The Juggernaut MMA News Report 06.24.09: Diego Sanchez is Tough Enough
Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 06.24.2009
The Juggernaut reviews the TUF9 finale, Strikeforce Challengers and takes a quick look at the upcoming Lashley/Sapp fight. Plus, your weekly news includes tidbits regarding Brock Lesnar, Vitor Belfort, Cro Cop, UFC VOD and much more. All that plus your video of the week~!
The ninth Ultimate Fighter finale was a great show. Capping the night off was a fight of the year candidate between two of the most entertaining fighters on the roster. Clay Guida and Diego Sanchez put on a show, simple as that. From their entrances which saw Guida sing along to his theme music while hopping along the way to Diego Sanchez seething at Guida while walking towards the cage. This was a show to see.
HOLY CRAP~!
Almost right off the bat, Sanchez took Guida apart with great boxing, a dangerous arsenal of uppercuts were unleashed. Later in the first round, Sanchez landed a great head kick which knocked Guida down...but not out. In the second round, Guida was able to get back into the groove and use his wrestling base to calm things down. Sanchez landed wicked elbows from the bottom which appeared to open a cut on Guida's head. It was a bloody mess and the third round was as action packed as the two before it. Sanchez admitted it was difficult to try submissions since both were slippery from sweat and blood.
HOLY CRAP AGAIN~!
Sanchez's first round performance was 10-8 material and he won the split decision (one judge gave Sanchez 10-9 and Guida 10-9's for rounds two and three). About the 10-8, some may argue it was not because Guida was able to take Sanchez down. While that may have happened, Sanchez DESTROYED Guida with his striking and dominated the first round despite being taken down. Guida did almost nothing once he was on top anyway so it was not a case where he hurt Sanchez there.
Throughout the fight, on commentary, play-by-play man Mike Goldberg brought up the possibility of seeing Diego Sanchez challenge Kenny Florian for UFC lightweight gold (depending on the outcome of Florian's fight with B.J. Penn in August). It certainly begs the question, is Sanchez arguably the best in the division right now?
Right now, I would probably pick Sanchez over Penn and I'd be torn between the two former TUF season one cast mates. I wonder if Sanchez has lost any finishing power in the ground & pound with the weight cuts he now makes. He certainly has improved his stand-up fighting which would pose an interesting challenge to either Penn or Florian.
Joe Stevenson and Nate Diaz began the night with a fun grappling battle. It's not too often you see a great grappling battle unless some kickboxing is thrown in every now and then.
So good they even found time to trash talk one another during the third round. Stevenson attempted to take Diaz down who placed on knee on the ground so Joe Daddy could not kick/knee his head. Diaz shouted something to the effect of, "Try something b&^*h!" while Stevenson replied, "GET UP!" Funny.
How did Diaz get out of that choke?
Stevenson was able to control most of the fight with his wrestling, strength and takedowns. They traded a few guillotine chokes during the fight and each nearly won, or so it seemed. The judges ruled it a unanimous decision for Joe Stevenson and it was the correct call. A much needed victory for him as he ended a two-fight losing streak (to Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez).
In the night's two TUF final fights, only one man really distinguished himself from the pact. James Wilks' Jiu-Jitsu was far and away the best we have seen from anyone on the season. DaMarques Johnson could not keep up with the frequent submission attempts and only defended up until the end of the first round. The UFC's welterweight division is stacked so it is tough to see where Wilks will make an impact. But with a solid Jiu-Jitsu base like he has, he has a solid background to begin.
Among the lightweights, it was Ross Pearson who outfought Andre Winner in a unanimous decision to receive the six-figure UFC contract. It was the closest fight of the evening until the closing seconds when Pearson got the better of the stand-up exchanges. For most of the opening two rounds, the two fought for positioning and defended each others takedown attempts and maneuvered around the clinch. The UFC's lightweight division is even more stacked than their welterweights. Both Pearson and Winner are good fighters but how can they contend with fighters such as Tyson Griffin, Sean Sherk, Nate Diaz, etc., only time can tell.
Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns had a good fight and each man was on the verge of losing. Lytle was rocked in the first round but kept his composure and was able to survive until the end of the round where he recuperated. He caught Burns in the second round and never let up. By the third round, Burns had blood pouring from beside his left eye, although it never hindered his eyesight.
By the way, don't forget to check out the 411 MMA Interviews conducted by our own Jeffrey Harris with both Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns (conducted prior to their fight). Both are interesting reads.
I watched some of the Strikeforce Challengers show on Showtime last weekend. It was a solid show although one thing rubbed me the wrong way.
