Cardio Freak MMA News Report 01.04.10: Best Of The Year

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 01.04.2010

This week in Cardio Freak: A review of the best show of the year, UFC 108 featuring the fans still hating Rashad Evans, explosive knockouts, and slick submissions. It's a complete recap of all the fights and where fighters go from here. Plus a review of Dynamite!! 2009, a preview of WEC 46, and thoughts on UFC signing Takanori Gomi. It's the BJ Penn (at Lightweight) of MMA columns, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Headline News

UFC kicked off 2010 with a fight card that lacked big names but delivered plenty of action.



The main event saw Rashad Evans get back to his winning ways with a Randy Couture type performance against Thiago Silva. Many people believed Evans and Silva would trade strikes until someone fell down but the smart ones, like myself, knew better. I had a hunch that Evans would go back to his wrestling in this fight after taking heavy criticism about abandoning it in his UFC 98 loss to Lyoto Machida and he did just that. For the first two rounds he was able to control Silva in the clinch and score takedowns. He didn't really do any damage in the clinch or with the takedowns but control is part of the game and Evans was clearly in control. The third round was a little different. Silva started to taunt Evans and even dropped his hands to try and bait Evans into a striking exchange. Evans didn't really bite but he did get caught with a right hand that left him wobbly. Silva pounced on him as Evans tried his best to clinch and hold on but instead of staying on him, Silva let him off the hook. He crowned him the winner by letting him off the hook in the third round. You can say that Silva was gassed and couldn't finish Evans but I don't buy that as a legit excuse. Even if he was gassed out, he had Evans hurt and he knew he lost the first two rounds. He had no choice but to go for broke in that situation. Even if he was too gassed to put him away, maybe he could have done enough to warrant a 10-8 round. Backing away and continuing to taunt did nothing for him. It's not disappointing that Silva couldn't finish Evans when he had the chance. It's disappointing that Silva decided to back away and go back to taunting, which only allowed Evans to recover his wits. Backing away, taking a deep breath, and staying aggressive would have been one thing but that's not what Silva did.

Rashad Evans may have picked up the victory but he did nothing in the fight to make me believe that a rematch with Machida wouldn't have the same outcome or that he can beat Quinton Jackson, his next scheduled opponent. He was able to control and takedown Silva but outside of the mount in the first round, a position Silva quickly escaped out of, it never seemed like Silva was in danger of being finished. Evans certainly won't be able to control Jackson in the clinch or take him down as easily as he did Silva. He'll have a definitive speed and game plan advantage over Jackson but will it be enough to avoid Jackson's power? Hopefully we'll find out soon.

I don't know what to make of the performance of Thiago Silva. On one hand I was very impressed with his ability to quickly get up after being taken down but on the other hand I was very disappointed with his lack of killer instinct. Silva's entire reputation is that he's an aggressive killer who swarms on his opponents. In this fight he seemed more concerned with taunting Evans rather than finishing him. I don't know who Silva will fight next and although Rogerio Nogueira vs. Forrest Griffin makes more sense, I wouldn't be shocked to see Silva face one of them in an effort by UFC to give them a victory over a fighter who just headlined a PPV.

The most shocking thing in this fight was the reaction Rashad Evans got. I know he's a heel in Vegas for beating Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin but I thought a lot of people, myself included, turned the corner on Evans after his coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter. Instead he was loudly booed during introductions and the crowd was chanting "Silva" as the fight wore on despite Evans winning. Depending on where they hold the fight, Quinton Jackson will likely be the babyface despite being a terrible coach on TUF and postponing the fight so he could further his acting career.



Paul Daley took on Dustin Hazelett in a classic striker vs. grappler battle and the striker prevailed.

It was a fight where nothing was happening outside of Hazelett starting things with a rolling kick that Daley easily avoided and some blocked kicks by both men. Then came an exchange of strikes and the explosive power of Paul Daley. He dropped Hazelett with a big left hook and then pounded him out in the guard. Daley didn't show anything we already didn't know about but it was still an impressive win over a good Welterweight. Hazelett is taking a lot of heat for not trying to take the fight to the ground right away but I don't think he had much of a choice. Daley is very tough to takedown early in the fight and it's not like Hazelett is a world class wrestler. He had to stand with Daley early, let him get comfortable on the feet, and then try and clinch to work for the takedown. Unfortunately Daley's power was too much for Hazelett and you saw the end result.

