The Juggernaut MMA News Report 06.10.09: WEC is Epic!
Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 06.10.2009
In wake of the greatest show/fight of 2009, the Juggernaut has all your WEC and Strikeforce reviews. UFC 99, Carano/Cyborg and why it should main event, more Bully Beatdown, MMA in NY, more TUF10 names and the rest of your major MMA news is covered in-depth. Plus, your weekly TUF9 preview as we watch two lightweight semi-final fights.
The greatest MMA show of the year thus far ended with the leading candidate for fight of the year. WEC 41 set records in the Arco Arena and the Californian's watched nothing short of a battle, fought for the WEC Featherweight Championship. Urijah Faber was treated like a god in front of his hometown fans. As soon as "California Love" by Tupac Shakur hit the airwaves, the crowd went ballistic. And as soon as the lights faded to black to prepare for Mike Brown's entrance, the boo's reigned down like they were going out of style. It was a great spectacle that only happens a few times per year in MMA. This was a genuine spectacle.
Urijah Faber came out with a good strategy, avoid taking Brown's power punches at all costs. He bobbed and weaved like he was fighting a nest of bee's. His strategy went down the crapper as soon as he broke his right hand, late in the first round. WEC color commentator Kenny Florian took note of it and brought it up sometime after the third round began. After Faber won the first round, Mike Brown began dominating the fight to the best of his ability. While he could rarely land a big power punch, he worked Faber over in other ways. Brown clinched with Faber and threw several uppercuts and knees. Brown was able to take Faber down almost at will and despite taking his back (or being given his back), Brown could not get a chokehold placed concretely.
The only point it felt like Brown was in danger of losing the fight came in the final round when Faber nearly had a chokehold locked in tight. However, with one working hand, he could not lock it in and the rest of the round saw more chokes attempted. For a fight that ended in less than five minutes last year, this twenty-five minute war was the total opposite. Two of the top featherweights in the world matched up well, as expected, and just could not finish the other.
While you may have gotten sick of WEC's "slurpfest" pushing Urijah Faber like he was the only human left, but the fact remains; if he had not broken his hand, this fight likely does end in the same fashion. I would love to see the third fight of this match-up as soon as possible. Frankly, I don't care that Faber is now 0-2 against Mike Brown. Faber is still the #2 featherweight in the universe and neither dominated the other. This is not GSP's destruction of BJ Penn at UFC 94 or a Lyoto Machida's massacre.
By the way, in case you missed this awesome show, catch the replay. The first replay airs tonight at 8pm eastern. WATCH IT~!
In a match that unofficially determined the number one contender to the WEC Featherweight belt, Jose Aldo blasted Cub Swanson in eight seconds. Aldo opened up the fight with a great flying knee that cut Swanson's left eye and Aldo threw two more punches before Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight. This was the type of performance that is added to one's highlight reel a la Gabe Gonzaga's headkick-o-doom of Mirko Cro Cop. Too bad Aldo doesn't speak English because if he had, his marketability would be awesome. Aldo is now set-up to fight Mike Brown if they decide to go that route.
In a moment similar to the night before, Jens Pulver got a takedown against Josh Grispi, but was snatched into a guillotine choke. Pulver could not get out of the hold and was forced to tap out. It was a moment where you could feel nothing but sadness for the man, although you don't want to. The man was one of the best fighters in the world at one point in his career but has now lost four consecutive fights in WEC. Josh Grispi is barely in his 20s and is already 12-1 against a few top fighters. His future is bright. Jens Pulver referred to retirement in his post-fight speech but that may just be the emotion of having lost. He also said he'll fight as long as they want him but what more does the man have to prove? Here's hoping he can become one of the better color commentators in the sport. The great Arco Arena crowd reaction towards Pulver both before and after the fight was a sight to see.
