. Penn has stated that he would only fight Sherk if he was “cleared of the steroid charge.”
Props: PunchDrunkGamer.com
Quoteworthy:
“I think that both of us are very strong and it would be hard to find weaknesses in either of our games. The fight is going to come down to who is better prepared on the day of the fight. There is nothing negative that I can say about BJ, he is one of the best fighters out there…. He trains very hard for his fights and he fights at 155 lbs. so I don’t think that cardio is going to be a factor for him. Obviously BJ will have to be in shape to make the weight.”
Lightweight Joe Stevenson talks about his upcoming fight with BJ Penn at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” on January 19, 2008, in Newcastle, England, for the interim 155-pound championship. That tag could soon change to “vacant” now that credible reports indicate that Sean Sherk will be stripped of the strap because of a positive test for illegal steroids. Stay tuned.
2. The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 might be the most entertaining entry in the series yet due to the fact that the two craziest (in a good, fun way) guys in the UFC, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (LHW champ) and Forrest Griffin, have been announced as coaches. Despite the fact that both of these guys are lightheavy, the show will feature middleweight fighters.
There is a headline currently adorning the SpikeTV Web site that pretty much sums up the banality of the Spike Video Game Awards (VGA).
It reads: Steve-O drunk at the VGAs!
If anyone feels compelled to zoom on over for all the gory details then I say to you: Godspeed my friend. For those readers over the age of 14, let us continue with the surprise announcement that nobody saw coming.
It appears that the “Big Plans” UFC President Dana White had in store for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson do indeed include a stint as coach on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).
White made the “major announcement” during tonight’s VGA broadcast on SpikeTV.
“Top contender” Forrest Griffin was first confirmed as coach following the Clay Guida/Roger Huerta war at last night’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 6 Finale. White refrained from announcing the addition of Rampage presumably to entice viewers to tune into the VGA’s.
I don’t think announcing Couture/Fedor could entice people to sit through that dreck.
White previously mentioned that the two coaches will fight one another sometime after the conclusion of the show. TUF 7, which begins to shoot in January and will debut on SpikeTV sometime in April 2008, will feature 16 up-and-coming middleweight (185 pounds) fighters.
Here’s a snip from UFC.com:
“Jackson, fresh from becoming the first fighter in history to unify the light heavyweight title when he defeated PRIDE champion Dan Henderson in September, will be making his first appearance on The Ultimate Fighter. On the other hand, Griffin - who stunned the MMA world with his decisive submission victory over the last man to beat ‘Rampage’, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, also in September – will be returning to the place that helped make him a superstar back in 2005, when he won the first season of the show by defeating Stephan Bonnar in one of the sport’s classic battles.”
It should not matter that Jackson and Griffin are in the 205-pound class — there’s not a pool of bankable stars at that weight to carry a program that has been struggling in the ratings.
Jackson and Griffin should provide the spark (and personality) necessary to get the mixed martial arts reality series back on track.
3. UFC 79 is coming like a 3,000 lb. freight train and will feature a title fight (Hughes/GSP), marking the third time these 170lb. champs have clashed, as well as a matchup that hardcore fans have been waiting to see for years, Liddell/Wanderlei. The official website is now up.
Props: 79.UFC.com
WORLD RANKINGS WITH MY (WORTHLESS) COMMENTARY:
Hey everyone. MMAWEEKLY puts out some of the most respected MMA rankings (there are no official rankings...even the UFC doesn't rank their fighters, at least not publicly). Anyway, I've added my commentary for what it's worth. It took me a few days to find the time to add a little tidbit about each fighter I know. Hopefully this will catch some of you up on the sport who aren't as vested in it as I am. -Danny
We take into consideration a fighter's performance in addition to his win-loss record, head-to-head and common opponents, difficulty of opponents, and numerous other factors in what is the most comprehensive rankings system in the sport.
As always, fighters who are currently serving drug-related suspensions are not eligible for top ten consideration.
Here are the current MMAWeekly World MMA Rankings, which are up-to-date as of December 5:"
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HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (over 205 pounds)
#1 Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Fedor Emelianenko
He is the best, he's never really been defeated (he lost because of a cut)...he's beat some of the best in world, but he simply hasn't been active. He next fight is against a freak of nature (really, it is...a Korean guy with a growth hormone problem who is like 7 feet tall and weight 365). He won't last long here as #1 unless he starts fighting some serious competition soon.
