Cardio Freak MMA News Report 02.01.10: Legendary UFC Hall of Fame Octagon Warriors

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 02.01.2010

This week in Cardio Freak: A preview of UFC 109: Relentless featuring two Hall of Famers competing against each other, the guy who destroyed Demain Maia vs. the guy who got destroyed by Demian Maia, and a fight to determine the greatest mid-level Welterweight of all-time. Plus a review of Strikeforce: Miami featuring some Diaz being awesome, Walker being amazing, and one legged man in an ass kicking contest. It's in better condition than Robbie Lawler's leg, it's Cardio Freak on 411



Headline News

UFC returns to PPV this Saturday with UFC 109: Relentless. It's a deep card but not a great card and the main event is one that you'll either love or hate.



On one hand it's amazing what Randy Couture and Mark Coleman are doing. They are 91 years old combined and have been competing for almost 100 UFC PPV events. They've accomplished plenty in MMA, they're both UFC Hall of Famers, and they're both old enough to be my father. If you had told any MMA fan in 2005 that Randy Couture and Mark Coleman would headline a PPV in 2010, they probably would have laughed at you. Yet here we are.

Mark Coleman and Randy Couture have continued to bring the same skills to the table that they've been bringing since they debuted in 1996 and 1997 respectively. Coleman is a great amateur wrestler with a good double leg takedown and great ground and pound. Couture is a great Greco-roman wrestler who controls his opponents in the clinch and breaks their will. Not much has changed over the years except their desire to compete.

Couture has very solid boxing. His hands are crisp, he puts together good combinations, and he uses a lot of head movement. Coleman's striking used to be one punch and done but since the Stephan Bonnar he's been working Sean Tompkins, the same man who worked to improve Randy Couture's boxing for many of his fights, and his striking has clearly improved. It's still not great though. He over extends himself on punches and keeps his hands too low but at least he's trying. Couture will be better on the feet simply because he's been working on improving his striking longer. Couture's chin is suspect though and Coleman does pack a heavy punch. I'm not sure Coleman has the hand speed to connect clean on Couture though.

This fight is all about the wrestling. Coleman is going to look to put Couture on his back while Couture is going to look to bully Coleman against the cage. This would have to favor Couture because it's easier to train for a good amateur wrestler over a good Greco-roman wrestler. Couture doesn't have a great sprawl but it's good enough to make Coleman work hard and he's good at getting up when he's on his back. He got up with Brock Lesnar on top of him so I'd like to believe that he won't have much trouble with Coleman on top of him. Coleman on the other hand will have a tough time dealing with Couture pressed up against him on the cage because he's not used to it. Brandon Vera, who has a Greco-roman wrestling background, couldn't do anything with Couture pressing him against the cage.

On the ground it will depend on who is on top. While I think Couture will have an easy time getting up from under Coleman, he's still going to eat plenty of fists and elbows in the process. If Couture can get on top of Coleman, this fight will end up looking a lot like Couture vs. Tim Sylvia with Couture pounding away and Coleman not being able to get up.

As with any Mark Coleman fight, his conditioning will come into question. Couture is always in good condition and I don't anticipate him gassing while Coleman has a history of gassing by the end of the first round. I'll say this about Mark Coleman, he's really taking his training serious. He's in Vegas working with a lot of top guys and he knows that this is his last chance at reclaiming any past glory. Unlike other Hammer House guys, who are also training in Vegas, he's not just fighting for just a paycheck right now. It's likely too little too late for Coleman but I applaud him for trying.

Unless Couture is just too old to compete and Coleman has the night of his life, Couture should win. He's more evolved than Coleman and his wrestling is more apt to MMA.

Two old guys paired up against each other because everyone knows they can't compete with the young guys anymore. Mark Coleman and his five minute gas tank against Randy Couture and his boring style that fans no longer care about. Two guys hanging on to past glory when they should just let go. On the other hand it could be quite sad.



Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen is a big fight in the Middleweight division because the winner will determine the next challenger to the Middleweight title. If Marquardt wins he'll likely face the champion (unless Anderson Silva decides he doesn't want to fight him) and if Sonnen wins, the winner of Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva will probably get the title shot.

UFC is great at marketing fights so they'll never say this but to me this fight is nothing more than the guy who destroyed Demian Maia vs. the guy who Demian Maia destroyed.

