Hit the Mat 5.11.09: Under the Summer Radar

Posted by Matt McEwen on 05.11.2009

Beyond the hype and press for the summer's big fights lurks the type of fights that hard core fans love and show just how deep the talent pool in MMA is becoming.

Summer time is always a big deal in MMA as the UFC puts on what is traditionally one of their major shows somewhere around July 4th, and last summer marked the sports prime time debut when EliteXC showed up on CBS. This summer is no different as UFC hits a milestone with UFC 100, as well as trying to keep their overall momentum going, this season of the Ultimate Fighter will culminate in possibly the best fight line up in finale history, Affliction just might give us the biggest fight Fedor has had in years and Strikeforce will try to keep their ball rolling on Showtime with another strong show.

The main events of these cards are getting a lot of press - Mir/Lesner II, St. Pierre/Alves, Franklin/Sliva, Silva/Griffen, Brown/Faber II, Shields/Lawler, you get the point - but buried under the headlines are some top notch fights that may not be getting a lot of press, but certainly should be making the hardcores out there drooling, no matter what your style preference.

Do you like stand up wars that could go either way? Then here are a few fights you should look out for:

Nick Diaz vs Scott Smith, Strikeforce, June 6th

Diaz is quickly becoming the biggest name this side of Fedor not in the UFC. His showing against Frank Shamrock answered critics of his punching style - myself included - and showed that he make the step up in weight without too much issue. He is probably the biggest star Strikeforce has on the go right now, but this recently announced and quickly put together fight is flying a bit under the radar. After the fight though, the radar should be blown up.

Smith has taken part in some great action fights and pulled out some incredible KO's, so he should do more than just be competitive here, but really, who cares? This is one of those fights where the winner will be secondary as long as they go out with having a war in mind, and given these two, I would suspect that won't be a problem. Smith's ground game is week though, so look for Diaz to take the fight down and pound out a win....if Smith doesn't KO him first.

Anthony Johnson vs Matt Brown, TUF Finale, June 20th

Johnson has made a name for himself in the UFC for his strong striking skills, as well as his explosive speed and power. He has some quick KO's on his record (Tommy Speer), and now that he's avenged his controversial loss to Kevin Burns via brutal decapitating head kick, he is on the verge of moving into title contention. No, he's not one or two fights away, but he is one or two fight away from moving up to the higher end of the division. But he has to get through the toughest 12-7 fighter in the sport first. Brown has put on some good showings in his UFC career and always comes to fight. Two weeks after Diaz/Smith, this one could usurp it for action fight of the month.

Marcus Davis vs Dan Hardy, UFC 99, June 13th

Sandwiched in between the two above fights, this one promises fireworks as well. Hopefully nothing as silly as the "gentleman's agreement" between Davis and Lytle happens again, as this fight won't need the help to be exciting. Hardy has proven to be a big time striker at 170lbs in his European UFC outings, with his last win by KO answering questions about his power. Davis of course can strike with anyone and comes to fight every time he gets in the cage. He's one step below the elite in the division, so a how Hardy does might dictate his future career path. As tough as he seems, I think Hardy just might game plan his way to a win here, but Davis has shown the ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.


Not a huge fan of (potential) stand up wars, instead preferring the fun of good all around fighting? Well, here's a few interesting fights for you:

Cain Velasquez vs Heath Herring, UFC 99, June 13th

Velasquez is on the verge of title contention, and has been showing a great all around game in his short UFC career so far. This is a step up in competition for him as, in spite of his less than stellar recent record, Herring is a tough, veteran fighter who is a threat against almost anyone (for the first minute or two, at least). Velasquez has shown competent striking, but it is his wrestling and ground pound that are his bread and butter right now. Wrestling has always been Herring's weakest point, but we might get to see some of Velasquez's jiu jitsu if Herring is able to force some scrambles. This is the fight that will either take the steam out of Velasquez, or propels him into title talk and leaves him maybe just one win away from a shot.