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
UFC fighter- he may be fighting Tim Sylvia for the now vacant heavyweight title at UFC 81 (superbowl weekend)
3. Josh Barnett
Non-UFC fighter but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the UFC sometime in 2008 (he's an ex-PRIDE fighter who has elected to stay over in Japan for the time being)
4. Randy Couture
Oh Randy, when and where and what are you going to fight? The big question with Randy is whether or not he is going to tangle with Fedor. I think it'll happen. Although Fedor is with the upstart M1 Russian MMA org, he signed a non-exclusive deal.
5. Tim Sylvia
Big Tim...goofy, cocky, just kinda weird, but he keeps the fight where he wants it, which is standing, and puts people on their asses. He's going to fight Big Nog and we'll see if he reestablishes himself as the king of the UFC's heavyweight division.
6. Gabriel Gonzaga
Personally "Napao" is my favorite heavyweight out there. Yes he got beaten by Couture, but he also had his nose broken badly early in the fight due to a headbutt (inadvertently). Gonzaga is coming back against another top ten fighter in Werdum, the only guy to have beaten him...a fight that happened early in his career and it was a decision loss. I believe in Gonzaga and I think he'll someday stand atop the HW division.
7. Andrei Arlovski
The "Pitbull" is the fastest heavyweight fighter that I know of. He once held the UFC's HW belt and he wants it again. He's technically good both on the feet and on the ground. He won a decision over Werdum that was BORING and this put him back in line.
8. Mirko Cro Cop
Mirko hasn't looked good in the UFC but don't count him out just yet. I think the UFC will give him somebody a bit softer so he can demonstrate his knockout power and rebuild some confidence. Mirko is by no means washed up...but only time will tell if he'll ever become a champ.
9. Fabricio Werdum
Relatively unknown on this side of the pond, Werdum is a good, well rounded fighter with slick submissions. He's not big though so I pick him to lose to Gonzaga.
10. Aleksander Emelianenko
The ghetto brother of Fedor. Prison tattoos...scary...check him out on YouTube. He looks like some scummy guy you'd see walking around the streets of Russia with a gold chain on.
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LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205-pound limit)
#1 Light Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Quinton Jackson
Quinton brings the pain...strong, good at striking, good in the clinch, good wrestling...I don't think he has great jiu-jitsu, but who cares? It'll be fun to see him defend his title. He's been resting up since he broke his hand on Dan Henderson's head.
2. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Rua got beaten fair and square to an inferior fighter in Griffin. Don't get me wrong, I love Griffin and they guy lays it all out. Indeed, he's one of my favorite fighters, but I think Griffin is a bit wild and I think that's always going to keep him from shining. In the same token, Shogun is similar. Maybe that's why Shogun, who is consistently ranked near the top of the LHW division, lost. I'm very excited to see Shogun in his next fight with healthy knees (he underwent knee surgery not longer after the bout with Griffin).
3. Dan Henderson
"Hendo" is a straight up cowboy. He's not afraid of anyone and he showed that by putting Quinton through a war...and he never looked like he was going to lose that fight by getting knocked out or submitted. He was then asked to drop down to middleweight, a fighting weight he can easily get to since he's a smaller LHW, which he eventually agreed to (he'll be fighting the extremely dangerous Anderson Silva at MW). I like Henderson for his soft spoken, tough nature and the fact that he wrestles very well and throws bombs.
4. Chuck Liddell
The Iceman is a great striker and, perhaps, the most famous fighter in the UFC in terms of appealing to the uninformed throng. In my opinion he was, is, a paper tiger. I knew someone was going to go in there and not be afraid to stand with him or was going to aggressively go for the take down...and lo, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson did just that, knocking out the long reigning champ in a matter of minutes. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Chuck, I just think he is one of the most overrated fighters out there. If he loses to Wanderlei Silva on the 29th it'll make his third loss in a row and if that happens I think he needs to drop out of the top 10.
5. Wanderlei Silva
The "Axe Murderer," from the famed Chute Boxe camp, ruled the PRIDE LHW division for a while and fought against some of the best competition in the world. He is putting it on the line this month against Liddell. He, like Liddell, is coming off of a two fight losing streak. Look for him to be aggressive yet careful not to get caught by one of Chuck's devastating rights.
6. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
The Jungle Fighter, straight outta Afrikka, is making his UFC debut early in 2008 against the undefeated Machida. Despite his lack of MMA experience (only 5 fights under his belt), he is a world class Judo artist and has knocked out two great fighters consecutively.
