The Juggernaut MMA News Report 11.25.09: Thanksgiving Edition

Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 11.25.2009

The Juggernaut gives thanks for all that is swell in MMA including FREE SHOWS and Fedor, among others. As TUF10 winds down, will Kimbo Slice fight again? All that and much more including 'ol pal Tito Ortiz's excuses, how long Jose Aldo will reign supreme, Wanderlei/Bisping, Shane McMahon buying into UFC and the return of Junie Browning.


Well, I think we know the truth now.

UFC 106: Same Old Tito

Tito Ortiz seemed to have a lot of excuses for his performance in his split decision loss to Forrest Griffin. Ortiz mentioned that he had a disc bulging in his neck, a cracked skull AND (in case you forgot), he was making his return from back surgery. Ortiz's point was everyone should be lucky he was able to fight in the first place. Forrest Griffin had a broken foot, too. Obviously every fighter has some version of injuries when they step into the octagon because when you train for months, you will get hurt. After a fight, fans do not want to hear them blame their performance on an injury. Hell, Minotauro Nogueira did not want his injuries heading into UFC 91 (his loss to Frank Mir) made public even after out of respect.

Anyway, yes, Forrest Griffin won the fight and he deserved to win the fight. I hope Cecil People's was not watching this show because between Griffin's leg kicks and Amir Sadollah's leg kicks, he must have thought this show sucked (and yes, we can still all go to hell, thanks Peeps).

The opening round saw Griffin get the best of Tito on the feet. Ortiz did take him down once (he missed another attempt) and threw elbows in the guard, but Griffin did a good job of not staying put. Round two saw Griffin kick Ortiz's mouthpiece out. Ortiz did get him down again and elbowed him until a cut opened above Griffin's right eye. This is the round I gave to Tito for his two takedowns and the ground and pound.

Round three was unquestionably a Griffin round as Tito gassed and was eating shots the entire round. I went 10-9 Griffin here but could understand a 10-8 score. I gave the fight to Griffin 29-28 and was surprised when Bruce Buffer announced one judge scored it 29-28 for Ortiz. The other scores werd 30-27 Griffin (which shocked Dana White) and 29-28 Griffin.



Perhaps the most entertaining fight on the show saw Josh Koscheck handily defeat Anthony Johnson. Johnson defended Koscheck's takedowns briefly but he could not keep it up. The round ended with Koscheck delivering knees after taking down Johnson. The first round was odd as Johnson appeared to have landed an illegal knee to Koscheck but Koscheck was favoring any eye that did not look like it was poked (replays made it seem the other eye was poked). After that delay, the fight resumed.

Round two saw Koscheck accidentally poke Johnson in the eye. After a pause in the action, it resumed and Koscheck again accidentally poked Johnson in the eye. Another pause and restart, then Koscheck went for a takedown once Johnson was landing some big strikes. It seemed like Johnson tired quickly on the ground (remember the weight cut?) and his submission defense was absent as Koscheck quickly worked towards a rear naked choke for the tap out victory.



After the fight, Koscheck called out Dan Hardy and proclaimed that Hardy should fight him before he gets a crack at champion Georges St. Pierre. From what I understand, this stemmed from comments Hardy made earlier in the day about Koscheck needing a hair cut and Hardy planned to color his hair red, with blood (according to Heavy.com). Nevertheless, Dana White has said Hardy is getting the title shot at GSP. EIther way, Koscheck plans to fight a LOT in 2010. Could we see a rematch with Paulo Thiago?


The men who benefitted from Karo Parisyan's issues, Paulo Thiago and Jacob Volkmann had their previously scheduled preliminary fight moved up to the live PPV. Paulo Thiago is a BJJ fighter while Volkmann is a strong wrestler with little stand-up skills. Thiago dropped Volkmann several times with punches but he just pulled guard or got back up. Volkmann was able to take Thiago down several times but could not do much damage with ground and pound. Only in the third round did Volkmann do some real damage with elbows from the top and he even had a darce choke from the bottom. The third round clearly belonged to Volkmann which meant the second round was the deciding factor. I gave Thiago round two, 10-9, because he did more damage. Two judges did not see it so close as they gave the fight to Thiago with 30-27 scores. The third judge scored it 29-28 for Thiago. It was definitely a case of Volkmann tiring late in the fight and not having enough strength to finish. If he didn't gas late, he should have been able to end the fight with the choke.


In the most impressive performance on the show, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira made his successful debut in the UFC. The twin brother of heavyweight Rodrigo Nogueira, Rogerio knocked out Luiz Cane after about two minutes of work. Nogueira's southpaw stance seemed to give Cane major problems, as he looked lost before taking a few big shots. This was impressive because Cane was a rising stud and with a win, a case could have been made for a title shot. At least with Rogerio winning, he has no intention to fight his teammate, Lyoto Machida.




