The Juggernaut MMA News Report 11.04.09: Fedor Never Says Die
Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 11.04.2009
We preview Strikeforce on CBS -- Does Brett Rogers stand a real chance against Fedor Emelianenko? Plus coverage of Mayhem/Shields, Mousasi/Sokoudjou and Big Foot/Werdum. And how would you book the next round on Ultimate Fighter?
MMA is BACK on CBS
Finally, weeks and months have passed and we are just days away from Fedor Emelianenko's next fight. I am sure the haters love that opening. Strikeforce (along with M-1 Global) present their first CBS show this Saturday night from the Sears Centre in Illinois. The guaranteed televised card features four fights including one championship contest, one fight with a champion in a non-title fight, a couple of former Elite-XC champions and one fighter who has never fought outside the United States. Quite the eclectic group if you ask me. We will watch two Brazilians, a Cameroonian, three Americans, an Armenian and a Russian do battle this weekend. Sounds like a fun night if you ask me!
Opening the night will be the first heavyweight bout of the evening as Antonio "Big Foot" Silva returns to the United States to fight Fabricio Werdum. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize the winner of the fight may be on tap to fight Fedor Emelianenko next (or Brett Rogers...I guess). Both men clock in at approximately six-foot-four, however, Silva will have the weight advantage as he will likely weigh in nearly thirty pounds heavier than Werdum.
Fabricio Werdum, at one point, was considered one of the elite heavyweights in the world. Since 2007, he has lost to Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos. Since signing with Strikeforce earlier this year, he defeated Mike Kyle via first round submission. He has two career wins over Gabriel Gonzaga, he submitted Alistair Overeem and Aleksander Emelianenko and knocked out Brandon Vera. Werdum is one of the best grapplers in the world, having won a second world championship in 2009 at the Abu-Dhabi Submission Wrestling tournament.
Meanwhile, Big Silva has led a different career. He started his MMA career in 2005 over in England where he won two different championships in different promotions. He went 2-1 while fighting in Japan and Canada with his first, and only career defeat occurring by TKO against Eric Pele at BodogFight in late 2006. Since then, he went to Elite-XC where he went 4-0 (against Cabbage Correira and Ricco Rodriguez, among others). After a position steroid test found him suspended in the U.S., he decided to continue fighting in Japan. His most recent fight was in September, he defeated Jim York by submission.
This fight is not rocket science. Silva will try anything and everything to keep the fight standing and try to use his unique size and strength to do damage. Werdum will have to absorb that damage early on, try to wear the big man down and eventually take the fight to the ground. If Werdum is able to take the fight down, he should be relatively set to apply the submission hold of choice and end the fight. Three of Werdum's four losses have come by decision. His only knockout loss came against Junior dos Santos last year. Does Silva have the power to knock Werdum out? He certainly does not have the technical prowess, at least not when we last saw him fight on American soil.
You can never underestimate the abilities of a man the size of Big Foot to do pretty much anything inside the cage. With that said, I would be somewhat shocked if he was able to submit Werdum. That would be eye opening to say the least.
Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi returns to fight Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in America. The fight was originally scheduled as part of the DREAM Super Hulk Grand Prix but Mousasi pulled out due to an injury. Now he's healthy and will fight this weekend. I do not know anyone who will be expecting a Sokoudjou win here since Mousasi is on such a momentous roll in his MMA career, it's ridiculous.
Sokoudjou is a long way from his explosive back-to-back wins over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricard Arona in early 2007. SInce then, he is 3-3 with wins against Kazuhiro Nakamura, Jan Nortje and Bob Sapp. In 2009 alone, Sokoudjou is on pace to fight five times. He lost his first fight of the year when he was choked out by Babalu Sobral. Then, in SUPER HULK fights, he defeated both Nortje and Sapp. On the New Year's Eve K-1 show, Sokoudjou is slated to fight in the finals of the tournament against Ikuhisa Minowa.
Sokoudjou may be one of the top judoka's in MMA and he has the power to knock people out. For whatever reason, he has not been able to put it all together as of late in his MMA career when facing top competition.
Ironically, Mousasi's only two defeats came by arm bar submissions (as late as 2006, against Akihiro Gono...even in their exhibition match, Fedor Emelianenko submitted him with an arm bar). Since his last defeat, he is on a thirteen-fight winning streak, including just two decisions. That is consistency. It's not even a case of him fighting tomato cans, he has wins over Hector Lombard, Cyborg Santos, Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef, Jacare Souza and Babalu Sobral, among others. Mousasi is also a judoka and has trained in kick boxing, too. It will be interesting to see whether Mousasi's judo skills will be muted by Sokoudjou.
Simply put, Sokoudjou is in for a world of hurt here unless he is in great cardiovascular conditioning and can avoid the big strikes Mousasi is expected to throw. Otherwise, the best Armenian MMA fighter will continue to rock and roll in any division he fights.
