Tapping Out With TBerg 07.24.09: Episode XLI: MMA's Best Month Ever

Posted by Todd Bergman on 07.24.2009

When it comes to stacked MMA months, there is none better than August. 411’s Todd Bergman breaks down the two most intriguing fights from each of the six major cards in this edition of Tapping out with TBerg.

Question of the Week
How would the general public view Floyd Mayweather's comments if he were a white guy and his comments addressed black fighters?

No other month in MMA history has ever been as stacked as August 2009. In all, there are six tremendous cards lined up that any fan of Mixed Martial Arts can find comfort in. I've decided to jump the gun, so to speak, and give you a little preview of the upcoming month and list the two most intriguing fights from each of the six cards that are to take place beginning next Saturday with the heavily criticized Affliction card on August 1st. That event starts our journey, so let's have a look at the two most intriguing fights on Affliction's Trilogy card.



Affliction Trilogy


Fedor vs. whoever the t-shirt company can find
As of now, Josh Barnett is out of the Main Event showdown against Fedor, and I'm sure, over the next week, you, as fans, will read tons of articles proclaiming this the end of Affliction. While I tend to agree with that statement, it's neither the time nor place to discuss this matter. Fedor is going to fight on this card, and the clubhouse leader at the moment is Vitor Belfort. Yeah, that 185lbs wrecking machine is going to take on the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. The fight really does nothing for the credibility of Fedor as he has everything to lose coming into it. If Belfort takes the fight then he, like any other fight, has a puncher's chance. He also has a week to prepare for the fight, which is something that Seth Petruzelli didn't. That's the closest example that I have when it comes to comparing this situation to anything else we‘ve seen. It should also be noted that Fedor's jockstrap is 10x better than Kimbo Slice. I understand that Fedor has some sort of obligation to Affliction and fighting on this card, but maybe he should take a stand and step down in this case. For all intents and purposes, Belfort is headed to the UFC after this fight and, if he is able to stop Fedor, Dana White et al. will have all the ammunition they need to bury the indestructible Russian. No matter how great Belfort might be, I don't think that he can beat Fedor. The best thing for Fedor to do is take down Belfort and lock in a submission instead of giving Vitor an opportunity to shock the world. This fight is also interesting for the simple fact that Randy Couture will more than likely never face Fedor and he now has one week to form a game plan for his teammate, Belfort, against the Winnie the Pooh/Elmer Fudd clone.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Babalu
It's time to see if Babalu can take out a quality fighter. I'm not trying to diminish the career of Babalu ,but it seems that every time he is ready to step up, he fails miserably. Case in point, the Jason Lambert fight at UFC 68. In his last fight Sobral showed a tremendous killer instinct as he locked on a beautiful Brabo Choke to put away Sokoudjou. His test in this fight is former DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Champion, and resident tough guy, Gegard Mousasi. It's rare to see a fighter capture the world's attention in such a short amount of time like Gegard has done. The Red Devil International fighter hasn't lost since 2006, so it's not going to be an easy victory for Babalu. Mousasi has a tremendous ground game but in the past has shown a lack of takedown defense which could haunt him in this fight. Babalu could take the fight to the ground and then ride out a decision if Mousasi isn't careful. Without set titles in Affliction, this fight has no real significance on anything other than the often criticized 411 Light Heavyweight Rankings. Both guys won‘t be jumping to the UFC after this contest due to contractual obligations, so this fight really becomes just a good old fashion showdown for pride.



Sengoku 9


Marlon Sandro vs. Michihiro Omigawa
When this tournament started, few, if any, predicted that Omigawa would be in this position. I personally didn't think that Marlon Sandro would be here either, even though a good majority had selected him as a favorite before the event. Nevertheless, both guys are peaking in their careers and most importantly coming off impressive stoppage victories. Sandro took out Matt Jaggers with a beautiful, standing arm-triangle in the opening round and then surprised everyone with his ability to finish with strikes against Nick Denis. Omigawa, on the other hand, took out the steady but not surprising L.C. Davis in the first round with his wrestling ability. Then, in the second round, surprised everyone again with the destruction of Strikeforce vet Nam Phan. The Yoshida Dojo-trained Omigawa is one fight away from the Finals of this tournament and one fight away from having a .500 career record. It's also a shame that cards like the Sengoku 9 card get absolutely no love from many of the prominent MMA websites out there. I challenge each of my readers, all three of you, to check out this show on HDNet on August 2nd. I'm challenging you to do so provided that you actually get HDNet in your area. Anyway, back to the fight here at hand. Omigawa has a tremendously confusing style which is evident in many of his previous UFC fights, so Sandro will have to deal with that here. Marlon has done nothing but bully around his first couple of opponents even though Matt Jaggers showed that Sandro does have some holes in his ground game. I'm going out on a limb and will predict that Omigawa wins this fight and keeps the amazing, unprecedented tournament run going.