Cowboy Donald Cerrone may not have needed to take a fight like this, but he did and he looked fantastic. He fought WEC newcomer and undefeated fighter James Krause and the two had a terrific ground battle for most of the first round. The two attempted a variety of submissions and both men flipped out of each attempt. On their feet, with Krause a bit winded, Cowboy Cerrone caught him with a hook and a straight to knock him down. He took Krause's back and choked him out for the victory. Now Cerrone should get a rematch with WEC Lightweight champion Jamie Varner in what should be a great rematch. In the post-fight promo, Cowboy Cerrone joked that whenever Varner can get out of intensive care, they can fight. Varner suffered eye damage from their fight (although some people thought he was faking it). Perhaps they can rematch at WEC 43 or WEC 44 later this year.
Strikeforce presented another quality show and at the end of the day, at least three fighters left the show looking like legitimate superstars. Nick Diaz has been the most pushed MMA fighter on Showtime this way of Gina Carano. He is 4-1 while fighting on the network and looked unshakeable in his victory over fan favorite Scott Smith. Brett Rogers shocked the MMA world and made doubters (yours truly included) look like fools. He made quick work of a former UFC heavyweight champion and frankly, looked as impressive (if not more) than Fedor Emelianenko in doing so. In the main event, Jake Shields made it known he will be a player in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions in the promotion with a sudden submission victory over Robbie Lawler. Strikeforce may not have a laundry list of superstar fighters but they do have a stable of great young talent, some of which were on display on this card.
Props go out to 411's Bill Wannop for being the only man in the Roundtable Preview to pick Brett Rogers in this fight. I said, "[I] would be shocked if Rogers pulled off the upset." Frankly, there wasn't much time for me to be shocked. Once the bell rang, both Rogers and Andrei Arlovski looked to be sizing the other up. Rogers threw the first punches and knocked Arlovski out, against the cage as Big John McCarthy jumped in to signal the end of the fight. In less than a half of a minute, Brett Rogers made Andrei Arlovski look like a novice inside the cage. The man wants to try his hand at professional boxing but he cannot even get through the first round of an MMA fight without getting knocked senseless. It must be beyond frustrating for the guy because he has a big arsenal of skills and it's his chin that will hold him back from being the number one fighter in the world. Brett Rogers has a great story. He was an average, hard working family man who has been building up an undefeated record. He felt he was getting passed over for opportunities when Elite-XC built their brand behind Kimbo Slice. Originally, he was reportedly going to fight Alistair Overeem except that fight fell apart for a variety of reasons. Andrei Arlovski stepped up (on loan from Affliction) with the intent to rebuild his post-UFC career after being knocked out by Fedor Emelianenko in January. Now, Brett Rogers is a full-time MMA athlete and has a win over a former top ranked heavyweight on his belt buckle. Consider me on the Rogers bandwagon.
Strikeforce toyed with the idea of a potential Fedor/Josh Barnett winner challenging Brett Rogers in the future, but that would take a long reach to happen. By the end of the brodcast, they all but officially announced on the August show, a potential heavyweight title fight between Overeem and Rogers. I would assume a lot of people would hope for a Rogers win, if for nothing else, to get the belt off of a guy who's loyalties are split between MMA promotions in America and Japan. Right now, if the two were to fight, I'd be torn to pick against Rogers. But beware, the man has expectations to perform now. While he would still be the underdog, it's different when a fighter is expected to perform at a high level.
In the night's main event, Robbie Lawler challenged Jake Shields in a catchweight fight at 180-pounds. Jake Shields cannot find "superstar" welterweights to fight. That was the problem when he was EXC champion and that's the problem he will face now. After he caught Robbie Lawler in a sick guillotine choke, he challenged Cung Le for the Strikeforce Middleweight championship. This should be interesting because if memory serves, Nick Diaz did the same after defeating Frank Shamrock in April, right? Diaz and Shields are training partners so I wonder how they would decide who gets to challenge for the belt, assuming Cung Le is willing to fight again.