7. Keith Jardine
AKA Satan...not a bad guy, he just looks like the devil. An Ultimate Fighter contestant turned top 10 contender, Jardine knocked out Forrest Griffin, got knocked out by Houston Alexander, and then beat Chuck Liddell by sticking to a technical game plan. Look for Jardine to make a rush for the title, but first he'll have to meet one of the other guys on this list and win.
8. Forrest Griffin
The "Everyman" of the UFC...funny, goofy, and extremely aggressive. He goes balls to the wall in every fight and, in his last fight, beat SHOGUN, the fighter whom everybody is looking for to eventually take the title and stand atop the division. Much like Jardine, Griffin's next fight will put him at the very front of the line for the title if he wins.
9. Ricardo Arona
A PRIDE veteran who is strong on the ground and has been tested over and over again. In my opinion he probably won't be a champ, but he'll definitely make life miserable for a few of these guys. I bet they'll feed him someone not in the top 10 for his first fight to build some interest around him here in the states. He's got great takedowns, mean GnP, and slickety slick jiu-jitsu. I'll be looking forward to watching him in the octagon.
10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
If his brother is "Big Nog" then he's "Little Nog." I don't know much about him other than that he is a PRIDE veteran who is in the top 10 and is undoubtedly worthy of being here.
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MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185-pound limit)
#1 Middleweight Fighter in the World: Anderson Silva
Knees, elbows, shins, fists...you'll see them all land, and usually in combination, when this guy fights. The Spider has made everyone who's fought him look bad. He has finished every fight with a KO, TKO, or submission. He seems unstoppable right now, but the answer to his style just might be Dan Henderson's wrestling ability and raw strength and that's why they've matched the two of them up. Henderson's last fight was his decision LOSS to Rampage and now they're giving him a title fight against Silva, if that doesn't speak to Henderson's abilities, then nothing does.
2. Paulo Filho
This guy fights for World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), a Zuffa company and, therefore, the sister organization of the UFC. I've never seen Filho fight, but he's the number 2 MW in the world so obviously he's one of the best. It seems to make the most sense to bring him over to the UFC and have him challenge Silva, but Zuffa has no intentions of doing so as I believe they think it would muddle things up and they want to build up the WEC in order to make sure the only competition the UFC has is also Zuffa. Stupid. Things like this demonstrate that it's not about the best fighting the best all the time but about $$$$.
3. Matt Lindland
Crazy Matt Lindland...an ex-UFC fighter, trainer, and tough-as-nails guy with a good all around game. He's especially well versed in wrestling and jiu-jitsu. His last fight was against Fedor who outweighs him by A LOT. He cut Fedor and almost had him mounted, but then Fedor almost broke his arm with a kimura to armbar. Lindland COULD fight in the UFC again, but he clashes way to much with Dana.
4. Rich Franklin
Rich might be #1 in the world if it weren't for the Spider. Ex-high school math teacher turned cage fighter. Good at everything, not really great at any one thing. He wears down his opponents since he is big at MW. Likeable, professional, tough, and definitely someone I'd like to see winning again.
5. Denis Kang
I don't know much about Kang, other than he's obviously a great fighter. From wikipedia: "Kang
6. Robbie Lawler
Soft spoken ex-UFC fighter. This guy likes to bang it out on his feet. He recently beat Frank Trigg. I'd like to see him back in the UFC. He works with Hughes now and was a co-trainer on The Ultimate Fighter Season 6.
7. Nathan Marquardt
Nathan is one of my favorite fighters although I've only seen him a handful of times. His last showing against Anderson Silva was not his best (he was TKO'd with strikes in round 2). He is very well rounded. He recently signed a contract extension with the UFC and we'll see him at least once this year. He is a technical fighter and someone who, in my opinion, will be ranked higher by year's end.
8. Kazuo Misaki
?? Japanese
9. Yushin Okami
UFC fighter...just lost to Franklin this year, barely, and then posted a win over McDonald. This guys is very strong for a middle weight and likes to wear guys down and then go for GnP. I look forward to seeing more of him.
10. Yoshihiro Akiyama
?? Japanese
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WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170-pound limit)
What a division...and the UFC has most of these guys.
#1 Welterweight Fighter in the World: Matt Serra
A paper champ? Maybe. Did he knock out St. Pierre? Yes. Was it a looping, lucky hook that landed on the back of the neck/head of St. Pierre. Yes. Ok, ok, although Serra is a bit annoying at times, he's generally a very nice person. He drops too many curse words for my liking, but he's good at jiu-jitsu. As happy as I am that Hughes and St. Pierre are going to fight again, I did want to see Serra/Hughes simply because I think Hughes would have squashed him. The one good thing is that the winner of St. Pierre/Hughes WILL fight Serra for sure come spring time.