Hatsu Hioki vs. Masanori Kanehara
I'm willing to forgive all of you if you haven't heard of or seen Hatsu Hioki fight before. He's probably the second best Featherweight fighter in the world, behind Mike Brown, of course. Hioki's first round, double-submission victory over Chris Manuel was a thing of beauty that, unfortunately, most fans didn't see. Hatsu followed that victory up with a tremendous triangle choke over the heavy-handed Ronnie Mann. Hatsu's opponent in the Semi-Finals is Masanori Kanehara. Still not the household name that you would think someone named Kanehara would be. Obviously, I'm looking forward to see Hatsu fight again with the possibility of another crazy submission. Kanehara struggled in his last match up with Chan Sung Jung even though Masanori was granted the gift Unanimous Decision victory. I would love to tell you all how I think that an upset can happen here, but I can't. Masanori really has nothing more than his wrestling and that will play into Hioki's gameplan. So if you have the chance next weekend, stay up and learn some Jiu-Jitsu, t-bags.



UFC 101: Declaration


UFC Lightweight Title Match © BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian
I'm first going to let you all know how awesome I think that the new name of this show is. It's rare that the brass in the UFC can get the name of a show correct; however, for all of the Declaration, we will have to sit through the Rapid Fire's and Ultimate Field of Dreams. Yeah, that's right, there was a show called Ultimate Field of Dreams that aired before The Ultimate Fighter folks. This show also falls on my one year wedding anniversary as well, so it's a special day in the Bergman household. My second favorite fighter of all time, BJ Penn, returns to his correct weight class to take on Ben Stiller's twin brother, Kenny Florian. This match up became more interesting after the MMA black eye known as grease gate when Florian changed his stance on the subject matter more times than Jon Kerry circa 2004. While Kenny claimed that GSP did grease, he quickly changed his tone and then proceeded to become BFF's with GSP. Are you still following this story? Anyway, Penn has a habit of giving his opponents some bulletin board material and he's basically let Florian know that he is overlooking him in this fight. Florian is still looking to redeem himself for the disappointing showing that he had in his first title showdown with Sean Sherk. This is a fight that Florian can win, and as soon as Penn realizes this the better the outcome will be for BJ. With that said, after it all is said and done, I think that Penn will finish off Florian with strikes from the mount midway through the second round. The thing to look at in this fight is simply the competition level that Florian has faced on his way to this title showdown. Sure, Kenny finishes fights, but I've never truly been blown away by a Florian performance. Many will say that Florian's beating of Joe Stevenson proves that he belongs, but Joe was coming off the brutal and bloody beating from Penn and has since rebounded with a new training team. Fans will also say that Florian finished Stevenson in the first round as opposed to Penn beating Joe in the second round. To that argument, I say that each fight is different and in no way, shape, or form should you consider someone better by comparing who finished who in what round. Kenny's downfall will simply be that he must be in control at all times to be comfortable in a fight. The Sherk fight showed that Florian panics if he can't be in control, and much of the same will follow in this upcoming fight. The storyline of Sanchez vs. Florian II would look nice, but it will have to wait until after Diego takes the Lightweight Title from Penn.

Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva
I'm probably going to take a huge beating from most of you when I proclaim that Forrest Griffin very well could win this fight. Seeing and believing are two extremely different things, I guess. For each great victory that Forrest Griffin has, I'm always reminded of the Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine fights. It's pretty scary to think what Anderson Silva could do if those previous two opponents could brutally stop Griffin. While he is fighting out of his weight class, a victory here can prove that Anderson Silva is able to compete in the highly-acclaimed Light Heavyweight division. That doesn't mean that Silva will be challenging for the title of the 205lbs division considering his training partner is the champion. The Zuffa brass might try everything in their power to have a Silva vs. Machida match, but in the end, I don't think that both of these guys will go through with it. This, of course, could change if Shogun Rua were able to upset Machida at UFC 104 in Los Angeles. As for a prediction in this fight, I have to go with Silva finishing Griffin with strikes in the second round. As I stated above, I expect Griffin to contend in this fight and possibly shock the world, but then reality will set in with one of those cool combos from Silva. Bring on Dan Henderson!



WEC 42


WEC Bantamweight Title © Miguel Torres vs. Brian Bowles
This fight was originally suppose to take place in Chicago at WEC 40; however, Bowles was injured and had to pull out of the fight. Torres, of course, is just your ordinary mullet-wearing destruction machine and is currently the #1 ranked Bantamweight fighter in the world. Many people will write this fight off as an easy victory for Torres because they are unfamiliar with the fighting style of Bowles. Overlooking Bowles is something that I wouldn't recommend. Brian is a tremendous striker and has a great ground game. Brian obviously isn't as gifted on the ground as Torres, but it's the stand-up game that might actually favor Bowles. Miguel has taken a good amount of punishment standing in his last couple of fights and he would be wise to get the fight down and try to wear out Bowles. WEC delivers when it comes to Main Events, so this is a must-watch, especially when two fighters are so equally gifted. I'm also taking Bowles to shock the world and stop Torres with strikes midway through the third round, even though Miguel has never been finished in his previous 38 sanctioned fights.

