Cardio Freak MMA News Report 9.07.09: Fighting & Football

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 09.07.2009

This week in Cardio Freak: It's almost football season so to celebrate we here at Cardio Freak thought it would be fun to compare the 30 NFL teams to 30 MMA fighters. Plus thoughts on Jackson/Evans being off, Penn/Sanchez switching dates, and Anderson Silva's surgery. It's more mainstream than Quinton Jackson, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Headline News



"Are you ready for some football?"

The NFL regular season kicks off this Thursday but if you live in America then you already knew that. If you live in America and didn't know that, please stop reading. You may think fighting and football don't mix but LeGarrette Blount says you're wrong. Many fighters played football during their high school days and there's even a number for former football players vying to become The Ultimate Fighter beginning September 16th. And remember that starting September 16th you can read 411's Ultimate Fighter recaps done by yours truly.

So what does the start of the NFL season have to do with anything in MMA? Well, nothing really. But I pride myself of being the Don Draper of the MMA writers so I had this fun idea of comparing the 30 NFL teams to 30 MMA fighters. A lot of the comparisons steam from teams and fighters recent history more than their overall history with emphasis placed on the teams quarterback as well. Enjoy.

Arizona Cardinals – Randy Couture

This comparison would have worked better if the Cardinals won the Super Bowl last year as they were the ultimate underdog but work with me here. The obvious parallel between the two teams is that Randy Couture is an old man playing a violent sport and Cardinals QB Kurt Warner is an old playing a violent sport.

Atlanta Falcons – Frank Mir

The Falcons survived the Michael Vick fiasco, had a rough season, ended up with Matt Ryan, and now they're playoff contenders. Frank Mir survived a horrible motorcycle accident, had some rough fights, ended up getting in shape and winning big fights, and now he's a title contender.

Baltimore Ravens – BJ Penn

I draw this comparison mainly due to the defense of the Ravens and Penn. The Ravens always have one of the top defenses in the league thanks Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and while Penn isn't a defensive fighter by any means, his striking and takedown defense are some of the best in MMA.

Buffalo Bills – Vitor Belfort

In recent years the Bills always give you that glimmer that they'll be a contender. Whether it's knocking off a top team early or getting off to a good start, it always seems like the Bills become media darlings five games into the season before returning to their usual ways. Vitor Belfort is a lot like that with his quick KO's followed by less than stellar performances.

Carolina Panthers – Keith Jardine

As a Panthers fan it pains me to watch this team have a great season always followed by a mediocre season. On a year to year basis, they're one of the most inconsistent teams in the league. If that doesn't describe Keith Jardine then I don't know what does.



Chicago Bears – Brett Rogers

The Bears are known for their great defense but haven't had a Quarterback to lead them in forever. That will change this year when they have top QB Jay Cutler behind center. Brett Rogers is known for his great power but hasn't been tested on the ground against a top fighter. That will change this year when he fighters top Heavyweight Fedor (Presented by M-1 Global.)

Cincinnati Bengals – Chris Leben

Brash personality, usually loses when it matters, gets in trouble with the law. Leben and the Bengals were meant for each other.

Cleveland Browns – Heath Herring

I have no clue how I came up with this one. It was late, I'd been drinking a bit, and I was ready to go to sleep. Ummmm. Cleveland has the "Dog Pound" and Herring gets pounded a lot. There ya go.

Dallas Cowboys – Tito Ortiz

Win or lose, Ortiz and the Cowboys always steal the headlines.

Denver Broncos – Nick Diaz

The Broncos have been a fun team to watch the past couple of seasons but recently they went through a major shake up and have had disciplinary problems. Nick Diaz has fun fights but is the ultimate disciplinary problem.



Detroit Lions – Ken Shamrock

Everyone beats them up.

Green Bay Packers – Rashad Evans

Whenever you thought of the Packers, you thought of Brett Favre. Then Favre retired for the first time and the Packers are now have a new identity with Aaron Rodgers and the defense. Before Rashad Evans knocked out Chuck Liddell, he was always seen as a boring wrestler. Since that KO, he's now a great striker.

Houston Texans – Anthony Johnson

The Texans and Johnson are both young with a lot of room for growth.

Indianapolis Colts – Fedor Emelianenko

Love them or hate them, Peyton Manning and the Colts are always there. People somehow always forget about the Colts because they just know they're going to be there when it matters. They're going to make the playoffs and Manning is going to have a good season. They also ducked the Patriots two seasons ago in the playoffs when they lost to the injury-ridden Chargers. Fedor (Presented by M-1 Global) is always there as the top Heavyweight and he's been ducking the UFC competition for years.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Gabriel Gonzaga

They're always a sexy pick and they always let you down when it counts.



Kansas City Chiefs – Frank Shamrock

The Chiefs are usually at the bottom league but they always have that one player you want to keep your eye on (Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Matt Cassel) while Shamrock isn't a top fighter anymore but he's always someone you pay attention to.