Nick Diaz boxes like a superfreak. That may not be a word, but it damn sure should be. Diaz's jabs look like pitter patter punches but in reality, they do a ton of damage. He threw about four hundred punches in his fight with Scott Smith, that's four hundred punches in about twelve minutes. He landed half of those attempts. Unbelievable. It looked like he had Smith's number early in the fight with the superior striking. His change from body punches to attacking Smith's forehead worked to perfection. Smith was tired at the end of the second round and quickly tapped once Diaz got the hooks in and slapped on the rear naked choke. Nick Diaz is a great fighter folks. You may not like the man, but you can't take his skills away from him.
Opening up the Strikeforce show was a light heavyweight fight between Kevin Randleman and Mike Whitehead. After all the concerns about Randleman's health, he proved to be up to par although he could not finish Whitehead. Surprisingly, Whitehead had six successful takedowns and was able to lay and pray for minutes at a time. In total, he must have spent over five minutes on top in the entire fight. Randleman's chance came in the third round when he knocked Whitehead down, but he could not capitalize. The former UFC heavyweight champion looked in great shape but it looked like he had no knockout power. Perhaps it's just that Whitehead has an awesome chin. By the way, Randleman only had one successful takedown, which is not a good stat for a famously great wrestler.
For all the trash talk said weeks before, Phil Baroni and Joe Riggs sure had nice things to say about each other in their pre-fight hype video. Baroni tried to stand and land his big punches but Riggs was great at creating a moving target and using his wrestling to change levels. He even came close to hooking in an armbar in the second round. By the third round (with Riggs leading the fight), Baroni was tired and taking a beating. Give Baroni credit because he took a ton of damage but never quit. Riggs hit him with a supply of knees, elbows, power punches and more but could not finish the fight. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact Riggs fought with a pair of broken hands and the flu (according to Riggs after the fight).
Now, Riggs should be able to have a fight with Jake Shields. The two were suppose to fight at this show but Shields ended up passing on the fight to challenge Robbie Lawler figuring it was the 'bigger' fight. That fight, if it ever happens, would be a fair match-up between a wrestling/striker and a Jiu-Jitsu practicioner.
THIS AUGUST: GINA CARANO VS. CRIS CYBORG, THOMSON DEFENDS GOLD VS. MELENDEZ
OH HELL YEAH! Strikeforce was able to make the big announcement the MMA world has been waiting over a year for. Gina Carano will return to the cage to fight Chris Cyborg Santos on August 15th on Showtime. The biggest fight in women's MMA is set for the week after UFC 101 and will definitely be one of the biggest fights of the year. The only negative to figure about the fight is the fact it will be three, three minute rounds. Maybe Strikeforce can create a women's championship so they can increase the time/length of the fight. You know, like the Affliction/WAMMA people were able to do with the heavyweights.
2009 is one hell of a year so far, you think? The biggest heavyweight, featherweight and female fights ever plus a slew of awesome fights from a variety of promotions in different parts of the world. The summer just saw another pair of mega fights added to the schedule.
Josh Thomson was suppose to fight Gilbert Melendez in April but he broke his ankle before the fight. He just now got the boot off his leg and will be able to begin training. These two lightweights fought a five round slugfest awhile ago for the Strikeforce lightweight championship and their rematch should be another battle.
Strikeforce also mentioned that their heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem will also be on the card.
After much local controversy, the UFC finally debuts in Germany when they bring UFC 99 to Cologne's Lanxess Arena this Saturday. While some may be looking ahead to the century mark in July, this card has quietly developed into a mix of entertaining match-ups. Six fights are guaranteed to be televised with more on the schedule if time permits. I will not run down the entire card here (look for the 411 Roundtable Preview on Friday) but will highlight some of the big fights.