Joseph Benvidez vs. Dominick Cruz
Many people questioned Benvidez coming into the Jeff Curran fight, and many were left extremely disappointed afterwards. The unbeaten Sacramento-based fighter has a good portion of the MMA world claiming that he is the next big thing in the WEC. Joseph will get another shot in the spotlight as he takes on Tucson, Arizona's Dominick Cruz. While being in the spotlight is a good thing for Joseph, Dominick will be looking for a little revenge while also trying to take his own place in the spotlight. Cruz has a previous defeat to Joe's training partner, Urijah Faber. While I expect Joseph to be able to control this fight no matter where it goes, I would like to see Benavidez gain a stoppage victory inside the WEC. Exciting decision victories are one thing, but stopping an opponent will have him next-in-line to challenge the winner of Mike Brown vs. Jose Aldo.



Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg


Strikeforce Women's Championship Gina Carano vs. Cyborg Santos
I'm going to start by saying that this fight has been well-put together, much like Gina Carano. Okay that was pretty lame, but the first part of that statement still holds up. Both ladies have become the face of Women's MMA with Carano holding a bigger piece of that pie. Whether it's her good looks or her in-your-face attitude, Gina Carano has become a huge name associated with MMA. This will be the first time that a major promotion has had a Women's Championship fight headline here in the United States. That's a huge step in the positive direction of giving women's MMA equal rights. Truth be told, I don't know what will happen in this fight but I know that I will love every second of it, regardless of who wins. I will be pulling for Carano (no pun intended, I assure you) because I think that a victory for her means more to the sport. However, the MMA gods will decide the victor in this fight and we, as fans, are going to have to force ourselves to enjoy it. Something else to consider is where both ladies will go after this fight. Does Strikeforce pull the obligatory immediate rematch? I know that weight jokes will also come into play, but I'm not going to touch that subject because it's been covered a million times already.

Strikeforce Lightweight Championship © Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez
I'm not sure why this rematch is actually happening, but far be it for me to argue with the intelligence of the Strikeforce booking committee. In the first showdown, Thomson stopped any sort of momentum Melendez could build up, including Gil's takedowns. Truthfully, I don't see this fight going any differently. Melendez is a good fighter but won't win against competition who can stop his takedowns. He's cut from the same cloth as Jake Shields. Like it or not, Shields upset Robbie Lawler because Robbie made a stupid mistake. Granted, this is MMA and that's how you win, but I'm still not going to consider Jake a world-beater yet. Getting back on task here, I think that "The Punk" beats Gilbert by another lengthily, somewhat boring, decision to retain the title. I only wish that "Fancy Pants" were able to compete for every title in Strikeforce because I don't see great depth in the Lightweight division. Also, why the hell did Melendez wear a Raiders hat to the Press conference? Does he really support Al Davis and the non-stop, stupid draft picks that he takes each and every year? Pick another kicker in the first round Al.



UFC 102: Big Nog vs. The Natural


Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
This very well could be one of the last times that we, as MMA fans, get to see both men fight inside the UFC. I don't expect either to be fired with a defeat here, but I do see both retiring sometime in 2010. There are a lot of things going on inside the head of Randy Couture. The recent talk of divorce from his wife, Kim, Randy stating that he has the perfect game plan for a Lesnar re-match, and even Randy discussing a possible match-up with Machida as well. Why isn't Randy talking about Big Nog and his Pumpkin-head like appearance? Nevertheless, I think that this is Randy's fight to win only because Big Nog looks like a shell of his former self in the UFC. Randy's submission defense might be a little shaky at any given time, but if the fight doesn't go to the ground, you can't possibly think that Big Nog will win. We will also get to see how much of a toll that staph infection took on Nog's body. This will be a three-round war that will go the judges and, with the style of scoring that MMA currently has, it will favor Randy. It might be close and some of the fan-boys might argue the decision, but Couture wins and then moves down to fight Lyoto Machida before retiring thereafter. How's that for a prediction?

Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia
Say what you want about Dan Henderson, but the winner of this fight is going to be awarded the next shot at Anderson Silva. There really isn't a better style match-up for Demian Maia than Nate Marquardt. Fans have fallen in love with the submission abilities of Maia, and this is his big showcase fight. Marquardt has looked downright amazing since his questionable defeat to Thales Leites back at UFC 85. Back-to-back stoppage victories over Martin Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia have many talking of another Nate vs. Anderson Silva showdown. It would be fitting for Nate to earn that rematch because Marquardt has shown that he is a completely different fighter and could take advantage of a distracted Silva. I do appreciate the craftiness of Maia's submission game, but I don't think that he will be able to last on his feet with Nate. Maia will eventually earn a title shot, but it won't happen on August 29th as Marquardt takes a Unanimous Decision victory and earns another shot at The Spider.

That does it for this week's edition of Tapping out with TBerg. I'm curious to know everyone's opinion on my question of the week along with what match-ups everyone is looking forward to in August. Make sure to make your voice heard below. Talking T-Bags will return next week as well, and I know that everyone wants to be a part of that. Remember to support your local MMA and keep your tapping hand strong.