Opening up the PPV broadcast was a hell of a fight between Amir Sadollah and Phil Baroni. It's almost comical how Baroni never improves his cardio. Reports said he had a large weight cut in the final 24-48 hours and as expected, he gassed within minutes of the first round. Sadollah is still fresh to the sport but his Muay Thai skills were on display throughout the fight. By the third round, Baroni was visibly exhausted, but he never quit. You have to give the man that much respect. Sadollah's kicks to the legs brutalized Baroni's thighs and calves to the point Joe Rogan mentioned he could see the veins popping on his leg.

I don't get how a veteran like Baroni continuously let's himself gas within minutes.

For the pre-show Spike broadcast, three fights aired. Uber MMA prospect Jake Rosholt fought Kendall Grove and was caught in an armbar. Rosholt was able to mount Grove but did nothing with it besides tapping shortly afterward. Rosholt may be the poster boy for fighters negatively affected by the dismissal of WEC's heavier weight classes. He was thrown into the deep end in the UFC and has two submission losses (although he did submit Chris Leben in August). It's to a point where perhaps it would be better for Rosholt's career to go elsewhere and fight for experience and come back at a later time.

George "Aussie" Sotiropoulos submitted Jason Dent with a nice armbar and is all but confirmed to fight on the Australia card in February.

In the 'main event' of the Spike broadcast, Ben Saunders knocked out Marcus Davis with vicious knees from the Muay Thai clinch. Saunders is the answer to a trivia question: Who is the first man to knock Marcus Davis out in an MMA fight? It seemed like Davis had no answer for the clinch, could not get away and ate some big shots. This is a big win for Saunders coming off a disappointing performance against Mike Swick. Saunders may not be anywhere near the best in the division, but his striking can give certain opponents fits.

---

Why Not?

---

THANKSGIVING SPECIAL

Here's a gimmick for you. In the United States, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and a time to look at things in your life you are thankful for. Well, here is a list of items I am thankful for in MMA.


- I'm thankful for the WEC featherweight division. In the past year alone, we have seen some great fights. Brown/Garcia, Faber/Pulver, Brown/Faber II, and Brown/Aldo. The rematch between Brown and Faber is still my candidate for fight of the year (more on that, next month) but we saw the end of Mike Brown's strong reign last week. What's scary about it is the fact that Jose Aldo may be the most dangerous fighter in the world not fighting in the UFC. That includes Fedor Emelianenko. Aldo only turned 23-years old two months ago, he's a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has fierce Muay Thai skills that just look unfair against his opponents. Brown said he overtrained for the fight but Aldo was too much for him t handle with as fast an arsenal of strikes as any man in the sport. Jose Aldo is in a position where he can have a long, successful run as champion. He even got some promotion on the UFC 106 show as they showed highlights of his championship win and showed him in the audience at the show. Can Faber beat him? Right now, I do not see how you can think he would. Aldo will dictate when Aldo loses. All we can do now is watch and enjoy.

- Screw it, I'm thankful for WEC. In general, WEC puts on great shows and great fights. Fights mentioned above don't even include the tremendous battle between Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone last month. What's coming up next for WEC? Their 45th show is Saturday night, December 19th (competition with Strikeforce) and features Takeya Mizugaki vs. Scott Jorgensen, Joseph Benavidez vs. Rani Yahya and in the main event, Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff. January 10th will see WEC 46 with a double main event featuring Jamie Varner fight Ben Henderson in a lightweight title unification bout and Urijah Faber's return vs. Raphael Assuncao. GOLD!


- I'm thankful for CBS. Say what you want about how poor the promotion for Strikeforce's debut on the network was. However, the fact remains, CBS is the only major network to showcase MMA in a primetime slot. The UFC has constantly said over years that they will only sign a new TV deal if everything is right (ie. the UFC has to make ZERO concessions) because they don't need one. Certainly the way TV works in 2009, with so many options, network television is nothing like it was even 10-15 years ago. However, there is something to having MMA in a position to be seen by millions of new viewers, casual fans and even haters. The platform is a tremendous asset for Strikeforce and here's hoping to many more CBS shows in 2010 and beyond.


- I'm thankful for FREE MMA! Since August, the following shows have been available on network, cable or satellite television or will be through the end of this year: WEC 42, WEC 43, WEC 44 and WEC 45, UFC Fight Night 19, UFC 105 and TUF 10 Finale, Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg, ShoMMA 3, ShoMMA 4, ShoMMA5, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers and Strikeforce: Evolution, Sengoku 9, K-1 World Grand Prix 2009, M-1 Global Breakthrough, XFC, Adrenaline MMA 4, Sengoku 10, K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final 16, MFC 22, DREAM 11, DREAM 12, K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final, Sengoku 11 and others. Enough said!


