Cardio Freak MMA News Report 12.28.09: Due To Injury

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 12.28.2009

This week in Cardio Freak: a preview UFC 108 featuring a good card that lacks a true main event. Can Rashad Evans rebound after a brutal KO loss? Will Paul Daley continue to climb up the Welterweight ranks? Is Junior dos Santos the real deal? A look at all the main card fights plus predictions. Also, a preview of Dynamite!! 2009 featuring 17 fights, the conclusion of the Super Hulk, and DREAM vs. WVR. It's almost injury free, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Headline News

UFC 108 is this weekend although I'm very skeptical about doing a full preview column as I just know that there are bound to be at least two more dropouts before bell time on Saturday night. In fact it is with great regret that I must inform everyone that I have dropped out of my UFC 108 fight with Adam Tool as I suffered a nasty papercut injury thumbing through my 2010 Taylor Swift calendar. I feel it is better to just pull out of the fight rather than claim to be 100% healthy, give a terrible performance, and make injury excuses after the fight. Take note Tito Ortiz.

Instead of me personally fighting Adam, I will have Rashad Evans doing my fighting for me as Mr. Tool and I have a friendly wager on the main event where the loser will have to dress up as a girl and take a picture to be ran in next weeks column. Just kidding. I would never put you guys through me in a dress again after Halloween and I don't think Adam has the legs to pull it off anyway.



Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva headlines UFC 108 and with the injury plague destroying this card, you just know something crazy is going to happen in the main event like Evans will shoot for a takedown and blow out his knee. Lets all hope that doesn't happen.

Both fighters rely on their striking despite Evans being a collegiate wrestler and Silva being a blackbelt in jiu-jitsu. Silva is an aggressive fighter who usually moves forward and throws heavy hands while Evans is a counter fighter who uses his speed. Stylistically Silva plays right into Evans' hands. Silva is going to move forward and throw good punches while Evans is going to let Silva get comfortable, wait for a mistake, and counter with the right hand. Both fighters hit hard but Silva has more natural punching power and the better overall striking. Evans' power comes from his speed, which obviously wears down as the fight goes on.

Evans took a lot of criticism after his loss to Lyoto Machida for trying to strike too much and not using his wrestling. I expect him and Greg Jackson to take that criticism to heart and go back to a wrestling game plan in this fight. Although Silva is a black belt in jiu-jitsu he's never shown a strong game off his back. Evans has good control on the ground although he's not the most active fighter in the world when on top. He's proved that he has power on the ground as he KO'd Jason Lambert and stopped Forrest Griffin while on top but in every fight that went to decision he grinded out his opponent and turned in rather boring performances.

If Thiago Silva gets on top it could be all over for Evans. Silva has an excellent top game showing great control, aggressive striking, and power from the position. Evans is no threat off his back and being a wrestler, even though he doesn't like being on his back, he knows how to create scrambles and get to his feet.

A factor worth mentioning is that Rashad Evans has never lost to an opponent that Keith Jardine has already fought. Personally I don't think the two have any relation to each other as they're different fighters and I really don't think it plays much of a factor in this fight as the Silva vs. Jardine fight was so short that there's not much Evans could take away from it.

I like Evans in this fight simply because I think Silva is a good match up for him. Silva's aggressiveness is going to create holes for Evans to exploit on the feet not only with his counter striking but also with his wrestling. Silva has KO power and you never know how a fighter is going to respond after a devastating KO but Evans is still young and seems to have a mental toughness to him so I expect him to rebound big in this fight.



Dustin Hazelett returns to the Octagon to take on Paul Daley in a battle of Welterweight contenders. Paul Daley burst onto the UFC scene at UFC 103 with a brutal beating of Martin Kampmann while Hazelett was last seen at UFC 91 submitting Tamdan McCrory.

This is a classic striker vs. grappler battle. Daley is a great striker with KO power in all his limbs. He throws a nasty left hook and likes to follow it up with a powerful right straight. Hazelett is a decent striker but nowhere near the level of Daley and certainly doesn't have the power to crack Daley's granite chin. Hazelett likes to use a lot of kicks, especially push kicks, but those are more of distance testers than anything fight ending. I also think he throws kicks in hopes his opponent will take him down off of them.

As good as Daley is on his feet, he's exactly the opposite on the ground. His takedown defense is decent and it might even be good enough to stop the takedowns of Hazelett, who isn't a world class wrestler. If Hazelett can get to the fight to the ground though, it's all over for Daley. All of Paul Daley's losses, except for one that was an injury loss, have come by submission or decision from ground control. Hazelett is the best submission grappler in the Welterweight division. He's very flexible, sets things up beautifully, and is creative with his techniques. It doesn't matter if he's on his back or on top, if he goes to the ground with Daley, he will submit him.

