The Takedown MMA New Report 11.20.09: Big Boys Going Bad

Posted by Daniel Bonnizzio on 11.20.2009

Discussion of the current state of the UFC heavyweight division and how bad it really is, thoughts and predictions for UFC 106: Ortiz vs Griffin II, unusual insight to the K1 World Grand Prix and much more!

Welcome to another edition of


Well all I can say is a lot of stuff went down this week so let's get right to it!!

In My Opinion…
Just a section to discuss my opinion on something
I heard one dude somewhere say that since the LHW title in the UFC had jumped hands a lot in the past that ‘the right people' were the ones getting the shots at the title.

I disagree. I think that it means that the totally wrong people are getting shots. It doesn't mean that the challenger won, the champion lost. I know the saying is you have to beat the champ to be the champ, but here it's really the case. Rampage lost to Forrest who lost to Rashad who lost to Machida who (should have) lost to Shogun. This merry-go-round means that while they were the right guy at the time, they were wrong overall.

GSP had to clean out his division to get his title shot and he showed he earned it by outwrestling Koscheck and Hughes, getting a decision over the notorious Karo "The Decision" Parisyan, gave Sean Sherk only his second loss ever and just destroyed all contenders. BJ Penn has finished all of his challengers in his title fights, and Anderson Silva is a freaking god in the cage. Brock Lesnar was praised as another legit champ and many thought he would be unbeatable.

The guys in the 205 class need to step up their fighting in order to prove that they aren't just the right guy at the right time but the one who deserves to rule over their weight class.

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The Big Boys Are In Trouble


Man, God must hate large people because in the past week, MASSIVE amounts of injuries and illnesses have been happening to the big boys of MMA. Brock Lesnar had a hole in his guts, Shane Carwin is taking time off for knee injuries, and Big Nog has another staph infection. There go 3 of the top heavyweights in the UFC and possibly any fights with title implications in the near future. As of right now, the only legit top heavyweights in the UFC still in fighting form are Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Stefan Struve, and if you really stretch it Cheick Kongo and Gabe Gonzaga. Not quite the stellar line up for the hunt for the belt.

I could see a legit case for Frank to get a title shot soon after beating Cheick plus one, as he is a former champ (twice) and a consensus top-5 heavyweight right now. Cain is also in the upper ranks as an undefeated monster that has already been scheduled not once but TWICE for number 1 contendership bouts. Junior dos Santos just recently managed to lay a beating on Cro Cop and while not as impressive as it may have been in PRIDE days, is still a feat in that he ran over Cro Cop for three rounds then made Mirko quit. Struve has thus far been on a tear, losing only to the aforementioned Brazilian and winning his matches in a decisive fashion. Kongo, while having some real upsides to his career has also been deprived of title shots because he always chokes when it counts, as in the Heath Herring fight and more recently, the Velasquez fight. Gonzaga is right now on his way back up, but as with Cheick he chokes when it comes to higher competition. As of right now, the only top competitor Gabe has ever beaten was Cro Cop, and that's debatable now seeing his condition.

Dana White has mentioned the possibility of an interim title due to Brock's cloudy future in the UFC. His intestinal problem caused him some serious trauma physically and if can rehab it properly we could see him fighting again and soon, but if not then he may not fight soon or ever again. If the docs say he can fight again but not in the next year, I am all for an interim title so long as they schedule the interim champ to actually defend his title instead of wearing it around as nothing, even if it's only two fights as the interim champ. Should Brock never be able to fight again, I hate to say it but he would have to be stripped of his title.

No matter the scenario, interim or not, Shane Carwin should be involved in the fight. The man was already granted a title shot, and should have the chance to become a champion. For his opponent, out of the healthy bunch, I would love to see one of three fights for the belt. First, the original UFC 104 co-headliner: Velasquez/Carwin. Both men are similar in technique and the fight was being promoted already, so now we would get to see it for real, and we could get a glimpse of how Velasquez/Lesnar or Carwin/Lesnar may have gone. Should that fight not happen for some reason, I would love to see Mir/Carwin should Mir get past Kongo. This would serve a two-fold purpose. First, it would answer the question: is Mir really a legit top-5 heavyweight and Brock is just a monster, or does Mir have a fundamental law in his game (namely, fighting giant wrestlers)? If Mir wins, that question is answered that Brock is just a beast, plus we get a potential Mir/Lesnar III which I am all for. If Mir loses, Carwin gets that huge name win he needs; and Mir gets debunked as a gatekeeper in the heavyweight division, and is forever sentenced to being called a ‘no-talent.'