The co-main event of the night will FINALLY decide (a fresh) the new Strikeforce middleweight champion. Cung Le earned the belt by beating on Frank Shamrock until his arm broke back in March 2008. Since then, Le has not fought and his belt was only recently vacated. Now, it's up to Jake Shields and Jason "Mayhem" Miller to fight for the belt AND not rededicate their careers towards Hollywood.
The last time Jake Shields fought for a middleweight championship, he lost the Shooto belt to Akira Kikuchi via decision nearly five years ago. Now, his chance to have gold for the first time since Elite-XC folded is upon us. Shields may be one of the best grapplers in either the welterweight or middleweight divisions. He holds a black belt in BJJ, earned from Cesar Gracie, the camp that features the Brothers Diaz, Gilbert Melendez and others. Mayhem Miller may be Shields' toughest fight over the past two years and strategies are no secrets.
Jake Shields is not a great striker. He can keep his head above water but if he decides to forget about a submission and box, he will be in trouble. His last two opponents are known for their tremendous striking abilities. Both Paul Daley and Robbie Lawler were submitted. As a matter of fact, not since September 2007 has Shields won a fight by a way other than submission.
Mayhem Miller has been featured on MTV over the past year with his two seasons as host of "BULLY BEATDOWN" (ironically, which also featured Shields a few times as the beatdown speciliast. So there is no bad blood between these two men). Since 2007, his only loss has come against Jacare Souza (another great grappler) via decision. His most recent fight was a rematch with Souza and ended prematurely due to a cut sustained by Souza from an illegal kick. Miller is a good striker and a solid grappler, however, his game plan will be to keep the fight standing for as long as possible. Miller will want to defend takedown attempts and turn the fight into a boxing match.
The longer the fight remains a boxing match or Muay Thai fight, the better opportunity Mayhem has to end the fight early or score points with the judges. As for Shields, he may feel comfortable on his feet for a bit but his bread and butter is grappling.
Despite the fact both men have been in championship fights in the past, neither man has ever fought past the standard fifteen minute mark. I doubt that plays a role in this fight as both appear to stay in shape. However, you never know how the body will react if it's asked to go an extra five or ten minutes.
The main event most have been waiting for. Fedor Emelianenko debuts for Strikeforce against Brett Rogers. For Fedor, this will be his first fight against a serious up-and-comer in a LOOONG time. Fedor has fought nearly everyone you can think of besides Josh Barnett and fighters who have stayed in the UFC. Fedor has defeated them all.
This will be Fedor's first fight inside a cage. Will it have an impact? It would be foolish to say absolutely not. Nearly everyone who has fought for the first time in a cage has talked about it's differences to the ring. Mirko Cro Cop and Shogun Rua are the first to come to mind. Both found out the hard way as they struggled early in their UFC careers and at least for Shogun, he has trained extensively in a cage since then.
Brett Rogers is six-foot-five and will weigh over 260-pounds when he enters the cage on Saturday night. He brings an undefeated 10-0 record with him but obviously, he has never fought anyone quite like Fedor. The only legitimate name he has fought was his last fight when he knocked out Andrei Arlovski in seconds with brutal punches. He has won all but one fight by knockout and has never gone to a decision. The longest he has ever fought was just over six and a half minutes when he defeated Abongo Humphrey in April. Will he be able to maintain his composure if the fight goes deep into the second and third rounds?
Fedor is known for his striking ability but he also brings world caliber grappling to the table. Rogers has never spent a significant amount of time on the ground in an MMA fight so nobody knows whether he is a complete beginner (a la Kimbo Slice or Houston Alexander) or good enough to survive a couple takedowns.
Ever since the fight was officially booked, Rogers has told everyone and anyone that he will shock the world by knocking out Fedor. Frankly, that is the only way he can win this fight. First of all, if Rogers is to upset Fedor at all, it would be hands down, the biggest upset of all-time in the sport. It would make Matt Serra and Mackens Semerzier look like favorites. It would also have a BIG impact on business as Fedor allegedly passed up millions of dollars to not sign with the UFC and base his future on MMA with Strikeforce.
Rogers is a stand-up fighter who likes to use his size to bully opponents against the cage and use the clinch to wear them down. He has knockout power in his hands and if he can land clean shots, this will be an interesting fight. However, what makes Fedor special is not that he beats everyone who steps in to fight him. It's the fact that he does not always dominate the fight. He will take some damage but is only a sweep and a choke or an armbar away from ending the fight. As far as we know, Brett Rogers is not that resilient. Then again, he has never been tested.
There is no reason to pick Rogers to win this fight. If you plan to bet on this fight, I would assume you are betting on Rogers for the upset money. Other than that, this is all Fedor, every day.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Regarding Brett Rogers
"His suplex - nobody has ever seen it in a fight - is insane. You're 10 feet in the air. When he suplexes you, it's for real; you should pack a parachute."