Nate Marquardt is basically a better version of Chael Sonnen. They're both good strikers but Marquardt puts his punches together better and has more power and Marquardt is definitely the better grappler of the two. Sonnen is sneaky strong though. He bullied around Yushin Okami, who made his UFC career by bullying around his opponents. For Sonnen to win he's going to have to fight a lot like he did in the Okami fight. Out strike Marquardt and control moments in the clinch. He's a good Greco-roman wrestler but he's not great and was even out dueled in the clinch by Maia, who has no wrestling background. He has good ground and pound when he's standing over his opponents but when he's in the guard you just know he's a moment away from getting submitted.

My biggest concern with Sonnen is that he's a front runner fighter. He's good when he's winning but he mentally checks out when things aren't going his way. It's different from someone like Denis Kang, who is good early but when he can't finish his opponent when he has him in trouble, you just know he's going to mentally check out and lose. If Sonnen doesn't finish opponent when he has him hurt he'll continue to fight on and win. It's when something goes bad for him that he mentally checks out and ends up losing.

Marquardt has faced someone like that before, that being Wilson Gouveia. We saw what happened in that fight. Marquardt wouldn't back down from Gouveia and Gouveia broke early in that fight. You can't be mentally weak against someone like Nate Marquardt because he's as mentally strong as they come.

I think Marquardt catches Sonnen with a good punch early and from there Sonnen will just shut down. Eventually Sonnen will want a way out of the fight and that's when Marquardt will finish him with a choke.



Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg is a battle between two Welterweights trying to stay relevant in irrelevance. Serra made his entire career off a flurry on Georges St. Pierre early while Trigg is best known for giving up his back and getting choked out. Yet for some reason I'm intrigued because this is a battle to see who is the best mid-level Welterweight in UFC history. That's a big honor.

It's a wash on the feet. Trigg throws better punches and combinations and he'll have an easier time hitting Serra because of his reach but Serra does a good job of getting inside and throwing good power punches. I'll actually give the advantage to Serra just because I like his power and Trigg's suspect chin over Trigg's striking.

This fight will come down to Trigg's wrestling vs. Serra's jiu-jitsu. Trigg is a good wrestler but certainly not great while Serra has great jiu-jitsu although it's overrated and hasn't worked too well for him in MMA. Trigg's wrestling is good enough to put Serra on his back on most occasions but Serra's jiu-jitsu is very defensive and even if he's on his back I suspect that he'll do a good job limiting the damage.

What sold me on Serra winning this fight was the final minute or so of the Matt Hughes fight. In the clinch he was able to takedown Hughes, get on top, and do some damage before the time expired. I think he does the same thing in the fight. He gets a takedown from the clinch, forces Trigg to give up his back, and then submits him.



Paulo Thiago continues his gauntlet through American Kickboxing Academy as he takes on Mike Swick in a Welterweight showdown.

This is a fight of underrated vs. overrated. People still think Thiago got lucky against Koscheck and that he's not good and they also believed Mike Swick is an amazing striker. Those people are wrong. Thiago isn't a great striker and maybe he did get lucky against Koscheck but his striking looked much improved at UFC 106 against Jacob Volkmann and he's training at Black House, a camp home to some of the best strikers in MMA. Swick isn't a great striker either. He's got explosive power but he's not the most technical guy in the world. The thing that favors Thiago is that he's a good counter striker while Swick leaves himself open to counter strikes.

If this fight goes anywhere except on the feet then Thiago has the advantage. He holds a black belt in Judo so he should be able to control the clinch and he has a black belt in jiu-jitsu so he should be more than comfortable on the ground with Swick.

I actually like Thiago in this fight. I think he's proven that his uppercut against Josh Koscheck was more than just a fluke punch and that he's actually a solid fighter. Swick has the power and explosiveness to catch him but I really don't think he's as good as advertised.



Dan Miller vs. Demian Maia seems to be the fight that everyone is most interested in and I can't blame them.

I like both of these guys. Maia is one of the best submission grapplers in all of MMA while Miller is just a fighter. Miller's strengths are wrestling and jiu-jitsu but I don't think he wants any part of Maia on the ground. Maybe he'll be able to survive but there's no doubt that he'll get controlled on the ground the entire fight and end up losing a decision at best.