Should neither of those fights happen, the last fight that makes sense is Carwin/Nogueria. It's been said styles make fights, and Carwin's style plays right into Nog's hands. Sure Carwin beat down a prime BJJ expert in Gabe Gonzaga, but like I said Gonzaga is not exactly stiff competition if you can beat him to the punch, as he seems to suffer Gurgel-it is and forgets he is a master grappler. Nog doesn't forget that. He always looks for sweeps and submissions and is comfy in all aspects of the game, be it standing or on the ground. If Carwin gets past Nogueria, he would skyrocket up the ranks and again get that legitimizing name win, and a win over Nogueria is something to be proud of.

In the meantime, Junior dos Santos should take on Stefan Struve should the two of them win their upcoming fights against Gabe Gonzaga and Paul Buentello, which they should do handily. Cro Cop and Cheick are always lurking in the background, and Ben Rothwell is waiting in the wings to rebound off of his loss to Cain.

The UFC heavyweight scene looks bleak, but this is a great chance for some guys to really establish themselves as possible contenders and champions.

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The Rematch of Rematches: UFC 106 Preview

0-1-1 and 0-2 do not sound like the past two fights two guys headlining a UFC PPV should have, yet Tito Ortiz has lost to Machida and drew with Rashad in his past two fights while Forrest Griffin suffered back-to-back knockout losses to Rashad and Anderson Silva and these two are now the main event of UFC 106. Seriously.

Light Heavyweight bout (205) – Tito Ortiz v Forrest Griffin: Neither of these guys have a stellar recent record but both of them are still dangerous fighters. Forrest has improved in leaps and bounds since they met at UFC 59 while Tito has not had as much luck. If Tito wants to win this he will have to put on the same performance he did at UFC 59 only much better. Taking Forrest down and pounding him out will be Tito's bread and butter and he'll look for the takedown early and often. Forrest, who will have worked on his takedown defense if he's half as smart as people think he should be, is gonna want to keep this standing because while he has a decent BJJ game, Tito will pressure him like no other and he will not be able to maintain composure. Forrest has a hell of a chin when he wants one but a glass jaw at other times, and hopefully he brings his granite chin to Vegas. If Forrest can keep it standing and pick Tito apart he'll win and hopefully that's the plan he brings, otherwise it'll be a short night for the original Ultimate Fighter.

Winner: Forrest Griffin, Decision

Welterweight bout (170) – Josh Koscheck v Anthony Johnson: Rumble Johnson has some of the most explosive everything in the welterweight division I have ever seen. He has massive punches and knows how to keep things going on the feet. Koscheck, however, has that amazing wrestling and while he thinks he is a word class boxer nowadays, if he has half a brain he is going to stay away from the cannonballs under Johnson's gloves and take Johnson down and pound on him to get the win. Neither man is going to threaten with submission from anywhere, but if Josh wants the fight on the ground it's going there, and vice versa if he wants to keep it standing. I can see it now though that unless he uses those skills to take it to the mat early and often, Johnson's explosiveness could pose a huge threat and we could see Koscheck look like Yoshiyuka Yoshida in his past two fights.

Winner: Anthony Johnson, TKO, RD 2

Welterweight bout (170) – Paulo Thiago vs Jacob Volkmann: Well at least Paulo manages to catch a break after being pitted against Koscheck, Jon Fitch, then Thiago Alves. Both of these guys look like they have more than good skills on the ground, especially after seeing Paulo stave off the always there grappling from Jon Fitch, and Jacob's propensity to end fights by a submission hold. The difference looks like it'll be in the standup where I feel that Paulo will have the slight advantage and is going to use that to either end Volkmann's night early or get in, score, then get out without taking the fight down.

Winner: Paulo Thiago, Decision

Light Heavyweight bout (205) Luiz KCane vs. Lil Nog– Luiz Arthur Cane takes on the debuting Antonio ROGERIO Nogueria in this fantastic matchup in the UFC's ever deepening Light Heavyweight division. Lil Nog is known for having some fiercely strong ground skills, and has been a boxing champion of some kind for 3 years running. Luiz Cane is no slouch though as he has some destructive power in his gloves and is gonna use that to his advantage as he tries to knock Lil Nog's head off. Rogerio looks to have the slightly better skillset though as he has used his skills to ride out the decision, even against top flight people as Shogun. He's managed to submit people like Dan Henderson, and has recently taken a liking to finishing fights with strikes. Luiz is going after the KO while Lil Nog is going to try all angles and if he doesn't succeed in finishing the fight, he's definitely going to get a well-earned unanimous decision.