Usually you have to worry about ring rust with a fighter returning from major surgery and a long lay off but I'm not as concerned about it with Hazelett as I would be with most fighters. Remember that Hazelett had a full camp and was ready to fight in November before Karo Parisyan pulled out two days before the fight. So while he hasn't fought since November 2008, his body already went through the process of training for a fight.

I'm a big fan of Dustin Hazelett but I don't like this match up for him. Daley's sprawl should be good enough to stuff any of Hazelett's takedowns and on the feet Daley has a big advantage. I'll be pulling for Hazelett to win but I'll be picking Daley.



Gilbert Yvel makes his UFC debut against up and coming Juinor dos Santos in a Heavyweight battle. Santos is coming off the big victory over Mirko "Cro Cop" where he just plain beat up Mirko for three rounds while Yvel is coming off a brutal KO victory over Pedro Rizzo.

Both fighters main strength is on the feet. Santos holds an 18-0 kickboxing record while seven of his nine MMA victories have come by (T)KO. Yvel lost his only career kickboxing fight but 31 of his 36 MMA wins have come by (T)KO. Santos likes to attack the body on the feet. He throws a lot of hooks and uppercuts to the body and we saw him destroy the body of Mirko with knees late in their fight. The main combo he throws is a left hook or a left feint followed by the right uppercut. It's the combo that knocked out Werdum and caught "Cro Cop" on multiple occasions. Yvel is a muy-thai specialist so expect him to throw a lot of kicks and try to get inside to throw knees and elbows. Yvel likes to come out quick with a flurry and it's up to Santos to weather that storm. Yvel's chin is a bit suspect while Santos showed in the "Cro Cop" fight that he can take a solid punch.

If the fight hits the ground then Santos has a big advantage. Yvel has decent ground defense as evident by Josh Barnett taking nearly 15 minutes to finish him off despite having multiple dominant positions but it's certainly nothing special. We've yet to see Santos' ground game but he trains at Team Black House with the Nogueira brothers and Rodrigo Nogueira has always said that Santos gives him fits on the ground. He's a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, which isn't very high honors but a blue belt under the Nogueira brothers is still very high praise.

I think Junior dos Santos is the real deal and I like him in this fight. Really I'm just bias towards anyone training at Team Black House but how can you pick against any of those guys right now? If it's not working on the feet for Santos, I think he'll be able to takedown Yvel and submit him. It's rare that either fighter goes to a decision so expect this fight to be fireworks.



Jim Miller takes on Duane Ludwig in a Lightweight fight that I'm looking forward to because I'm a fan of the fighting Miller brothers.

This is another striker vs. grappler battle as Ludwig is nicknamed "Bang" for his willingness to stand and bang with anyone. Jim Miller doesn't have a nickname but given that he's from New Jersey, I hereby nickname him "The Little Operation". You better be in the gym training everyday for at least an hour because "The Little Operation" is in the gym for an hour and a half.

Miller will be able to hold his own on the feet because he's a well rounded fight but obviously they'll be in Ludwig's world on the feet and he runs the risk of getting caught. Ludwig's chin is suspect though so maybe Miller ends up catching him. On the ground this fight will be all Miller. He's a very good wrestler and has great submission skills to go along with his wrestling. Ludwig has been around long enough to know how to survive on the ground but he'll be out of his element and at the very least Miller will control him en route to a decision.

Ludwig's best chance of winning this fight is to catch Miller early because I see Miller looking for the takedown immediately and working from there. Ludwig will offer up a good defense but once "The Little Operation" goes to work on the ground, Ludwig won't last long.



Joe Lauzon returns to action this Saturday as he battles Sam Stout in what should be an exciting Lightweight fight.

Sam Stout's style leads him to rarely be in boring fights because he, like Duane Ludwig, likes to stand and bang with anyone. Stout is an excellent kickboxer and will look to keep things on the feet for the majority of the fight. Lauzon is a decent striker who has good basic boxing but he wouldn't be wise to trade strikes with Stout. Stout's has an excellent chin and Lauzon doesn't have the power to crack it.

On the ground is where Lauzon will have this fight under control. He's a purple belt in jiu-jitsu and has trained on and off with BJ Penn. Some even consider him Penn's main protégé, which should tell you something. If the fight hits the ground, unless he's rocked, Lauzon will most likely be on top. He has a very good top game and Stout doesn't have the skills to defend against it. Lauzon should be able to pass rather easily and gain dominant positions at will.

Lauzon has been out of action for almost a year after knee surgery and it's always tough for a fighter to return and be 100% after a major injury. His skills will likely be rusty and his cardio will be down as a result of both factors.