- I'm thankful for Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is still not out of the woods but if it is the only thing wrong with him, doctors have already patched up the hole in his intestines. If it was/is the only thing wrong (besides mono), Lesnar may be able to return to fighting by the summer. Above all else, you have to be thankful that the man appears to be on the road to recovery.


- I'm thankful for Fedor Emelianenko Staying in the United States. After Affliction died, Fedor could have returned to Japan and stayed away from U.S. MMA with its different rules, the cage, etc. He did not. He signed with Strikeforce and will likely compete exclusively in MMA inside the United States for the duration of that contract. He may be dealing with a broken nose or other injuries but you can bet the next time he steps into the cage, more fans will be watching than would be if he was not on the card. Now only if Alistair Overeem would come to the United States. You can't have everything I guess.


- I'm thankful for having Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans on weekly television. Sadly, season 10 of TUF did not turn out to be as great as we anticipated. Regardless, watching the feud between Rampage and Rashad for months has been a blast. I get the feeling that Rashad loved to tweak Rampage at any cost while Rampage genuinely disliked Rashad for what he perceives as unwarranted cockiness (ironic, don't you think?). While right now they are not scheduled to fight, it's impossible for me to believe Rampage will never return to the UFC again. WE MUST SEE THEM FIGHT!


- I'm thankful for EPIC FIGHTS~! Surprisingly, we have been graced with several EPIC fights this year. Brock Lesnar avenged his defeat to Frank Mir, GSP manhandled B.J. Penn, Mike Brown out dueled Urijah Faber, Cris Cyborg took down Gina Carano, Diego Sanchez took a split decision from Clay Guida, Couture battled Big Nog and those are just the immediate fights that come to mind.


Stay tuned for Monday (411's own special Thanksgiving) for the rest of the MMA writers' thankful thoughts.



What are you thankful for this holiday season?

---

Tim Sylvia would be thankful if everyone had selective amnesia.

---

JUGGERNAUT NEWS BRIEFS

- Strikeforce's December 19th show just got a lot more interesting. Confirmed for the show is the lightweight title unification bout between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez. The fight has been scheduled twice before this year and has been delayed due to injuries suffered by Thomson. He's healthy now and hopefully we can put this fight in the books. Other fights on the Showtime card include Cung Le vs. Scott Smith, King Mo vs. Mike Whitehead and Jacare Souza vs. Matt Lindland, plus Robbie Lawler will be in action.


- Although not confirmed, it appears Dana White and Joe Silva are planning to book the GSP vs. Dan Hardy title fight in February at UFC 109 in Vegas, the Super Bowl show. According to reports, White told fans at a Q&A session this past weekend that is the direction they are heading in. So much for having both men coach a season on TUF.


- According to Heavy.com, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira's parents visited the United States for the first time, to see him fight Luiz Cane last weekend. In other Nogueira news, it was great to see Rodrigo be able to corner his twin brother at UFC 106, which meant he was not under hospital care after developing a staph infection.

- The rematch between UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua is set for May 1st, 2010.

- Shane McMahon's interest in joining Zuffa is likely based on his experience working to sign business deals in the international marketplace including television. He was behind many big such business deals while working for WWE. However, according to several sources, McMahon has an interest to buy some percentage of the company. Zuffa is owned by Frank Fertitta, Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White. They may be hesitant to sell off part of their company but may be warming up to the idea after other business deals have gone south.


- WEC featherweight fighter Wagnney Fabiano will drop down to bantamweight because he has no interest in fighting teammate and new champion Jose Aldo.


- Former UFC fighter Junie Browning will make his first post-UFC appearance this Saturday, fighting Scott Cornwell at MMA Big Show at Belterra Casino in Indiana.


- Although this is not MMA news, I figured it was too big not to mention in the world of combat sports. This week, talks officially began between the promoters behind top boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in an attempt to reach a fight agreement. Bob Arum (repping Pacquiao) and Richard Schaefer (repping Mayweather) met in Las Vegas earlier in the week to start talks. The fact that they are meeting at all is great news as it's a sign that both fighters actually want the fight. Whether a deal can be brokered sooner than later remains to be seen (details such as who gets how much of the profits and where the fight takes place need to be handled). Assuming a deal can eventually get done and the superfight between Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao becomes official, it would be the biggest professional fight of the century. Let's hope we get it.

The date I have heard bandied about is May 1st, 2010. Sound familiar? It's the same date as the UFC show scheduled to host the rematch between Shogun Rua and Lyoto Machida. If it turns out to be the date, the UFC would be in a tough place trying to compete head to head with that boxing match.


- Fighters Only Magazine reports that Wanderlei Silva has verbally agreed to fight Michael Bisping at UFC 110 in Australia this February. The bout was expected to feature Silva/Yoshihiro Akiyama but for whatever reason, Sexiyama is out and Bisping is in. Official agreements have not been signed but unless something pops up, expect to see that fight in February.