Miami Dolphins – Rich Franklin

The 1-15 Dolphins are Franklin when he fights Silva. Other than that the Dolphins, mainly their QB Chad Pennington, are a team that takes what you give them. That's how I look at Rich Franklin. He's a good fighter who just takes what opponents give him and he makes the best of it.

Minnesota Vikings – Brock Lesnar

I'm not even sure there's an actual comparison here but I would have felt wrong if I didn't link Lesnar with the Vikings.

New England Patriots – Lyoto Machida

The Patriots are a dominating team and Machida is a dominating fighter. They both have clunkers but when it comes crashing down (and it hurts inside) they usually rise to the occasion.

New Orleans Saints – Wanderlei Silva

All offense, no defense.



New York Giants – Forrest Griffin

Eli Manning lived in the shadow of Peyton Manning until he led the Giants to the Super Bowl and pulled off the upset against the Patriots. He followed up the Super Bowl season by having a good year but faltering in the playoffs. Forrest Griffin was in the shadow of Randy Couture before he upset "Shogun" Rua and Quinton Jackson en route to winning the UFC Light Heavyweight title. He followed that up with a good performance against Rashad Evans until he got caught. We'll forget the Anderson Silva fight ever happened.

New York Jets – Josh Koscheck

The Jets took a risk last season in signing Brett Favre and it didn't pay off. They corrected that risk by drafting Mark Sanchez. Josh Koscheck took a risk in his last fight by striking and it didn't pay off. It remains to be seen if he can correct that risk in his last fight.

Oakland Raiders – Michael Bisping

No one likes them except their rabid nation and most people just feel sorry for them.

Philadelphia Eagles – Kenny Florian

The Eagles are the biggest losers in recent memory. Multiple Championship games and multiple losses. The same can be said about Kenny Florian who has had multiple title shots and multiple loses.

Pittsburgh Steelers – Georges St. Pierre

Hard workers with a lot of talent.



San Diego Chargers – Jake Shields

The Chargers are always a sexy pick in the preseason and they always do well despite injuries but in the end they always fall short. Jake Shields is a sexy Welterweight contender who always does well despite limited striking but in the end he's not in the UFC.

San Francisco 49ers – Greg Jackson

Mike Singletary pulls down his pants to fire up his team. Greg Jackson twists his nipples to fire up his fighters.

Seattle Seahawks – Amir Sadollah

Always injured.

St. Louis Rams – Stephan Bonnar

The Rams were the "Greatest Show on Turf" and even after Warner and Faulk left they were still a competitive bunch. Then they just sucked. Stephan Bonnar had the best fight in UFC history and was always competitive. Now he just sucks.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Chuck Liddell

The trademark of the Bucs over the years have been their defense. But as time goes on, the defense has slowed down and they're not what they once were. Chuck Liddell's trademark power and chin have faded with time and it's not what it once was.

Tennessee Titans – Sean Sherk

They're both boring to watch.

Washington Redskins – Quinton Jackson

They spend a lot money.



Major UFC/WEC News



On September 3 Dana White confirmed that BJ Penn would be defending his UFC Lightweight title against Diego Sanchez on December 12, which is scheduled to be UFC 107 in Memphis, Tennessee.

This was really the big sign that Jackson vs. Evans was off UFC 107 because I can't imagine UFC possibly putting Penn vs. Sanchez on last in Jackson's hometown coming off The Ultimate Fighter. As I mentioned before, I don't think Penn vs. Sanchez would have added many buys to UFC 107 with Jackson/Evans but with that fight off, obviously this is now the big drawing card. This could be a sign that a new TV deal fell through though as I think UFC really wanted to put this fight on network TV against Fedor vs. Rogers. Even if they do have a TV deal in place, don't look for it to go head to head with Fedor vs. Rogers because this was the only big fight they could counter with in such a short period of time. At best they could hope for Henderson vs. Marquardt but with UFC 105 lacking a true main event, I think we'll see those two headlining that event.

My opinion of this fight hasn't changed in a week so read last weeks column for how I think these two match up.



On September 5 Dave Meltzer confirmed that Quinton Jackson landed to the role of B.A. Baracus in the upcoming A-Team movie. The role takes him out of his scheduled December 12 fight with Rashad Evans.

Dana White was furious about this news when it came out and I can't say I blame him. Jackson vs. Evans was scheduled to headline a show in Jackson's hometown and based on early chatter, the rivalry between these two really heated up during the filming of TUF. Now the fight has be put on hold so Jackson can film a movie, something Dana has always been against. We saw the comments he hurled at Ortiz and Couture when they wanted to pursue a career in Hollywood and he basically regurgitated those comments with this news. It's easy to see why Dana would be upset by this news as I'm sure he doesn't want Quinton Jackson going all Dwayne Johnson on him and leave fighting for Hollywood. Dana White wants fucking fighters, not fucking actors.