First is the main event, a 195 lb. catchweight fight between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva. Yes, Franklin is looking to become a permanent fixture in the light heavyweight division following this fight, just as Silva wants to become a star for the middleweight division. When you take that into account, a win here is of the upmost importance (more so than usual) as a loss will slow any momentum either man may bring. While Wanderlei Silva will only be turning 33-years old in three weeks, he has the wear and tear of men a decade his elder. In five of his last six bouts, Silva has been knocked out. His only win came by a vicious knockout of Keith Jardine last year. Let's face facts, Silva is not going to be stringing together any four or five fight winning streaks any more. Not taking his strength away, Silva is still one of the most feared strikers in the sport. He has that one punch knockout power that can end a fight quickly (he knocked Jardine out in less than a minute). However, if he can't land that one big punch, he's in trouble.
In an interesting twist, Rich Franklin has been training with Anderson Silva to prepare for this fight. If you can't beat them, you damn sure better join them. Franklin is actually older than Wanderlei, yet he does not sport the same wear on his body. He last fought in January and lost a close split decision to Dan Henderson. Franklin's strength is his striking and while he may not have the same explosive power that Silva does, he may be more refined. Franklin's footwork and technique are well rounded and he will not be loading up looking for a big punch in the same fashion that Wanderlei Silva may. This is why I will be picking Franklin to be victorious here.
The second fight from the top on this show is a heavyweight contest pitting Cheick Kongo against budding superstar Cain Velasquez. For those who have not heard the buzz for the better part of the last two years, Velasquez is one of the best wrestlers in the sport. In training, he dominates everybody to the point people suggest he would match fairly with Brock Lesnar. This is a pretty standard fight, either Kongo will knock Velasquez out with his striking or Velasquez will win the fight with his superior wrestling. Kongo's weakness is fighting off of his back and his takedown defense will be suspect in this fight. Unless Velasquez chooses to forget all of his background and turn this into a kick boxing match, there is no reason to say he won't be able to take Kongo down and get the victory. For Kongo, a win here and he would definitely be up there in heavyweight title contention at the end of the year. He happens to have to go through a huge brick wall in Velasquez to get there.
The emotion on the night will likely be spent in the welterweight battle between Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy. For months the two have talked trash about the other with things getting a bit personal in recent weeks. Hardy has gone as far to insinuate Davis is exploiting the Irish and was never a good boxer. Hardy is pissed at the fact that Davis is 4-0 against European fighters in Europe and the talk that Davis is garnering a big British/Irish fan base. So he thinks of himself as a European fighter, born and raised ready to knockout the invading American. Who needs pro wrestling when you have stuff like this? Davis is pissed off at Hardy, taking things personally and says he will knock him out. Hardy has been training with boxing coach Freddie Roach in preparations of this fight. All expectations are this fight will be fought on the feet although I wonder if Davis will pass up a submission for the chance to box and knock Hardy out. I do not have a set-in-stone pick for this fight because let's face it, either man can likely knock the other out. I can't wait to see the stare down at weigh-in's and in the center of the cage. Now THAT is going to be fun to watch.
Following that Cro Cop highlight reel, it's time to discuss the return of the Croation sensation. His return to the UFC has been rumored for month and it only became official a week ago. Since leaving the UFC after his decision loss to Cheick Kongo at UFC 75 in 2007, he is 2-0 with one no contest fighting in Japan. All of his fights have never left the first round (although two fights lasted six minutes) and he has not looked like the same Cro Cop, who knocked out Wanderlei Silva and beat Josh Barnett twice. Regardless of that, he is still Cro Cop and will be the closest to his home country in an MMA fight as he has ever been. Plus he is fresh off of surgery to repair his knee, so who knows where this go around with the UFC may lead but he has to win. His opponent is Mostapha Al-turk, a British fighter who was lost to Cheick Kongo (coincidence?) via TKO in December. In a recent interview, Al-turk has said he has watched a lot of Cro Cop on tape and knows how to beat him. So at least, it does not seem like he wants to be a walkover for the once famed MMA fighter. What I will find interesting is if Cro Cop doesn't get his way early in the fight, will he become restless or make a mistake? Al-turk has to take it to Cro Cop, but he obviously has to be weary of the head kicks and other strikes. For all the hype about Cro Cop's return, I do see this fight as being closer than some may think.