- MIke Reilly, Brett Rogers' trainer in an interview with MMAWeekly.
JUGGERNAUT NEWS BRIEFS
- Strikeforce has signed the reigning DREAM welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis to a multi-fight deal that will still allow him to compete in DREAM. Zaromskis is one of the top welterweight fighters in the world and has the most feared kicks in the division, bar none. It is possible he will debut in Strikeforce before the end of the year. Zaromskis is 13-3 and has never fought in the United States. He burst onto the international scene earlier this year when he defeated Hayato Sakurai and Jason High by knockouts to become the DREAM champion.
- So much for an immediate rematch. Lyoto Machida needs surgery on one of his hands, an injury sustained during the UFC 104 fight with Shogun Rua. Machida underwent surgery last Friday and his eventual rematch with Shogun is delayed indefinitely. Speaking of injuries, Anderson Silva is still recovering from elbow surgery and his fight with Vitor Belfort is still questionable for UFC 108 on January 2nd, 2010. Ed Soares, Silva's manager told MMAJunkie the fight will not happen at UFC 108. According to Dave Meltzer, Georges St. Pierre is still recovering from a torn abductor muscle and my not return until March at the earliest.
- Other UFC injuries include Thiago Alves' torn PCL which will force him to miss up to a month of action. That means the previously scheduled bout for UFC 107 with Alves against Jon Fitch is out the window. Fitch's new opponent will be Mike Pierce (the man who defeated Brock Larson). Lastly, a big lightweight fight set for the December 5th TUF finale pitting Frank Edgar against Kurt Pellegrino is off. Pellegrino had to pull out due to a back injury. Edgar will fight Matt Veach (11-0) instead.
- Takanori Gomi was victorious on the night before Halloween when he defeated Tony Hervey by unanimous decision at Vale Tudo Japan. Gomi is now fielding offers from around the world and may even come back to the United States. However, reading his quotes from last week, do not expect him to be in the UFC anytime soon.
- Kimbo Slice will make his UFC debut on December 5th at the TUF Finale on Spike TV. He will fight (9-4) Houston Alexander in a catchweight bout set for 215 pounds. Alexander normally fights at light heavyweight while Slice fights at heavyweight (he was 230 pounds when he fought Roy Nelson). Needless to say, the TUF Finale will be must see television.
- Josh Neer was cut by the UFC last week. Neer is 25-9-1 in his career and has a 4-6 UFC record. He lost to Gleison Tibau at UFC 104 in a fight where Tibau consistently took him down. Neer has wins over Joe Stevenson, Mac Danzig and Din Thomas. According to his manager, Neer plans to return to the company after winning a few fights on the independent circuit.
- Strikeforce will present its Challengers show from Fresno, California on Friday night, airing on Showtime. The five card bout features: (main event) Billy Evangelista vs. Jorge Gurgel, Brandon Cash vs. Shane Del Rosario, Luke Rockhold vs. Jesse Taylor, Thomas Diagne vs. Merrit Warren and Elisha Hellspur vs. Zoila Frausto.
- Patrick Cote has said his back is rehabbing as planned and he intends to return to the cage in the spring. He has not fought since last year when he was injured while fighting Anderson Silva.
- The Professional Mixed Martial Arts League (PMMAL) has launched with an anticipated start date in February 2010. Based out of California, the league assumes itself to be a feeder system to larger organizations. According to their web-site, the format for the league is interesting. There will be eight teams (San Diego County, Orange County, L.A. County, Ventura County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Las Vegas) in two conferences (the Ocean Conference and Desert Conference).
There will be a league draft held early in about four weeks with each team selecting 14 eligible fighters (fighters have to apply, must live/train in California or Nevada and have less than nine pro fights). Each team will compete over eight events next year with the championship show taking place in December 2010. The events will be based on team scoring.
Consider it the IFL on a regional basis. For more information, check out PMMAL.com
- Oh boy! Tickets for WEC 46 in Sacramento, California (January 10, 2010) go on sale tomorrow. The show has a big line-up including two main events. The WEC undisputed lightweight champion will be decided when Jamie Varner returns to fight Ben Henderson. In the co-main event, Urijah Faber returns to fight Rafael Assuncao.
- The final WEC show of the year is set for December 19th in Las Vegas. The main event will see Cowboy Donald Cerrone fight Ed Ratcliff. Chris Horodecki willl fight Anthony Njokuani, Rani Yahya takes on Joe Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki will also be in action.
- Don't forget WEC 44 is only a couple of weeks away on November 18th (Wednesday) with the biggest main event on their schedule as Mike Brown defends his featherweight gold against Jose Aldo. The undercard features Leonard Garcia vs. Manny Gamburyan, Razor Rob McCullough vs. Karen Darabedyan (22-years old, 8-1, he just signed with WEC) and Danny Castillo vs. Shane Roller.