I know Gina Carano may be in the middle of training but what's with promoting Affliction better than their own product? Sure they had a solid video package promoting the main event of their August 15th show, but that's it?
Chris Cyborg was in the building. She may not be able to speak English but there are no interpreters? Perhaps its the fact both women appear to be cordial towards one another and unwilling to utter any potential controversial statements in the build-up to the first major women's MMA main event. All I know is this was the last time Strikeforce is on Showtime before the August date and their hype of their biggest dream fight left a lot to be desired.
Showtime and Affliction are in bed together regarding the August pay-per-view but that shouldn't mean they leave their own work in the dust.
Besides that nitpick, the action on Strikeforce Challengers 2 was fun. Sarah Kaufman retained her title has the best 135-pound striker in the women's division. GIve Shayna Baszler credit for being able to stand there and take the pounding but you have to wonder whether her wrestling/jiu-jitsu background was thrown out the door during the fight.
What I want to know is, who is next for Kaufman? Then, where the hell does she get her killer instinct? She may be the nicest person in MMA, nicer than the guy on TUF last year who loved to hug everyone.
Jorge Gurgel, the man I recognize as Rich Franklin's buddy and a great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artist. Well, we saw none of his great BJJ but he apparently didn't need it. Conor Heun and Gurgel had a great back and forth fight. It was one of those fighters where you wonder how in the world neither man was knocked out. They hit each other with nothing short of the kitchen sink and they stood for it all. It was hilarious when Gurgel did get a takedown late in the fight, the Washington-state crowd shouted for knees...and they were let down.
Heun's post-fight promo was excellent. Indeed, set goals and you can achieve them. Now THAT needs to be on CBS!
Nick Thompson (one of the best Bryan Danielson impersonators I know) was UBER-PISSED after he tapped out to Tim Kennedy's strikes. The reason? Apparently, he felt he was struck behind the head numerous times. The replay may have said the same thing but he tapped, and the referee said nothing. Sometimes things like that happen and they suck.
Hard to hate on Tim Kennedy though who just finished a tour in the U.S. Military.
Evangelista Santos looks like the baddest man on the planet. I'm afraid of him and the only time I've seen him has been over television. Joey Villasenor fought a good fight, with the more technically sound striking and took the split decision victory. Afterwards, Villasenor wanted a fight with Cung Le.
Yeah, right.
Everyone under the sun who is even close to the middleweight division in Strikeforce wants a piece of Cung Le. Whenever he finds time to step away from Hollywood, whomever he fights, I hope they win.
I want to say a word about the one referee who pissed me off. I believe his name was Anthony Hamlet. I hear he may also be a promoter in addition to his referee work. What the hell was his problem? Whenever fights went to the ground, he always shouted something about a 'warning' and ordered the fighters to work. Only the problem was the fighters WERE working, sometimes in dominant positions. He routinely stood them up for no apparent reason.
Now there is one ref I hope I never see work UFC events, or major Strikeforce shows. Ugh.
LASHLEY VS. SAPP
This Saturday night the most interesting heavyweight fight of July takes place. Bobby Lashley and Bob Sapp main event a show entitled 'Ultimate Chaos' on PPV from Mississippi. Also on the card will be Affliction boss Tom Atencio fighting in his second pro MMA fight against rookie Randy Hedderick. Also on the card is a fight pitting Gilbert Yvel against Pedro Hizzo plus Din Thomas and Chris Horodecki will be in action (in separate fights).
Lashley and Sapp. Oh boy. Sapp lost his most recent fight, in May, to Ikuhisa Minowa(man) in 76 seconds after getting caught in a kneebar. Chances are, the same WON'T happen again in this fight. This will be the first time since his pro wrestling days when Lashley will challenge a man similar in size, if not bigger.
It's fair to say Lashley has never fought a good striker like he will Saturday night. But Lashley's wrestling will be better than anything Sapp has seen in a long time, if ever.
All that needs to be said from hereon out, Lashley MUST win this fight. Sapp is not considered a serious challenger at this stage of his career.
JUGGERNAUT NEWS BRIEFS
- The final episode of the ninth season of The Ultimate Season clocked in with a 1.1 rating. I assume that has been about the average for the 13-week season. I fully expect that number to double, at least for the first few episodes of the 10th season in September. Kimbo Slice's performance on the show will go along way in rejuvenating the series. Should he lose early, it would not shock me to see ratings decline to their normal base of recent seasons.