This is big for Jackson though. I never watched The A-Team and don't know much about it other than Hulk Hogan made some appearances, and Family Guy spoofed it a bit. The main thing I do know about the show is that Mr. T had a role and that's the role Jackson will have in the movie. Considering that Mr. T turned out to be the most popular actor on the show, you have to think that Jackson will gain a lot of popularity by being in the movie. Whether or not that translates into more people paying to watch him fight remains to be seen. The funny thing about this whole thing is that after his UFC 86 loss to Forrest Griffin, Jackson said he would never take that much time off again. Not only did he have to take off all that time due to TUF but now he's taking off even more time thanks to this movie. It's very likely that Jackson and possibly Evans could go a full year between fights. If I'm Evans, I think I would want to remain on the December card just so I'm staying active. Obviously that would run UFC the risk of him losing and hurting the Jackson/Evans fight but I'm sure Evans is confident enough in his abilities that he figures he'll win no matter who is opponent might be. Have him fight Thiago Silva.



On September 4 TheSun reported that Mike Swick dropped out of his UFC 103 fight with Martin Kampmann due to an injury. Taking his place will be UFC newcomer Paul Daley.

If Paul Daley wins does he get to face Georges St. Pierre? For some sick reason I hope that's the case because Daley/Kampmann vs. GSP would likely be a massacre and those are always fun to watch. At least had Swick won he had a decent chance against GSP because he's a quick and powerful striker, he trains with top Welterweight wrestlers, his takedown defense is good, and his ground game is decent. Kampmann has a good ground game but no takedown defense and Daley just has no ground game. Obviously they could pull off the upset on the feet since they're both good strikers but style-wise it seems like a cakewalk for the current UFC Welterweight Champion.

Kampmann is probably disappointed with this news because his title shot opportunity went out the window but I think Daley will be an easier fight for him. Daley is a good fighter and an explosive striker but he jus has no ground game. It's not hard to put him on his back and it's not hard to keep him there and do what you want with him. So I guess that makes him a drunk blonde who just broke up with her boyfriend. If Kampmann decides to keep it standing then we'll be in for a fun fight. If Kampmann decides to take it to the ground then we'll be in for a short fight.

Minor UFC/WEC News



On September 5 MMALive reported that Anderson Silva would be out of action until 2010 due to elbow surgery. Silva was rumored to headline UFC 105 against Dan Henderson.

Some people are calling this a "fake injury" by Silva so that he gets his way in having Henderson take on Marquardt in order to determine a true contender. I don't think anyone fakes an injury to get out of fight but it's not uncommon for fighters to delay surgery on nagging injuries until they feel the time is right. I guess Silva thought the time was right.

This all but guarantees that Henderson vs. Marquardt will happen sometime this year as UFC can't afford to delay the progress of both fighters in waiting for Silva to get healthy. It's probably a good thing for UFC because based on his comments, it seems like he would have been disinterested in fighting Henderson or Marquardt without them facing each other and we all know what happens when Silva isn't interested in fighting but has to fight anyway.

The funny thing about this situation is that not too long ago it was widely believed that Silva wanted to fight as much as possible so he could finish out his contract and box against Roy Jones Jr. I'm sure his elbow has been nagging him but he's been performing just fine thus far and if he really wanted to finish his contract quickly, he'd keep fighting with the injury until it actually hurt his performance.

On September 2 Dave Meltzer reported that Sean Sherk suffered a shoulder injury and could not compete at UFC 104 against Gleison Tibau. Later that day Sherdog reported that Josh Neer would take Sherk's place on the card.

I know I called Sean Sherk boring earlier in this column but I was actually looking forward to his fight at UFC 104. Not that I expected it to be a great because chances are Sherk would have taken down Tibau and held him down for 15 minutes but because I'm always interested to see how fighters perform when they're coming off a loss. It's still an interesting fight because Tibau and Neer are coming off losses but neither of those fighters are former Lightweight Champions and neither fighter really has a chance in hell at defeating BJ Penn. Hopefully these two have the exciting fight that they're capable of having but given Neer's lack of takedown defense and Tibau's wrestling, it could be another long night for "The Dentist."

Major Strikeforce/Miscellaneous News



On September 3 Jake Shields stated that Jason Miller wouldn't sign the contract to fight him in October, lobbying instead for the fight to be pushed back until December.

Based on Jason Miller's recent tweet of "Attn Jacare: you RAN from me in Dream and made me CHASE you to Strikeforce for less money. When we meet, you'll regret it." I would say that Miller would rather fight Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza before he takes on Jake Shields. It makes sense for Miller to pursue that fight first because I think he and many others feel that he has unfinished business with Souza that may never get finished if he doesn't take the fight now. It sucks for Jake Shields though because Strikeforce has no depth in their Middle/Welterweight division so Shield is left without an opponent right now.

This is when "keeping it co-promoting goes wrong." DREAM had Souza vs. Miller lined up for their DREAM 10 show, Souza ducked out of the fight in order to go to Strikeforce, Miller followed him to Strikeforce, and now they're not even going to fight each other. If it's a true co-promotion then DREAM should have kept the scheduled Miller vs. Souza fight in October and then they both could have headed to Strikeforce afterwards. That would be too easy though.

No More News

That does it for me folks. I'll be back next week with a preview of UFC 103. Take care everyone.

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