"The Big Operation" Dan Miller has to keep the distance in this fight. He's never shown great power on his feet but his striking is solid and it's certainly further along than Maia's. Maia showed in the Marquardt fight that he can be a bit reckless on the feet and that's what led to him getting dropped very early. If he gets reckless against Miller then he's going to be eating counter strikes all fight en route to a losing effort.

For some reason I always favor a guy who is world class at one thing against the more well-rounded fighter and I'm doing the same thing here. All Maia has to do is get the fight to the ground once and he's proven that he can get good wrestlers to the ground even if it means pulling guard. Unless Miller comes out to a techno song, fist pumps all the way to the Octagon, tries to beat up the beat, and becomes my new favorite fighter of all time, I'm going with Maia.



Official Predictions:

*Randy Couture to defeat Mark Coleman by Decision
*Nate Marquardt to defeat Chael Sonnen by TKO in Round Two
*Matt Serra to defeat Frank Trigg by Submission in Round Three
*Paulo Thiago to defeat Mike Swick by Decision
*Demian Maia to defeat Dan Miller by Submission in Round Two

Major UFC/WEC News



On January 26, multiple outlets reported that Forrest Griffin vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is in the works for UFC 113. In an interview with MMA Sports Magazine, Forrest Griffin said, "that's a tough match up for me. There are other guys I'd rather fight."

First let me say that if this fight does happen, I don't think it will happen at UFC 113. Right now UFC 113 has Lyoto Machida vs. "Shogun" Rua 2, Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley, and Kimbo Slice on the card. I think this fight ends up happening at UFC 114, which currently needs a co-main event below Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans. It just makes more sense.

Now will the fight even happen? I think so. It seems to me that Forrest is just trying to play mind games with the media and Nogueira. He's not the type of guy who will turn down a fight, especially if the fight happens in Vegas, which it would if it happens at UFC 114 like I'm predicting. Forrest just likes to say things that gets people talking and saying that he'd rather fight other guys than Nogueira is getting people to talk.

This seems like a bad match up for Griffin but it's also the type of fight that he ends up winning. Nogueira has better boxing and hits harder but Griffin is a more well-rounded and active striker. Nogueira has the better ground game but if Griffin wants to take him down he shouldn't have too much trouble. From there he just has to avoid the submissions and sweeps of Nogueira, which I think he can do. I know people got really down on Griffin after the Anderson Silva fight and are still down on him after the Tito Ortiz fight but I'd never write off Griffin in any fight. To do so would be stupid.

Major Strikeforce/Miscellaneous News



Strikeforce: Miami took place this past Saturday in Sunrise, Florida. Here are the results:

*Nick Diaz defeated Marius Zaromskis by TKO (Strikes) at 4:38 in Round One to win the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight Title
*Cristiane Santos defeated Marloes Coenen by TKO (Strikes) at 3:40 in Round Three to remain the Strikeforce Women's Champion
*Herschel Walker defeated Greg Nagy by TKO (Strikes) at 2:17 in Round Three
*Robbie Lawler defeated Melvin Manhoef by KO (Punch) at 3:33 in Round One
*Bobby Lashley defeated Wes Sims by TKO (Strikes) at 2:06 in Round One

Was Zaromskis overrated or is Diaz really that good? It's probably a little bit of both. I didn't buy into Zaromskis before this fight because, even though he was winning in highlight reel fashion, he wasn't beating top guys. Diaz was by far the best fighter he's ever fought while Diaz has been fighting and beating (or coming close to beating) top competition for years now. Diaz did what Diaz does in this fight. He threw over 100 punches in less than five minutes, connected four out every five punches, and just wore out Zaromskis. He got tagged himself and even dropped but his chin and recovery ability is very good so he was able to survive.

So now Nick Diaz is the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion. What does that even mean? Jake Shields was thought to be the best Welterweight in the world not in UFC before moving up to Middleweight and he won't fight him because they're teammates, he just beat the best Welterweight Japan has to offer, and Jay Hieron is the only guy left for him in Strikeforce although he may no longer be with Strikeforce.

Scott Coker mentioned that Diaz will likely face Hayato "Mach" Sakurai next, which I can't imagine anyone caring about. Casual fans don't know Sakurai so they won't care and hardcore fans know him but also know that he's lost two straight fights, one being to Zaromskis who Diaz just beat. Jay Hieron appears to done with company as he's finished up his contract and I can't imagine him re-signing after not getting his promised title shot and not even making the main card in two tries. Maybe that's why Diaz decided to rip on UFC judges rather than promoting a potential fight with Hieron.