The Ultimate Fighter Review and Preview
If nothing else, if you watched last week's TUF then you were witness to the SLOWEST fight in the history of the show. Team Rashad's Matt Mitrione (MMA newcomer) fought Team Rampage's Scott Junk (6-2-1, including one UFC defeat). The thinking in this fight was Rampage's best fighter would easily take care of Rashad's most inexperienced fighter. That did not happen. To the surprise of most, Mitrione's punches dropped Junk several times in the first round. Junk's face was wrecked but the former NFL player (Mitrione) lost his wind near the end of the round. Junk landed some brutal shots directly on Mitrone's face but did not do much damage because surprisingly, Junk was gassed as well.
Dana White was cageside and was as happy as a kid on Christmas. Me? I was not as excited, and I surmise you were not either.
Team Rampge's coaches were happy with Junk, feeling Mitrione was too tired to do anything in the second round and they could FINALLY win one. They were wrong. Both men were dead tired, openly gasping for air, keeping their hands low and taking powerless punches. Junk did take him down once during the round but could do nothing from the guard (Mitrione's attempts at body strikes were comical) and referee Josh Rosenthal stood them up. For the final two minues or so, they threw shots, but they had nothing on them. It's sad because if either fighter could have worked the body earlier, the fight may have ended.
The first round was an obvious round for Mitrione. I felt by the end of the second round, if it was to go to a decision, Junk was on the losing end of it. Besides the takedown (with no ground and pound), Junk did not Mitrione. You can say the same for vice versa, but Mitrone landed about as many shots as Junk did.
One judge ruled it a draw, the other two ruled it 20-18 for Mitrione...and Rampage was PISSED! The highlight they have shown from the beginning was finally here: Rampage killing a crappy door with kicks, knees, punches and head butts (ILLEGAL~!).
The fact is the cardio of both fighters was abominable. Horrible. Awful. Get your thesaurus out. For Junk, this was surprising. Everyone underestimated Mitrione's power at the beginning of the fight. With that said, there is no doubt Mitrione is the worst fighter to make it to the next round. Whomever gets booked against him should easily be able to move on.
Elsewhere, the final preliminary fight (TONIGHT~!) will pit big Marcus Jones against Mike Wessel. The size and power advantage for the former first round NFL draft pick is obvious but Wessel promises it won't mean anything during the fight. For Jones, he is Rampage Jackson's last chance to win a fight. Hell, even Ken Shamrock's team won at least one prelim fight.
Last week we also saw more verbal thrashing from both Rampage and Rashad towards one another and they nearly came to blows. All this is for nothing though and it sucks. Hopefully, Rampage's Hollywood phase will end sooner than later and we can see the damn fight.
Tonight, Dana White, Rashad and Rampage (if he doesn't have a fighter involved, does he get a say?) book the next round of the pseudo-tournament. Right now, if I had to rank the winners so far..
#1 - Roy Nelson (by a big margin)
#2 - Brendan Schaub
#3 - Jon Madsen
#4 - James McSweeney
#5 - Justin Wren
#6 - Darrill Schoonover
#7 - Matt Mitrione
The fights I want to see in the next round would pit Mitrione against the winner of the final prelim fight. He was able to get out of fighting Marcus Jones earlier and he claimed Mike Wessel was scared to fight Scott Junk. Either way, he should fight and earn his comeuppance. As for Roy Nelson, I'd book him against James McSweeney, the striker. As for Brendan Schaub, let's see him against the power wrestler, Jon Madsen. That leaves Justin Wren and Darrill Schoonover to duke it out.
Next week, I'll have the recap of the final preliminary fight and all the coverage of the new match-ups.
JUGGERNAUT VIDEO OF THE WEEK
A highlight reel for Jason Miller as we inch closer to his championship bout with Jake Shields.
Thanks for reading, tune in next week for the coverage of the Strikeforce show and conclusive talk as the UFC 106 continues to maneuver more than Heath Herring after taking a punch from Brock Lesnar.
Posted By: MaZZacare (Guest) on November 04, 2009 at 01:46 AM
only reason that roy nelson wouldnt win it all is if he was switched over to team rampage and we know how them fighters did lol (still waiting for big baby tonight)
Posted By: Guest#4902 (Guest) on November 04, 2009 at 01:47 AM
I smell an upset coming. Bret Rogers is going to shock the world.
Posted By: K (Guest) on November 04, 2009 at 06:33 PM
I think Wren was very impressive, I would probably put him in the top 3. As for tonight, I think big Marcus has insane power and will finally win for Rampage. Rashad saved him for last for a reason.
Posted By: TUF Guy (Guest) on November 04, 2009 at 08:58 PM