- Days after it was confirmed that Mirko Cro Cop would be fighting Mighty Mo at DREAM 10 next month, it was reported the Croatian fighter was hospitalized after suffering from symptoms related to Salmonella. As of today, the fight has not been canceled or rescheduled. I would make a joke about karma, but we here at 411mania wish Cro Cop a speedy recovery.
- The debut season of Bellator Fighting on ESPN Deportes has concluded with the crowning of their lightweight and middleweight champions. World-caliber fighter Eddie Alvarez (under contract to Strikeforce and DREAM now that his Bellator commitments have ended) won the lightweight title after submitting Toby Imada in the second round. In the middleweight contest, Hector Lombard defeated Jared Hess in the fourth round by doctor stoppage.
There has been lots of talk that Bellator's potential second season of television may air on ESPN2. If such a deal were to come about, it would be a huge coup for Bellator. With such a deal, I would expect at least minor ESPN promotion (coverage on Sportscenter, ESPNews, etc.) behind it. The only reason ESPN has failed to cover UFC as big as they did before the Liddell/Rampage fight was the exclusive-SpikeTV contract. ESPN was/is not about to promote a competitor's brand.
- In an interesting tidbit, UFC President Dana White said he is considering Vitor Belfort as a potential opponent for Anderson Silva. The interesting parts come from the fact that a) when he said this, on the brief UFC news show with Amir Sadollah, it was treated as an EXCLUSIVE and b) Belfort is fighting with Affliction. This caught me off guard. Belfort will be fighting Jorge Santiago on August 1st. Does this mean White is actively recruiting (or plans to) the former UFC fighter? Big news indeed.
- Brock Lesnar is hilarious. Besides the comments about being built like a black dude (he said it, not me), he hyped his upcoming UFC 100 main event bout during an interview with Joe Rogan during the TUF Finale over the weekend. Brock can be great at selling fights. "I don't like to lose, I don't do it often" said Lesnar. I cannot wait until the UFC Countdown special for that show!
- The preliminary fight results from the TUF9 Finale included the following: Melvin Guillard defeated Gleison Tibau by split decision ; Brad Blackburn def. Edgar Garcia by split decision ; Nick Ospiczak defeated Frank Lester by submission in round 1 ; Jason Dent defeated Cameron Dollar by submission in round 1 ; and Tomasz Drwal defeated Mike Ciesnolevicz by TKO in round 1.
- The final news from the Finale included the fact that the UFC awarded a record three awards for Fight of the Night. All six fighters from the three fights received an extra $25,000 in addition to their purse. Diego Sanchez, Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson, Nate Diaz, Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns received the bonus.
- UFC launched a new On Demand video service with Comcast Cable. For those of you with the cable provider, you should be able to order the VOD service right now. According to the press release, UFC programming on the service will include some free content, pay content as well as events and PPVs. I have no idea how recent PPVs work into this. Expect to see a lot of content to hype UFC 100.
- DREAM 11 is shaping up to be a great card. The September 23rd event in Japan will feature the semi-finals of the infamous Super Hulk Tournament (Sokoudjou vs. Mousasi, Hong Man Choi vs. Minowaman), the conclusion of the Featherweight Grand Prix plus the rematch between Mayhem Miller and Jacare Souza. I assume the vacant middleweight belt will be up for grabs in that one. The rumored fight between top lightweights JZ Calvacante and Eddie Alvarez is still in the rumor stage.
- Andrei Arlovski is no longer under contract to Affliction. His fight contract ran out after his fight with Brett Rogers (the former UFC Heavyweight Champion was handed to Strikeforce by Affliction for the show). Now it appears Arlovski's MMA career is at a roadblock. He was receiving a monster amount of money, in the six-figures for his recent fights. Clearly many will say he is not worth that much money, and they are probably correct. Is Arlovski any kind of draw? I don't see a reason to argue he is. As a former champion, perhaps he will be welcomed back to the UFC? Maybe it will take a few wins before Dana White and Zuffa court him. However, with that chin, it will be one hell of an up hill battle for The Pitbull.
JUGGERNAUT VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Some may think of it as a freak show fight but I am intrigued by it. Below is the press conference for the Ultimate Chaos show. Sapp and Lashley all but promised a quick knockout (well, Lashley promised it would not go to a decision).
This is on PPV but I'm not sure how much it costs. No, I'm not buying it. But you can bet the result will be discussed here next week.
Just under three weeks until the biggest UFC show of all-time and for some reason, I'm not as excited about it as I should be. What's wrong with me?
You can check me out on Twitter. Thanks for reading and be sure to return next week, or I'll send the 411mania interns after you. AND YOU DON'T WANT THAT!