Winner: Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueria, Decision

Welterweight bout (170) – Amir Sadollah vs Phil Baroni: The Ultimate Fighter That Could is on the card tonight as he faces the re-debuting New York Badass, Phil Baroni. Reportedly coming in the day before the weigh-ins at 190 pounds, if Phil manages to get his weight down in time, he will a) be HUGE and b) have some shitty cardio in store. Amir is smaller, quicker and much more technical, but Phil loves to give us a show and he is going to knockout the 1-1 Amir Sadollah. Phil does not do decisions at all and if he loses it'll be because the TUF7 winner catches him in some submission, or because he can't finish Amir off and loses the decision. I expect Amir to bounce back nicely after that controversial loss to Johny Hendricks and he's taking Phil's arm home with him.

Winner: Amir Sadollah, Submission, RD 1

Prelim Quick Picks
· Lightweight bout (155) – George Sotiropoulos vs Jason Dent: Jason Dent, Submission, RD 2
· Lightweight bout (155) – Caol Uno vs Fabricio Camoes: Caol Uno, Submission, RD 2
· Lightweight bout (155) – Andre Winner vs Roli Delgado: Andre Winner, Decision
· Welterweight bout (170) – Ben Saunders vs Marcus Davis: Marcus Davis, TKO, RD 2
· Welterweight bout (170) – Brock Larson vs Brian Foster: Brock Larson, Submission, RD 1
· Middleweight bout (185) – Jake Rosholt vs Kendall Grove: Jake Rosholt, Decision

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In the Lands of the Rising Sun
Here I'll cover the happenings in Japanese MMA
Well what do you know? No real news in Japan.

How about I talk about the K1 World GP?



The big news in the GP was Alistair "ROIDS" Overeem managing to be the only person in K1 history to keep the legend Peter Aerts out of the GP. While I know Aerts has aged, he is kickboxing's Randy Couture and always has tricks up his sleeves.

The bouts for the final are as follows:

Ruslan Karaev vs Badr Hari
Alistair Overeem vs Ewerton Teixeira
Jerome Le Banner vs Semmy Schilt
Errol Zimmerman vs Remy Bonjasky

The reserve bouts for the final are:

Peter Aerts vs Gokhan Saki
Daniel Ghita vs Chalid Arrab

The K1 Final is set to take place on Dec 5, 2009 at the legendary Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. It looks to be broadcast on HDNet so I know I'll be tuning in.

Many have Alistair as the favorite to win the GP now that he's done so well for himself, beating Peter Aerts, knocking Bard Hari OUT, and that hyper-competitive match against Remy Bonjasky. I however, feel that even though Overeem has been on the juice, really bulked up, and has shown some MUCH improved striking skills, the man is just not seasoned enough to deal with another possible showdown with Hari or Bonjasky, with Semmy Schilt waiting in the wings, and with Aerts undoubtedly winning his reserve match Overeem will have him looming over his shoulder for a replacement match.

I think that Overeem's sheer size will play a big factor and I could easily see him getting past Teixeira, but once the quarters are over we will most likely see Bonjasky, Overeem, Schilt and Hari. Of those guys, Overeem has to be seen as the underdog from sheer experience. The man has only had a handful of K1 matches, and somehow I don't foresee a 2001 Mark Hunt-styled performance coming from the giant Dutchman.

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Quick Jabs
· Brock has a hole in his guts, Big Nog has staph, Carwin has knee injuries rehabbing. I thought I had it bad when I had a small cold.
· Karo Parisyan has pulled out of his UFC 106 bout with Dustin Hazelett, citing substance abuse problems and the like. I feel sorry for McLovin, and I hope that the Heat finally gets kicked out of the UFC for this. Go to DREAM if you need to do drugs.
· In what has the potential to be a great fight or a snoozefest, WEC 46 has been announced with the Lightweight Championship Unification Bout between Jamie Varner and Ben Henderson. God love the UFC though they put Rafael Assuncao and Urijah Faber on the card too. And still, free on my TV. God love free MMA.
· Evans/Silva is now being promoted to be the new main event for UFC 108 after it broke that Big Nog had a serious staph infection. Is it just me or should the poster designers for UFC 108 get a bonus for the crap they've been put through for this.

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Bozo's Corner
Just stuff about me for the week.
This week was slow in news but massive in fight cards. UFC 105 on Nov 14, WEC 44 on Nov 18, and UFC 106 on Nov 21? If I wasn't such a fan I'd be burnt out by now.

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And that finishes the shot for today people. If you wanna say something, feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what you have to say, or you can drop me a line at my email at [e-mail].