The only fight that makes sense for Paul Daley now is against Josh Koscheck. They're both considered top contenders behind Dan Hardy and they haven't been destroyed by Georges St. Pierre within the last two years. Now that Koscheck is out of his fight with Paulo Thiago due to injury, he's going to need an opponent. You know Koscheck wants to fight as soon as possible and Daley took no damage in this fight. There's also the built in story of Daley being a training partner of Dan Hardy, the man who Koscheck called out after his UFC 106 victory. It's a fight that just makes sense and I would be shocked if it didn't happen.

I expect Hazelett to be back to his exciting jiu-jitsu ways in his next fight. This fight was just a bad match up for him and he got caught by someone who has heavy power. He was also coming off the long layoff and major knee surgery and although that never played into the fight, it's always tough in your first fight back. He's still a young fighter who has plenty of room to improve and he's going to be around in the division for a long time.



Sam Stout turned in the most impressive performance of his career en route to a decision victory over Joe Lauzon.

Lauzon looked explosive early, getting Stout to the ground and almost finishing him with a kimura but once Stout survived that and shrugged off the next couple of takedowns he became much more relaxed. From there Stout opened up with his strikes and put on a clinic. Lauzon was cover well and blocking most of the punches but in the process of keeping his hands up to cover his face, he left his body wide open and Stout took advantage of it. He attacked the body of Lauzon with punches and kicks and finished a lot of his combos with whipping leg kicks. Lauzon had no answer for Stout's striking. He tried to get the fight to the ground on multiple occasions but Stout was able to constantly sprawl or shove him away. I don't want to use the layoff as an excuse for Lauzon but there's no doubt in my mind that it affected him in this fight. Take nothing away from Stout though. He showed off a much improved takedown defense and ground defense and was just the better fighter this past Saturday.

All that said I don't know how Stout would fare against the elite level wrestlers in the division. UFC likes to match up fighters who fight around the same time so I wouldn't be shocked to see Stout take on Jim Miller next. It would certainly be a "next level" fight for both men where the winner would move to the bottom of the contender ship bracket.

Like Hazelett, Lauzon will be back and probably better than ever. The layoff and surgery hurt his conditioning and explosiveness and those two things should be back in his next fight. He's learning under BJ Penn (which could be a bad thing in some cases) so you know he's picking up new things every day.



"The Little Operation" Jim Miller made short work of Duane Ludwig, finishing him off with an armbar in the first round.

Miller turned in an all around impressive performance in the fight, first by dropping Ludwig then pouncing on him and moving right to mount and finishing with a beautiful armbar as Ludwig tried to buck him off. Credit to Ludwig for taking this fight on such short notice but even if they both had full training camps, Miller was winning this fight.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Miller take on Tyson Griffin, one of his scheduled UFC 108 opponents, in his next fight but I still like my idea of Miller vs. Stout in a "next level" fight.

Ludwig will be given another opportunity in the UFC because he stepped up and fought when he didn't have to but everyone knows the book on him by now. Great striker with power, suspect chin, not much of a ground game. If he's paired against the right guys it'll make for some exciting fights but against the wrong guys he'll get destroyed.

You may not love "The Little Operation" but if he keeps putting on performances like this then he's going make you love "The Little Operation".



Junior dos Santos continued his Heavyweight rise by stopping Gilbert Yvel in the first round with strikes.

This fight was what a lot of people expected and wanted. Two guys willing to exchange until someone got dropped. It didn't take long as dos Santos dropped Yvel with a counter left hook and then proceeded to pound him out on the ground. Yvel complained about the stoppage but he looked out of it on the left hook and I was shocked it wasn't stopped when Yvel hit the mat. The rest of the punches just woke up Yvel but I highly doubt he was going to recover his wits enough to comeback and win the fight.

Junior dos Santos is for real folks. He's not afraid to stand with anyone, he has explosive power, he's rumored to have a solid ground game, and he trains at the best camp in MMA. His victories over Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Mirko "Cro Cop", and Gilbert Yvel are certainly more impressive than Shane Carwin's victories over Christian Wellisch, Neil Wain, and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Gilbert Yvel is basically the Duane Ludwig of the Heavyweight division. Great striking with power, suspect chin, not much of a ground game. He'll have exciting fights against other strikes but he won't last long against the divisions elite.