2. Georges St. Pierre
My favorite fighter, period. The most well rounded fighter out there. Crisp striking, amazing wrestling (take down defense is astounding!) and he's got jiu-jitsu too. If he loses to Hughes it won't be the worst thing that could happen to him since he beat him decisively the last time the two met.
3. Matt Hughes
Matt Hughes is a hall-of-famer. No one has dominated a division like he has in his career. His wrestling is top-notch and he's strong. Perhaps his best asset is his heart and determination.
4. Jon Fitch
Jon Fitch is a force to be reckoned with. Hailed for quite some time as the next big thing at 170 by hardcore MMA fans, he burst into the spotlight in 2007 notching victories over some very tough competition including Diego Sanchez. He didn't totally dominate Sanchez, but he won the decision without getting into any real trouble at all. With his strong wrestling many would like to see him against Hughes. I just want to see him in a title fight before 08 is up.
5. Josh Koscheck
Fellow American Kick Boxing Academy member along with Fitch, Koscheck is a powerful wrestler with the best takedowns of anyone in the WW division. He looked nearly unstoppable until St. Pierre humbled him at UFC 74 by stuffing his takedowns and punishing him for three round, earning a unanimous decision of the fuzzy, blond haired cocky #&$@*. Ok, I was trying to be objective...yes Kos is a great fighter but he rubs me the wrong way. I'd like to see him in a title shot just to watch him lose.
6. Karo Parisyan
Karo, Karo, Karo...we wanted so much more from your last fight...but you tried. Karo is a great judo artist who doesn't usually finish fights, but he wins them and they're usually interesting. Indeed, in 2006 he had fight of the year when he threw down with Diego Sanchez. He's now fighting like a guy with something to lose...namely his shot at the title. He had one back in the day and had to back out because of injury. He has been on a tear, winning something like eight of his last nine fights. I think they'll give him one more fight, but he may just hold out most of the year to wait for a title shot to open up. People want to put him up against Fitch to determine a number one contender.
7. Jake Shields
Young, tough, and, well, that's about all I know (non-UFC...I think Strikeforce).
8. Diego Sanchez
The Nightmare was/is the great Latin hope. Slick jiu-jitsu hasn't been enough to keep him undefeated and he's now lost two in a row (Koscheck and then Fitch). Look for a comeback...this kid will be MOTIVATED to put the hurt on whomever he faces next.
9. Carlos Condit
Another fighter I hear a lot about but don't know much about. He's in the WEC so he's another guy the UFC could bring over at any time but probably won't.
10. Marcus Davis
Man, one of the most exciting fights this year came from Davis, aka The Irish Hand Grenade. He was getting the screws put to him by Paul Taylor and the fight was almost stopped after Taylor dropped Davis with a shin and was hammer fisting him. Davis recovered, however, and ended up catching Taylor in a nasty arm bar, ending the fight and giving the fans a wild ride.
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LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (160-pound limit)
Lightweight is quickly becoming one of my favorite divisions to watch. The UFC has a very deep lightweight division but despite this fact, the majority of the fighters in the top 10 come from other organizations mainly because so many fighters in Japan are smaller and MMA is huge over there.
#1 Lightweight Fighter in the World: Takanori Gomi
Gomi is widely recognized as the best at 155. I have only seen a few of his fights.
2. Hayato Sakurai
?
3. Gilbert Melendez
WEC- undefeated.
4. Tatsuya Kawajiri
?
5. Shinya Aoki
?
6. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante
?
7. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
?
8. Joe Stevenson
UFC- aka Joe Daddy. He'll be taking on BJ Penn for the interim LW belt in January. This is a very anticipated match up. The winner will take on Sherk when he's done with his suspension.
9. Mitsuhiro Ishida
?
10. Kenny Florian
Kenny is th soft spoken, nerdy lookin' dude who nearly beat Sherk late in 2006 when the LW division was resurrected and they needed to crown a champ.
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FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 pounds and under)
#1 Featherweight Fighter in the World: Akitoshi Tamura
2. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue
3. Urijah Faber
Man, this kid is on fire...very exciting. He's WEC and I'd love it if he went up to 55 and came to the UFC.
4. Antonio Carvalho
5. Masakazu Imanari
6. Hatsu Hioki
7. Jeff Curran
8. Yoshiro Maeda
9. Tenkei Fujimiya
10. Rafael Assuncao