Cris "Cyborg" Santos continues to be one scary woman. Marloes Coenen fought her heart out and gave everything Santos could handle and it still wasn't enough. Coenen did very well on the feet, landing some powerful counter punches but none of them seemed to faze Santos. I'm convinced that those punches would have dropped a normal woman. On the ground she had a good defensive guard and limited the damage but couldn't quite pull out a submission. I thought the stoppage was a bit early considering that Coenen was covering well and even rolling but it was clear that Santos was going to win that fight. Santos was just too big and powerful for Coenen to handle. Her punches had more sting behind them and she dominated Coenen in the clinch.

The only person left for Santos at this point is Erin Toughill. After that Strikeforce better hope that Gina Carano finds the desire to fight again because their Women's division is on thin ice.



I have to give Herschel Walker a lot of credit. For a 47 year old man who spent his physical prime as a running back, he looked damn good in his fight. The most amazing thing was that he went almost three rounds and didn't even look close to tired. He showed strong hips and a good top base as well. He lacked finishing ability and he was stiff as board on his feet but I don't hold that against him. The stoppage was very anti-climatic as he was hitting the guy in the shoulder and armpit but it was clear that Nagy wanted out of that fight. Let's be honest, Greg Nagy isn't a very good fighter and he looked like he just showed up to collect his paycheck and that was it.

Walker gets killed by any good Heavyweight but he'll never fight a good Heavyweight. In fact, he may never fight again. What Herschel Walker did was amazing and he was very humble about the whole thing but it should not try to be duplicated by other athletes. He is a freak of nature and he took this very serious. We've seen plenty of former athletes try their hand at MMA and get killed by mid-level fighters. It's not easy. Herschel Walker is just a God among men. I feel bad about ripping on Walker a bit leading up to this fight because I misread his intentions. Herschel Walker getting into MMA at 47 years old and trying to become a Heavyweight champion is a man with a death wish. He just wanted to live his dream and prove to himself that he can compete. I'm fine with that. He knows his limitations and he's not trying to make a mockery out of the sport. Plus how can anyone hate this man after his post-fight promo?



We've all heard stories about how a one legged man in an ass kicking contest would fare. Usually it's not very good. Those one legged men are not named Robbie Lawler. Melvin Manhoef was beating Lawler so bad that every time he kicked his leg I honestly thought Lawler's leg was just going to fly off. Lawler did a good job covering and it didn't look like he ate too many punches clean but those leg kicks were tearing him up. Then Manhoef got a little too comfortable, dropped his hands, left his chin exposed, and Lawler landed the perfect right hand right on the button. If he doesn't land that punch that cleanly, he was done in the fight. I felt bad for Manhoef because he was clearly the better fighter on the feet but he just got caught. If it makes Melvin feel better, at least he's able to walk without a limp today.



Bobby Lashley beat Wes Sims. Good for him. The stoppage was clearly early although everyone knows Sims wasn't going to get up from that position and even if he survived the round he would have been blown up and done for in the second round. Lashley didn't look all that impressive but he won. Do people not watch the replay though? Frank Shamrock kept saying that Sims went flat from a punch and I've heard other people agree with Frank or say that Sims just flattened himself out for no reason. You're all wrong. Lashley did a very good job of using his leg to sweep out Sims' leg from under him, forcing him to go flat. It was a sneaky move and it worked.

Hopefully Lashley fights someone decent next. With the hype around him, it's time to stop protecting him. That's the problem with hype. The more hype you put into someone, the more the fans expect out of him. We expect Lashley to be fighting good guys by now and he's not. Hopefully that changes in his next fight. I still don't think he'll ever amount to be a champion until he stops working dates for TNA and starts training full time.



Overall it was your typical Strikeforce show. A lot of one sided fights with some fun finishes. Unfortunately it appears that no one cares Strikeforce. The crowd in Florida was terrible. None of the Strikeforce fighters shown on screen got any type of reaction except Dan Henderson and even his reaction was minimal, Georges St. Pierre was by far the biggest fighter star in the building, and Rex Ryan was the biggest star in the building. None of the fighters on the show got a good reaction except Diaz. Strikeforce has to find a way to better promote their shows and build up their fighters because right now no casual fan cares about this company and that's quite a shame.

No More News

That does it for me folks. I'll be back next week with a review of UFC 109. Take care everyone.

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