Despite all the injuries and complaints from fans, UFC 108 turned out to be the best card of 2010. Who would of thought?



Quick Thoughts on the Preliminary Fights:

*Is it too early to give Cole Miller the award for Submission of the Year?
*I really want Martin Kampmann to turn into a great fighter because he's exciting to watch but he's got to start beating guys who are considered top guys.
*Mark Munoz hits really really hard.
*Jake Ellenberger is a good wrestler who hits hard. Those guys are always scary.
*It really sucks for John Gunderson and Rafaello Oliveira as UFC was desperate to fill time on the card but their fight was really boring so it didn't make PPV.



Full Results:

*Rashad Evans defeated Thiago Silva by Unanimous Decision (29-28 across)
*Paul Daley defeated Dustin Hazelett by KO (Punches) at 2:24 in Round One
*Sam Stout defeated Joe Lauzon by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
*Jim Miller defeated Duane Ludwig by Submission (Armbar) at 2:31 in Round One
*Junior dos Santos defeated Gilbert Yvel by TKO (Punches) at 2:07 in Round One

*Martin Kampmann defeated Jacob Volkmann by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 4:03 in Round One
*Cole Miller defeated Dan Lauzon by Submission (Inverted Triangle/Kimura) at 3:05 in Round One

*Mark Munoz defeated Ryan Jensen by Submission (Strikes) at 2:30 in Round One
*Jake Ellenberger defeated Mike Pyle by TKO (Punches) at 0:22 in Round Two
*Rafaello Oliveira defeated John Gunderson by Unanimous Decision (30-27 across)

Major UFC/WEC News



On January 1, MMA Fanhouse reported that former PRIDE Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi had signed with UFC.

One day into the new year and I'm already wrong with one of my 50 predictions for 2010. I'm very happy to be wrong with this one though.

I'm a fan of Takanori Gomi and I don't feel that he's washed up like so many seem to believe. By reading some reactions you would think that Gomi hasn't won a fight since PRIDE but he's actually won two straight fights. Before that he lost two straight but one was a very close decision that many felt he won and the other he just got caught early with a heel hook. Gomi's problems seem to be more mental than physical, which is sometimes tougher to correct but if he can get his head on straight then he can be a serious threat in the Lightweight division.

Rumor has it that he'll face Kenny Florian in his UFC debut with the winner potentially fighting BJ Penn for the Lightweight title. I don't know about that match making, If Gomi wins it will create a fresh match up between him and Penn (even though Penn holds a win over him in 2003) but if Florian wins does anyone really want to see Penn vs. Florian 2? Florian looked much improved against Clay Guida and a win over Gomi would further prove that he's the #2 Lightweight in the company but Penn was so dominant at UFC 101 when he finally decided to takedown and work his ground game that Florian stood no chance. Maybe it's a different fight in the sense that Florian will use more of his kicks and try to win a point striking contest against Penn but does anyone think Florian can survive on the feet for 25 minutes without getting caught or taken down? I certainly don't.

A better first fight for Gomi would be against someone like Spencer Fisher, who he should have no trouble beating and look impressive in doing so. The fight would give US fans a taste of what Gomi is all about and it would get Gomi accommodated to his new setting.



WEC 46 is this Sunday, January 10 from Sacramento, California. Here is the main card:

*Lightweight Title Fight: Jamie Varner © vs. Ben Henderson
*Urijah Faber vs. Raphael Assuncao
*Mike Brown vs. Anthony Morrison
*Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus
*Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevicius

WEC is putting on a hell of a card to kick off 2010 as it not only features a Lightweight title fight that could be a fight of the year candidate but it also features the return of Urijah Faber, easily the most recognizable star in WEC, and Mike Brown.