- Houston Alexander has confirmed his December 5th fight with Kimbo Slice at the TUF 10 Finale on Spike TV. This means whatever happens next week on the final episode; we know Kimbo does not win two more fights. It's possible he fights again and loses, but chances are, his knee injury will force him to push aside the potential fight (should Mitrione not compete).


- Bitetti Combat 5 is set for December 12th in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The card features: Valentijn Overeem vs. Pedro Rizzo, Jason Jones vs. Ninja Rua, Travis Wiuff vs. Fabio Maldonado, Jeff Monson vs. Glover Teixeira, Tommy Speer vs. Eduardo Pampiona and more.


- The UFC 106 Preliminary Fight broadcast on Spike TV did solid ratings. It earned a 1.0 rating and drew 1.3 million viewers. The show did better in key male demographics than the ESPN college football game featuring Kansas State and Nebraska.


- WEC 44 on Versus brought in a 0.5 rating and averaged 414,000 viewers. For a card featuring no discernible draw, it should be considered a fine performance and normal when you look at post showings (WEC 43 had 419,000 viewers). This includes the fact that Versus is not available on DirecTV at the moment.

---

The Ultimate Fighter Review and Preview

There is just one more week left before the finale. Remember, NO NEW EPISODE TONIGHT. They took the week off for the holiday and will have the final two episodes next Wednesday night with four fights (the final two quarterfinal fights and the two semi-final fights).

Last week was about injuries at a time when the UFC has had to deal with many. Matt Mitrione claimed he had swelling of the brain, which is just comical because he would not be fighting ever again if that were the case. Even Dana White came down to the gym to give one of his speeches, which after ten seasons' worth, is just starting to lose its effect (just a bit). Nobody truly knows how bad Mitrione was hurt when they filmed this but it's pretty obvious he does not want to fight. Perhaps the coach is correct who suggested Mitrione got his win and he's prepared to go home without fighting again so he can say he did not lose.

Either way, it appears a substitute will be needed to fight James McSweeney (who was annoying as hell in the episode because he never shut up. He's the kind of guy you love to have on your team and if he's not, you hate him.) They teased whether Kimbo Slice will be available but he is dealing with his own (and very much, serious) injury. After an MRI, the doctor told Kimbo he has no cartilage in the hurting knee. The doctor suggests either a cortisone shot or they can drain the knee. Kimbo HATES needles so he shot that idea down right away. Later in the episode, other guys had him try an ice bath to which Kimbo did not enjoy.

Missing cartilage in your knee is painful to say the least, it's as if you're walking on sharp glass. I do not see how he fights which would be a bummer but as they talked about, McSweeney, a kick boxer would target the knee right away.


The coaches challenge this season was volleyball pitting Rashad Evans and Mike Van Arsdale against Rampage Jackson and Tiki Ghosn. It came down to the final point and Team Rashad won, giving the coaches $10,000 and each fighter on the team $1,500. Rampage was PISSED after Rashad gloated by putting the money in his face. Like kids, I swear.

The challenge pales in comparison to the amazing game of table tennis between B.J. Penn and Jens Pulver and even last season's soccer match between Big Nog and Frank Mir (The look on Mir's face when he saw soccer nets set up was hysterical. Even so, Big Nog was a bad soccer player...in Brazil).


Last week's fight saw Greg Jackson fighter Brendan Schaub fight H.I.T. Squad (Matt Hughes' team) member Jon Madsen. Round one saw Madsen use his wrestling to control Schaub on the ground. The interesting part here was Schaub using his hands on the cage to move around, to which referee Josh Rosenthal issued several warnings. Even after the fourth or so warning, no point deduction. It didn't matter much as in the second round, Madsen gassed and Schaub knocked him out with a few punches. Schaub bowed, then did the cut throat motion which was pretty stupid. Now I am hoping Schaub loses in the semi-finals.






Semi-Finalists include Roy Nelson and Brendan Schaub

The remaining quarterfinal fights include James McSweeney (Rashad's #1 pick) vs. Matt Mitrione, but likely, a substitute will fight. The other fight will see Marcus Jones vs. Darrill Schoonover. I heard that Jones gets pissed off again in one of the episodes so that should be interesting.

My picks are McSweeney and in a toss-up, Marcus Jones.

If McSweeney advances, I wonder if Dana White and the coaches book him to fight his (legit) teammate in Schaub. I doubt it, but you never know. I would like to see McSweeney fight Marcus Jones to see which man can finish the fight.

---

JUGGERNAUT VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Here is a custom music video put together by GYVudeos on YouTube. Good stuff.






Don't forget to bookmark 411mania.com.





TWITTER

Senor Jon's Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma