The Juggernaut MMA News Report 07.08.09: UFC 100 is HERE!
Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 07.08.2009
The Juggernaut examines the triple main event of UFC 100 and hits you with more news than you can handle. Another state sanctions MMA, morons try to rob an MMA fighter, Tito Ortiz is still talking comeback, Bellator is moving on up to the deluxe ESPN family and much more.
UFC 100~!
WOOOOOO~!
We have been anticipating this weekend for months. In some cases (Lesnar/Mir), for over a year have we wanted to see the rematch. The card is stacked, championships are on the line, title shots are on the line, international debuts and more. It's the biggest complete card of the year for the UFC and it just so happens to be their 100th UFC (although, in name only).
Brock Lesnar versus Frank Mir for the undisputed heavyweight belt is the bout where you know what is likely to happen. Either Brock Lesnar will a) punch the living crap out of Frank Mir to win or b) wrestle his way to a decision win; or Frank Mir will repeat his UFC 81 win and submit Lesnar. It's unlikely that Lesnar will be knocked out and it's unlikely that Lesnar will submit Mir.
Can Lesnar send Mir flying further than Heath Herring?
The point here is Lesnar has had months upon months to improve his submission defense on the ground and overall technical abilities. Meanwhile, Mir has had months to work upon his entire game to try and avoid the certain rush of strikes that will come early in the fight. You have to figure Brock will be at least a bit more cautious than before, but it's not like he will turn into Tim Sylvia overnight, Lesnar loves to rush his opponent and throw a flurry, take them down and pound them out. That is what he does best.
I will be picking Brock Lesnar in this fight only because I do not think he will be caught twice. It is likely, but I don't (nor do I want to) see it happening.
Can Frank Mir stay on his feet long enough to do some damage to Brock, as Randy Couture did at UFC 91? Probably unlikely as Mir's game is not favorable towards the clinch. He's one of the few heavyweights who may feel most comfortable on his back and perhaps actually wants to fight from that position. It's that reason that Lesnar must be cautious if/when he gets a takedown and goes to the mat. Mir's guard is dangerous and especially active for a big man.
The co-main event is a welterweight title fight pitting Georges St. Pierre (arguably the best UFC fighter today) against Thiago Alves. This is as interesting a match-up as you will see for GSP. Alves is a powerful striker and a Purple belt in BJJ. Still, GSP is the most well rounded fighter in the sport with world-caliber wrestling, a Black belt in BJJ, quick and powerful striking and the ability to fight from the clinch. The one thing we will not know until the fight is how big Alves will be. He was around the 200-pounds mark, if not over, when he fought Josh Koscheck and less we forget, he had problems making weight for his fight with Matt Hughes.
This may be the only time that GSP is the smaller fighter in the cage. Will it matter? Perhaps, perhaps not.
Can GSP dominate Alves like he did B.J. Penn?
Since 2005, Alves has only lost twice in the UFC. He was submitted by Spencer Fisher in 2005 and lost by TKO to Jon Fitch in 2006. He has fought powerful strikers like Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck and beaten them all. He beat a Judo guy in Parisyan, and top wrestlers in Hughes and Koscheck. Imagine GSP as a fighter made up of all those disciplines and this has the means of being a classic title fight.
I will have a hard time picking against GSP because he appears to be on the top of his game right now. Alves will have to fight a perfect fight and not get caught by any of GSP's attack. Remember, I love to point out this stat: GSP has not lost a single round in more than an hours worth of cage time. Try to think of how dominant a man has to be to not lose a single round over the course of an hour.
Alves' best opportunity will likely be to start quick and make GSP defend his strikes. Thiago Alves has ferocious knee strikes and for him to win the belt, he will need to put them on display this weekend.
Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping will finally fight after months of hype stemming from this past season's Ultimate Fighter. While most of said hype may be put over as a bad attempt to stir the pot, in recent days Bisping has been ticked off at comments from Hendo. Henderson has said that he will only need to train for cardio to win the fight (which is likely a playful statement) and Bisping feels as though nobody is taking him seriously. On paper, Bisping's main advantage may be his age. Henderson is the better wrestler and has more power in his hands. What is Bisping's main advantage in this fight? Reports out of the U.K. have the British stable of fighters talking about how Bisping is in the prime of his fighting career right now and nobody can handle him.
If Henderson can easily take Bisping down, the fight may end up like this.
Bisping will have to stay off his back and avoid the big right hand from Henderson. How can he do that? The striking game is his best bet and he must maintain the better leverage while outworking the former U.S. Olympian. Can he knock Henderson out? Bisping last fought Chris Leben and won a unanimous decision. Over the past three years, Henderson has only been finished once. He was submitted by Anderson Silva in the second round of their fight at UFC 82. Henderson has gone to decisions against Rich Franklin, Rousimar Palhares, Quinton Jackson, Vitor Belfort and Kazuo Misaki over that time.
This is the toughest fight for me to predict because it can go either way. Henderson can outwrestle his way to a decision victory while landing major points with his hands. On the other hand, Bisping may be able to avoid spending most of the fight on his back and use his Muay Thai/Kick boxing skills to control the fight.
Flip that coin~!
At the end of this week's Juggernaut you can check some words from Brock Lesnar. Here, it's the place for Frank Mir to discuss in the way only he can. He sounds like a professor of MMA with the way he talks about technique, power and all that jazz. Mir has all the confidence in the world heading into the fight this weekend. And why the hell not? He already beat Lesnar, plus he is coming off making history when he finished Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (for the first time in his career).
Check out 411mania's special UFC 100 coverage all week long. Monday saw our favorite UFC moments and today we head down memory lane featuring saw the best main events.
Bill Wannop features Dan Henderson in his MMA Legacy column this week.
In his Independence Day edition of The Lowdown, Frank Fedele takes a look at Michael Bisping prior to his UFC 100 bout with Henderson.
JUGGERNAUT NEWS BRIEFS
- In some awful news, 37-year old MMA fighter (12-3) Lavar Johnson is battling for his life after being shot while at a family party on July 4th. He last fought on a Showtime Strikeforce Challengers show a few months back, winning quickly via knockout. According to reports, Johnson and four others were injured when a group of males opened fire "indiscriminately" on the house after midnight local time. One man was pronounced dead at the scene while Johnson and three others are in the hospital. Lavar Johnson's condition was reported to be serious or critical and I hope he can pull through, along with the other victims.
As of Monday evening, it was reported Johnson came out of surgery with positive signs according to those with knowledge of the situation.
- Luiz Cane, an emerging light heavyweight in the UFC wants a bigger name to fight. He last fought Steve Cantwell, and won. Now he prefers to fight Rich Franklin, figuring a win over such a big name would shoot him up the ladder to title contention. He's not stupid. He won't be fighting Machida or Shogun anytime soon with wins over young bucks in the division like Jason Lambert (no longer in UFC), Sokoudjou (no longer in UFC) or Cantwell.
- So, UFC honcho Lorenzo Ferttita made a personal visit to Croatia recently to speak face-to-face with Mirko Cro Cop. Reports say they spoke for two hours and resulted in a major offer being presented to Cro Cop. No news has broke yet as to whether Cro Cop is leaving or declining DREAM's offer yet. Frankly, why does the UFC want Cro Cop? You can't expect him to fight much longer and can they make interesting match-up's with him? My guess would be they want him for European shows since his presence was such a big draw in Germany.
- Either B.J. Penn's feelings were hurt or he thinks these mini messages help promote his August 8th UFC 101 fight with Kenny Florian.
- The UFC may be filing suit against the Ultimate Cage Fighting Challenge (UCFC) over the fact their name is too similar to their own. It would seem like a pretty open and shut case, assuming the UCFC has not been around for too long (in fact, it's tough to find any history on their promotion). I would assume if a lawsuit was ever filed, the UCFC may be forced to change their name. It's all about protecting the brand and the UFC knows how to do that.
- Takanori Gomi will return to compete in the U.S.A. for the first time since his loss/no contest with Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33 in 2007. Gomi has been added to the Affliction: Trilogy show on August 1st and will fight Rafaello Oliveira (8-1). Oliveira's lone loss came against Lyle Beerbohlm last year and he is on a three-fight winning streak. Gomi will look to put together a win streak after he defeated Takashi Nakakura in May.
- More championship matches have been added to the Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg show, set for August 15th on Showtime. In addition to the main event womens title match pitting Gina Carano against Cyborg Santos and the lightweight title fight between Josh Thomson and GIlbert Melendez, a heavyweight title match is now official. A welterweight title match, although not confirmed yet, is expected to be announced soon. Alistair Overeem will make his first title defense since becoming Strikeforce's first heavyweight champion in 2007 against Fabricio Werdum. This will be Werdum's first fight since leaving the UFC after being knocked out by Junior dos Santos at UFC 90. The vacant Strikeforce welterweight title will be decided in a fight between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs. This means, yes, FOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTS will air on Showtime. That means a possibility of having an hour's worth of fight action if all fights go to the distance. Wow.