The Lightweight title fight features two well-rounded fighters whose main strength is wrestling. Given that the wrestling will likely cancel out, it's safe to assume that this fight will turn into a striking battle. Both guys have power but I favor Henderson in the striking department because he's more diverse with his strikes as he mixes in kicks while Varner sticks mainly to boxing. If the fight hits the ground it's going to depend on whose on top. Henderson is the slicker of the two off his back but I don't see either catching the other. I also worry about Varner because he hasn't fought since January 09 and if we learned anything these past few months it's that guys coming off long layoffs usually don't win. I'm pulling for Henderson to win the fight because the winner will face Donald Cerrone in the near future and Cerrone vs. Henderson 2 gets more excited than Cerrone vs. Varner 2.

The biggest story coming into WEC 46 though is the return of Urijah Faber. He hasn't been seen since breaking his hand and losing to Mike Brown at WEC 41 but he's back in his hometown against Raphael Assuncao where the winner could earn a date with Jose Aldo. This is a very favorable fight for Faber. Assuncao is a great grappler but Faber has never been submitted in his MMA career, his striking is better, and his wrestler is better. If it stays on the feet then Faber will use his speed and power to out strike Assuncao. If Faber is losing the striking battle then he should be able to put Assuncao on his back, avoid any submission thrown at him, and grind out a decision.

Mike Brown also returns to action after losing the WEC Featherweight title to Jose Aldo. His opponent, Anthony Morrison, is making his WEC debut. This is essentially designed win for Brown. Morrison seems to have heavy hands but Brown has a hell of a chin and heavy hands of his own. I expected that Brown will try to bully around Morrison, put him on his back, and work from there. Morrison has a punchers chance but that's about it.

Jansen vs. Shalorus will either be a fun stand up battle where someone gets knocked out or a grinding decision victory by Jansen.

Semerzier vs. Taurosevicius has the potential to be a hell of a grappling battle. Both fighters are experts in jiu-jitsu and Semerzier is the only fighter in MMA history to submit Wagney Fabiano, considered to be one of the best Featherweight grapplers in the world. They've won a combined 17 fights and 13 of those wins have come by submission.

You know the drill: It's WEC. It's going to be good.

Major Japan News



Results from FEG Dynamite!! 2009:

DREAM vs. Sengoku Fights

*Shinya Aoki defeated Mizuto Hirota by Submission (Hammerlock) at 2:17 in Round One
*Alistair Overeem defeated Kazuyuki Fujita by KO (Knee) at 1:15 in Round One
*Masanori Kanehara defeated Norifumo Yamamoto by Unanimous Decision
*Tatsuya Kawajiri defeated Kazunori Yokota by Unanimous Decision
*Hideo Tokoro defeated Jong Man Kim by Unanimous Decision
*Melvin Manhoef defeated Kazuo Misaki by TKO (Punches) at 1:49 in Round One
*Akihiro Gono defeated Hayato Sakurai by Submission (Armbar) at 3:56 in Round Two
*Michihiro Omigawa defeated Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) at 2:54 in Round One
*Hiroshi Izumi defeated Katsuyori Shibata by Unanimous Decision

Super Hulk Finals

*Ikuhisa Minowa defeated Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) at 3:29 in Round Three

Other Fights

*Gegard Mousasi defeated Gary Goodridge by TKO (Punches) at 1:34 in Round One
*Hidehiko Yoshida defeated Satoshi Ishii by Unanimous Decision

The biggest MMA story to come out of Dynamite!! 2009 seems to be the post-fight antics of Shinya Aoki. After breaking the arm of Hirota, Aoki stood over his prone body and flipped him off then ran around the ring with his middle finger in the air. It left a lot of people, including myself, scratching their head and wondering what got into Shinya Aoki. Was it disrespect on the part of Aoki? Yes. But I'd be a hypocrite if I said that I was appalled by it. Brock Lesnar pulled the same antics after defeating Frank Mir at UFC 100 and I was one of the people who enjoyed those antics. The circumstances are different as Lesnar and Mir were bitter enemies who went back and fourth taking verbal jabs at each other leading up to the fight while there seemed to be no feud between Aoki and Hirota and Aoki just flipped him off because he felt like it. But at the end of the day, Shinya Aoki turned himself heel to most fans and I'm fine with that. His crying after victories act wasn't getting over with the Japanese audience as evident by the mediocre ratings he's been getting on TBS in Japan and the mediocre reactions he draws at the arena. So if people won't tune in to see him fight because they like him, maybe they'll tune in to see him get his ass kicked.