Joe Stevenson vs Nate Diaz, TUF Finale, June 20th

Fights with jobs on the line are probably second only to title fights for interest, and Stevenson is undoubtedly fighting for his job after his recent performances. And while Diaz isn't on the chopping block just yet, he is fighting to stay relevant, as his loss to Clay Guida really took away the momentum he had built up. Both guys have some good, basic boxing, but both made their bones on the ground....oh wait, that sounds bad. I mean they made their names on the ground, and that could be the deciding factor. If one thinks they have an advantage in the grappling - and I would imagine Diaz will be confident of that - then a lot of the fight could take place on the ground, but if neither wants to test the other, we could get a good look at whether the younger Diaz has any of the deceptive power of his brother, as well as if Stevenson is willing to box to win, rather than just box not to get finished like he did in his lackluster performance against Diego Sanchez.

Kendall Grove vs Ricardo Almeida, UFC 101, August 8th

Grove has put together two good performances in a row to save himself from the unemployment line, and now he gets a chance to move up a level and take on a fighter who was one fight away from a title shot recently. Almeida is strong on the ground, but iffy at best on his feet....which kind of sounds like Grove too, only he's made some efforts towards being OK on his feet. That should be the difference in this one, but this should be a really fun fight up and down.

You may have noticed that none of the fights I mentioned are taking place at UFC 100...and that's because outside of the three main fights, that card is LOADED with fights flying under the radar at this point. Just look at the undercard on this behemoth:

First, the two televised fights. The second or third best 170lb fighter in the world will look to get revenge for a fallen teammate, as Jon Fitch will step in against Paulo Thiago . Normally, this wouldn't be such a high level fight, but Thiago knocked Fitch's AKA teammate Josh Koscheck loopy with a big right hand in his UFC debut and made an instant name for himself. If he's for real and beats Fitch, we might have a world beater on our hands. I don't think so though.

The other televised fight has one of the most interesting UFC debuts in a while, as the colorful Yoshihiro Akiyama will step into the Octagon for the first time against the very confident Alan Belcher. Akiyama is the better fighter on paper, but first time jitters have gotten the best of the a lot of good fighters, and if Belcher is 1/10th as good as he has been saying he is recently, then an upset could be in the making. Again, I don't thinks so though.

The non-televised fights look good too. Mac Danzig will fight for his UFC career against the very underrated Jim Miller in what is likely to be treat for grappling fans, Jon "Bones" Jones - he of the most interesting striking - takes on wrestler Jake O'Brien and if he wins in style could propel himself one step further to stardom, Dong Hyun Kim gets a chance at a spectacular KO by taking on the glass jawed Jonathan Goulet (and as much as I love seeing Canadians in the UFC, how does he still have a job?) and CB Dolloway looks to make it three in a row in style when he fights Tom Lawlor.


And I left one for last, and it's because this fight really caught my interest. Hall of Famer Mark "The Hammer" Coleman takes his second shot at 205lbs and faces the (almost) always entertaining Stephan Bonnar. The loser could very well be done in the UFC. At his age, there's no way they will keep Coleman around if he loses two in a row, especially if his showing is as lackluster as it was against Rua. Of course, cutting to 205 the second time might leave him with more stamina than he had then though. As for Bonnar, it's hard to imagine one half of the "greatest fight in UFC history" would get the boot, but going from losing to an MMA neophyte like the talented Jon Jones to losing to someone as long in the tooth as Coleman just might be enough to get the trigger pulled on him. Honestly, I see Bonnar dominating this fight and winning by KO, but I'll be hoping like hell this fight gets on the main broadcast.


And these are just the undercards for the announced cards up to August. There's still all the main events and upper level fights, a WEC on Versus card June 7th, two Showtime Challenger Series cards, one of which includes Joey Villasenor taking on Cyborg Santos as well as Dennis Hallman and Jorge Gurgel, and the liklihood of Affliction III.

A hot summer indeed...