- More history will be made at UFC 100 as the first celebrity ring girl will be used. Playboy model Holly Madison will be cage side to act as a special ring girl for the night. She is in addition to the brand new UFC ring girl who shall debut this weekend, too. Madison is a big UFC fan and has been seen several times during Dana White's video blogs as a guest at past UFC shows.
- In your weekly Chuck Liddell news update, he told SI earlier in the week that he plans to stay away from fighting for about a year from his last fight. He was knocked out by Shogun Rua in April at UFC 96. He still plans to train to stay active but do not expect The Iceman to be booked for any fight until next spring, it appears. Liddell has still not officially decided whether he plans to retire or not. Recently, UFC President Dana White has lightened up in his stance that Liddell is retired and will not fight again. White has said that Liddell will do whatever he wants, although White hopes he decides to call it a career. My question, assuming Liddell returns next year (for one fight), who does he fight? I doubt you will see Chuck take on any top 205ers (Rampage, Rashad, Shogun, Machida) and does anyone really want to see a rematch with Keith Jardine or Randy Couture?
- The UFC is heading down south in September to run Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for the first time since the end of 1994. The Fight Night special preceding the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter will be held in Sooner Nation. The main event of the card may be a lightweight battle between (one and done) Roger Huerta and Gray Maynard. This is just another sign of the growing nature of the sport as they head (in this case, BACK) to another state.
- Dana White announced on his Twitter Monday night the two new inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame this weekend. There are no surprises as Chuck Liddell and Charles "Mask" Lewis will be honored on Friday. Lewis was one of the founders of the TapouT clothing line that has been built into one of the most famous athletic brands around. Even before American MMA began its surge into popularity in 2005, the TapouT crew were helping tons of fighters out with sponsorships and building MMA. Mask and the former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion will join the likes of Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture, Dan Severn and Mark Coleman in the UFCs HOF.
- UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Mike Ratner has stated that a UFC event will take place at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee this December. MMAJunkie hypothesizes UFC 107 will be the event and the main event (at least one of them) could be the big fight between Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans (after their stint as coaches on TUF10). Ratner also commented that the big year-end show may be pushed to early January. Jackson is from Memphis and should receive a ton of publicity fighting in his hometown.
- Last week, I mentioned the fact that Hawaii is now sanctioning and regulating MMA. Well, add Indiana to the list. The Indiana Athletic Commission is now regulating MMA and kickboxing which means major promotions such as UFC, Strikeforce and others can run the state. It's been said for a long time that the UFC had a lot of interest in promoting a show at the Conseco Fieldhouse (the home of the Indiana Pacers).
- If you saw a 6'4, 250-pounds mountain of a man, would you be inclined to rob him? Three young men (perhaps on drugs) did just that near Los Angeles International Airport. Three men tried to rob Antoni Hardonk with a knife but Hardonk stood up to them and backed them down. Moments later, Hardonk witnessed the same group harass a different man and steal his wallet. Hardonk ran towards the conflict and chased the men away in the process.
- Tito Ortiz is claiming that he is perfectly healthy and ready to get back in the cage/ring. He is also claiming he is negotiating a contract with Strikeforce, CBS and Showtime and could be back fighting before the end of the year. Ortiz had back surgery last year and has begun training only recently. He is hoping to fight Fedor Emelianenko in the future at a catchweight. One fight I would always be interested in seeing is another Frank Shamrock fight. For Frank, it's a name opponent and the storyline is natural for everyone to understand.
- According to Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter (f4wonline.com), the Bellator Fighting organization has told its fighters the second season will air on ESPN2 instead of ESPN Deportes. Bellator is expected to do another tournament for each of their five weight classes (featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight). Tournament winners and champions Eddie Alvarez (lightweight and Hector Lombard (middleweight) will be pushed as the big stars for the group in their second season. No official word on when they estimate the new season will begin.
JUGGERNAUT VIDEO OF THE WEEK
With UFC 100 coming up in a matter of days, here's Brock Lesnar chatting with HDNet's Inside MMA about his MMA career and his upcoming fight.
Thanks for reading this week's Juggernaut. Enjoy the big show this weekend and return next week for all the post-UFC 100 coverage you could ever want.