Despite coming off the injury, I still like Lauzon in this fight just because I think he's the better fighter and should be able to get the fight to the ground without much of a problem. If it stays standing then Stout will either drop Lauzon or win the fight on points but if Lauzon gets the fight to the ground then he shouldn't have much of a problem winning by submission.



Official Predictions:

*Rashad Evans to defeat Thiago Silva by Decision
*Paul Daley to defeat Dustin Hazelett by TKO in Round One
*Junior dos Santos to defeat Gilbert Yvel by Submission in Round Two
*Jim Miller to defeat Duane Ludwig by Submission in Round One
*Joe Lauzon to defeat Sam Stout by Submission in Round Two

Major Japan News



DREAM vs. Sengoku Dynamite 2009 is this New Years Eve from Japan. Here is the card:

* Masato vs. Andy Souwer (K-1)
* Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (MMA)
* Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazuo Misaki (MMA)
* Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota (MMA)
* Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazunori Yokota (MMA)
* Masanori Kanehara vs. Norofumi "Kid" Yamamoto (MMA)
* Akihiro Gono vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (MMA)
* Hiroshi Izumi vs. Katsuyori Shibata (MMA)
* Marlon Sandro vs. Hideo Tokoro (MMA)
* Michihiro Omigawa vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (MMA)
* Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Alistair Overeem (MMA)
* Yosuke Nishijima vs. Ray Sefo (K-1)
* Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (MMA/"Super Hulk" finale)
* Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
* Katsuki Ishida vs. Shota Shimada (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
* Hiroya/Noiri winner vs. Ishida/Shimada winner (K-1 KOSHIEN final)
* Tsukasa Fuji vs. Ryuya Kusakabe (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal reserve)

Right now there are 17 fights on this card and talks of three more being added as they want 20 fights in total. Has there ever been a card with 20 fights? As much as I love MMA, 20 fights is pretty excessive, especially at three in the morning in the US.

There are a lot of interesting fights on this card but the one I'm most looking forward to is the MMA debut of Satoshi Ishii. For those that don't know, Ishii is a gold medalast in Judo and a highly touted prospect that UFC was courting at one point. His opponent, Hidehiko Yoshida, is a gold medalist in judo as well and has plenty of MMA experience as he's fought guys like Josh Barnett, Mirko "Cro Cop" and Wanderlei Silva. This is pretty much a passing of the torch fight for Ishii as Yoshida is 40 years old and at the end of his career while big things are expected of Ishii.

I like the DREAM vs. World Victory Road format just because it's something fun to follow although it really doesn't prove all that much. It's the like Big 10 vs. ACC challenge in College Basketball where it leads to exciting and fun match ups but no one really cares who wins when it's all said and done as long as their main team wins. DREAM has the superior overall fighters but this is MMA and of course anything can happen. I like DREAM to win the competition by a score of 6-3 with Overeem, Sakurai, Aoki, Kawajiri, Tokoro, and Yamamoto winning for the DREAM side and Izumi, Misaki, and Omigawa winning for the WVR side.

Unfortunately due to the DREAM vs. World Victory Road format it led to Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota and Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazunori Yokota instead of Aoki vs. Kawajiri, which seemed to be all but official after they were both victorious at DREAM 11. Hopefully both Aoki and Kawajiri pick up victories and set up the fight for early 2010.

Sokoudjou is the favorite to win the Super Hulk but Minowa is experienced enough to pull off the upset. I think we all know by now that Sokoudjou isn't a very good fighter and can be defeated if you can just outlast him. We've seen in the past that Minowa has no problem running in circles in order to tire out his opponent (although he ended up tiring himself out in the process) so I wouldn't be shocked to see the same game plan here. I was very excited for this tournament when it was first announced but now that it's almost over I can't help but feel disappointed. Nobody fought twice in one night and I don't think anyone really considers Sokoudjou or Minowa a true Super Hulk, which is really just another word for "Japanese Freakshow Fighter." No matter who wins, we all know that Gegard Mousasi is the true Super Hulk champion.

It's surprising that Kazushi Sakuraba is not on this card but I certainly won't cry about it. Sakuraba is past the end of his career and he's become almost sad to watch when fighting. I know he wants to continue to fight but someone needs to tell him that he's accomplished plenty, he's a legend of the sport, and that it's better to go out now than to continue to overstay your welcome.

I'm dreading this show because it will end up lasting at least six hours but overall it looks like a good show so hopefully the time passes quickly.

No More News

That does it for me folks. I'll be back next week with a review of UFC 108 and Dynamite!! 2009. Everyone take care and have a safe New Years.

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