As for the fight itself, it was a dominating performance by Aoki but I don't think anyone expected anything less. Hirota is a good fighter but obviously not in Aoki's league and certainly not good enough to handle the grappling skills of Aoki. The hammerlock submission victory was one of the most creative and powerful submissions I've ever seen in MMA and could end up being submission of the year. People seem to be upset over Aoki breaking the arm of Hirota but it was clear that Hirota wasn't going to tap out and the ref wasn't going to stop the fight so what other choice did Aoki have?

The biggest MMA story coming into Dynamite!! 2009 was the debut of Satoshi Ishii. Unfortunately for him and fans, he failed to live up to the extraordinary amount of hype placed on his shoulders as he dropped a decision to veteran Hidehiko Yoshida. The bout between the two experts into Judo ended up turning into a striking contest for the most part and Yoshida was able to get the better of things on the feet. He had Ishii badly rocked in the first round but Ishii was able to survive and even mount a comeback. In the next two rounds Ishii seemed to settle in more, do better with his strikes, and controlled Yoshida in the clinch. Ishii was docked a point in the second round after a brutal knee strike to the groin that broke the cup of Yoshida and had him rolling in pain for well over the allotted five minute mark. I thought the fight was going to be stopped as Yoshida appeared to be in no shape to continue but he was able to fight through the pain and continue on for another round and a half. It was a close fight and one that I scored a draw but I can't argue with Yoshida picking up the decision as the first round could have been scored 10-8 in his favor.

I wouldn't write off Ishii just yet in MMA. Despite his age, Yoshida was a very tough first opponent for him and it didn't help that he got off to a slow start. He showed that he can overcome a bad start, adapt his game plan, and comeback strong. This was also his first fight after a lot of hype that had multiple MMA companies trying to sign him on the biggest Japanese show of the year so you know he was extremely nervous going into the fight.



Gegard Mousasi and Alistair Overeem picked up dominating victories over fighters that they should have dominated. Mousasi took down Gary Goodridge, pounded on him for a minute in side control, and forced the ref to stop it. Goodridge was defending the punches well and complained about the quick stoppage but it was clear that he wasn't going to improve his position. Overeem made short work of Kazuyuki Fujita with a couple of knees to the head, the third of which knocked Fujita out and sent him out of the arena on a stretcher. Overeem and Mousasi did exactly what good fighters should do against lesser competition and that's make quick work of them and do so impressively. Lets just hope they fight better competition in 2010.

I don't want to say "Kid" Yamamoto is done as top level fighter because I hate writing guys off but he's obviously not what he used to be. His only two MMA losses since returning from his long lay off were close decision losses where many people thought he won both fights. It's not like he's going out there and getting destroyed by lesser competition. He's just not going out there and knocking guys out like he used to. I don't think he's done as a top level fighter but he desperately needs a win in his next fight. No fighter can afford three straight losses no matter how they lose.

Ikuhisa Minowa captured the Super Hulk title by defeating Sokoudjou in my favorite round of fighting in 2009. The third round consisted of no action, a warning by the referee, still no action, both men receiving a yellow card, still no action, both men receiving another yellow card, and finally Minowa exploding on Sokoudjou with a left hook that dropped him. The stoppage was probably quick as Sokoudjou didn't appear to be out but the ref was probably just so excited to step between the fighters and not give them a yellow card that he couldn't pass that up.

Dynamite!! 2009 was a great way to cap off the year in MMA as almost every fight delivered action. My biggest complaint about the show was that it was nearly eight hours long and had way too much downtime.

No More News

Before I wrap things up this week there is one more personal matter to take care of.

If you've been following this column for the past couple of weeks then you'll know that, fellow MMA writer and all around good guy, Adam Tool and I had a bet on the main event of UFC 108. I, being extremely brilliant, backed Rashad Evans while Adam, believing that making throat slash gestures makes you a good fighter, backed Thiago Silva. Adam took his loss like a man, admitted defeat, and paid up.



Let this be a lesson to you all. Never bet against me because I'm the BJ Penn (at Lightweight) of MMA writers.

That does it for me folks. I'll be back next week with something new including, but not limited to, a review of WEC 41 and a preview of Fight Night: Diaz vs. Maynard. Take care everyone.

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