That is all the talk of UFC 99 for today. Other main card fights include Mike Swick fighting Ben Saunders and Caol Uno's UFC return against Spencer Fisher. Once again, check out 411mania.com on Friday for the Roundtable Preview to see the breakdown for all the fights and predictions.
JUGGERNAUT NEWS BRIEFS
- Last week, the quest to legalizing MMA in New York State broke through another barrier when the bill in front of the New York State Assembly's Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports passed with a 14-6 favorable vote. Bill 2009-B will now head to the New York's Codes Committee. If and when it passes there, it will head to the Ways and Means Committee before heading to the State Assembly floor. The State Senate would also have to approve the bill before it goes before New York Governor David Paterson for his ultimate signature. So needless to say, there is still a long road before you will be seeing sanctioned MMA fights in the Empire State. Assuming there are no major pratfalls for the piece of legislation, expectations are that MMA may be sanctioned by the New York Athletic Commission by the second quarter of 2010. You can bet as soon as the Governor's signature hits that piece of paper, the UFC will be in negotiations (if not sooner) with Madison Square Garden to host the first New York City UFC ever.
In a trivia note, it would not be the first time MSG was in business with the UFC. In January 2008 with WWE running the World's Most Famous Arena, MSG was covered with signage promoting UFC 81 (Brock Lesnar's debut). There was even a video board overlooking Eighth Avenue playing the UFC 81 trailer.
- It has been confirmed that 'Bully Beatdown,' the MTV series has been renewed for a second season. The show, hosted by Jason "Mayhem" Miller, featured professional MMA fighters fighting "bullies" in exhibition contests so "victims" could receive cash prizes. The first season had to have been taped prior to the death of Elite-XC since several of the fighters on the show were from that stable. Jake Shields, Tony Bonello and Thomas Denny were some of the pro fighters involved with the project. Whether some of the show's non-fight performances were staged or not, Miller proved to be a fun host. Let's face it, MTV went down the crapper a long time ago, but any MMA-based television should be good (as long as everyone forgets the the first few minutes of the IFL premiere a few years back). Mayhem Miller will be back as host for the second season.
- The UFC officially announced the main event of UFC 104 for October 24th at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. UFC Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida will make his first title defense against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. It will be the first UFC in Los Angeles since the famous UFC 60 battle between Matt Hughes and Royce Gracie which did monster business. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the card shapes up because Machida is still a relative unknown when it comes to being a draw and Shogun Rua is a complete unknown in that realm. More on that aspect below.
- According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the early expectations for the UFC 98 PPV buyrate is north of 600,000. If that holds true, that is great news for the promotion who build the show around Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida along with a pair of fighters who have not been featured on television in over a year, Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Meltzer theorizes that the extraordinary Countdown special on SpikeTV is a reason for the great business. Either way, if Machida turns out to be a successful draw, the UFC can be considered nothing short of pure gold right now. It's amazing because tons of people said back in 2006 that MMA and the UFC specifically was nothing but a fad. Here we are three years later and the UFC is doing as good in PPV as ever and solidly in terms of overall business (in the middle of a bad economic recession no less). You can always say this, but barring a major catastrophe, the UFC is going to be doing great business for a good long time.
- WEC GM Reed Harris has confirmed that WEC Lightweight champion Jamie Varner will defend the belt against "Cowboy" Donald Cerrone in a rematch later in 2009. Not specific date has been set yet but it will headline one of the final 2009 events. The fight should be another barn burner between a pair of great fighters who simply do not care for one another. Bad blood stemming from a public war of words has led to the tension. Cowboy Cerrone went so far to say after his fight on the weekend that if he saw Varner on the street, he would punch him. Perhaps not the kind of imagery that pleases some, but this is now apparently a grudge match. Everyone loves a good 'ol fashioned grudge match.
- Urijah Faber's broken right hand will likely require surgery. If he does undergo the knife, his next fight should be in 2010. A lot of people are wondering if a Brown/Faber trilogy is in the works, and it almost certainly is. However, the question then becomes whether WEC is comfortable throwing it out there so soon or injecting some fresh challengers and having Faber work his way back up the ladder. Possible title contenders include Jose Aldo and even Josh Grispi. If Aldo does get the next shot at WEC Featherweight champion Mike Brown, perhaps Grispi would be matched with Faber?
- According to a MMAMadness.com report, the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter (currently filming in Las Vegas, Nevada) is stocked with even more talent than originally thought. Besides the internet sensation, Kimbo Slice and several former NFL players, MMA veterans Roy Nelson and Wes Sims will be two more heavyweights in the cast of sixteen. Nelson is known for his knockout power and Jiu-Jitsu skills as much as he is known for his large gut. It's been said in the past that Dana White frowned upon signing him due to his appearance so it appears Nelson will try to earn a UFC contract through the SpikeTV reality show. Wes Sims is 0-3 in his previous UFC days, losing two fights to Frank Mir years ago. The only thing this news does is confirm the doubts that Kimbo Slice can actually win the four fights necessary to win the six-figure contract. Of course it's been proven in the past that even the TUF losers can become mainstay UFC/WEC fighters (Kenny Florian, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Nathan Quarry, Alex Karalexis, Marcus Davis, Keith Jardine, Ed Herman, Matt Hamill, Chris Lytle, Patrick Cote, Gray Maynard, Matt Wiman, Joe Lauzon, Rob Emerson, Corey Hill, Manny Gamburyan, Cole Miller, Ben Saunders, C.B. Dollaway, Matthew Riddle, Dan Cramer, Matt Brown, Tim Credeur, Junie Browning, Dave Kaplan, Krzysztof Soszynski, Eliot Marshall, Tom Lawlor, George Roop, Kyle Kingsbury, Phillipe Nover and Rolando Delgado are all under UFC contract despite not winning their respective TUF season).
Damarques Johnson Earns Finale Spot
The semi-finals of TUF9 have begun, but not before Dana White had some fun with coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping. Figuring that it would be best to guarantee a USA/UK match-up in the June 20th TUF Finale, doing so by matching teammate against teammate in the semi-finals. Bisping cried and was adamant that the best fighters were UK guys who would dominate Henderson's team. Dan Henderson did not really get all that upset about Dana's suggestion but insisted Bisping was full of crap (as usual). At the end of the day, Dana White decided against teammate against teammate semi-final fights which means it is possible we may see an all US or all UK final in one or both of the TUF Final fights on June 20th.
The semi-final fights were booked by Dana White as follows:
Welterweight
- Damarques Johnson vs. Nick Osipczak
- Frank Lester vs. James Wilks
Lightweight
- Cameron Dollar vs. Andre Winner
- Jason Dent vs. Ross Pearson
The favorites heading in were Johnson, Wilks, Winner and Pearson so keep that in mind.
Before we get to the fight, there was some drama in the house yet again. First, Richie Whitson argued with Jason Pierce for talking bad about Team USA. It ended with Pierce telling Whitson to put on some weight (Whitson is a lightweight, Pierce was a welterweight) to fight him and Whitson replies affirmatively. I doubt we see this fight on the Finale prelims, for those wondering. Afterwards, Whitson heard Dave Faulkner talk to Nick Osipczak about Damarques Johnson's weaknesses and tendencies. Whitson believed this was info Faulkner gained from USA's Jason Pierce. In the gym, Dan Henderson asks Pierce point blank if he had been talking to UK about such issues and Pierce was firm in his denial. Henderson took his words for what they were and said TV would be his final judge. Well, the next scene was Nick Osipczak telling the cameras that Faulkner indeed gained information from Pierce.
So yeah, we learned that Jason Pierce did not want to fight and sold out one of his teammates. Too bad for him, he's not a character like Junie Browning so don't expect him to get an opening fight on the Finale broadcast.
Damarques Johnson defeated Nick Osipczak in a three round unanimous decision to earn a spot on the June 20th TUF9 Finale. Both fighters showed clear weaknesses that would definitely be exploited against even your average UFC fighter, especially in the welterweight division. Regardless, the fight was entertaining...especially the end of the opening round which saw Dana White gushing over it.
The first round saw Damarques control Nick with his wrestling including two takedowns. However, Nick was able to land several leg kicks and some strikes and was never in danger of being finished. The problem with Johnson's ground game appears to be his lack of control when he's able to pass through the guard. Nick was able to maneuver out of any troublesome positions. At the end of the round, they swung wildly at each other landing big shots. Nick got the better of the tremendous exchange and lasting impression is everything. Nick Osipczak took the first round.
The second round was all Damarques controlling Nick with wrestling. At the end of the round, I felt Herb Dean should have stopped it. Johnson had Nick inside a body lock and was raining down elbows and punches to the side of the head, all the while Nick tried to cover up and did not move (at all). Herb Dean told him to do something or he would stop it...except there were seconds remaining and he was saved by the bell. If a fighter does not move for over ten seconds and is simply eating punches, it should be stopped.
In the overtime round, both men were gassed. Johnson spent most of the round striking Nick with all he had including a flying knee. He took Osipczak down but the UK fighter reversed positioning and ended up on top on the mat with seconds remaining. The striking from Damarques won him the round as Nick was simply more tired than his opponent to do enough damage to win.
With the win, Damarques Johnson will now fight the winner of the Frank Lester/James Wilks fight. The favorite there is obviously Wilks, who beat Lester once already. Lester's best chance will be for a knockout because he has no ground game and Wilks does.
Tonight, we will see both semi-final lightweight fights. In this one, Team UK has both favorites in Andre Winner and Ross Pearson. Winner will fight US wonderboy Cameron Dollar and Pearson will fight veteran Jason Dent. Some consider Andre Winner to be the best fighter in the house, although he was not given much TV time this season. All that matters is these next two fights (potentially two fights, that is).
The Spike preview also says a Team UK fighter will suffer an injury in training. I guess as long as it is not Winner, Pearson or Wilks, everything will be fine with the show. Well, hopefully none of the fighters go on a drunken rampage like Jesse from TUF7 who blew his chances.
JUGGERNAUT VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Now that it is official, let all the hype begin anew. Right now, Who ya got? Gina Carano may have the better technique but certainly, Cristiane Cyborg Santos has an ungodly amount of power. Can you imagine the noise level if/when these two ladies stand and tee off on one another? It will be a thousand kinds of awesome that could rival the environment that was created by the likes of Shamrock/Baroni and Shamrock/Le.
Only 66 days until the fight is here.
There may not be a lot of talk now about fight order on the August 15th Strikeforce show, but you can bet there will be a big push for the decision makers to put the Carano/Cyborg fight in the main event slot. If they end up creating a championship, it only strengthens that case. The other possibilities would be the Josh Thomson/Gilbert Meledenz title fight or the Alistair Overeem title fight. But let's face it, the one fight everyone would be clamoring for is going to be Carano/Cyborg.
Scott Coker, if you're the man to make the decision, PUT THEM IN THE MAIN EVENT~!
(Author's Note: This was written before the official announcement from Strikeforce that Carano vs. Santos will headline the August show. STRIKEFORCE: "Carano vs. Cyborg" will be televised on Showtime.)
That's a cut for another week in June. You can always check me out on Twitter. As always, thanks for reading. Next week I will cover the aftermath of UFC 99 along with the rest of the news in the MMA headlines.
