Cardio Freak MMA News Report 02.08.10: 46 Years Young
Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 02.08.2010
A full review of UFC 109: Relentless, including Randy Couture continuing to defy his age as well as thoughts on all the fights and where the winners and losers go from here. Plus thoughts on WEC on PPV and whether or not it will succeed, thoughts on upcoming fights featuring Nate Diaz, Diego Sanchez, and Tyson Griffin, and why common sense should be a source. It never spills the ice in the middle of a fight, it's Cardio Freak on 411.
Headline News
UFC 109 may not have had the hype of Super Bowl 44 but that only means that it didn't disappoint.
Unlike Brett Favre, Randy Couture doesn't make last second mistakes that end up costing him. Couture fought the type of fight that everyone expected him to and it led to a rather easy victory over Mark Coleman. He was clearly the better striker and every time he had Coleman rocked he clinched and used his dirty boxing. Usually clinching when you have your opponent hurt is a bad move but Couture's clinch work is second to none and he doesn't have the hand speed or power to really let his hands go like most fighters. Once he got Coleman to the ground in the second round it was the beginning of the end as Coleman offered no defense and was easily submitted.
It would be easy to say that this win doesn't mean much for Couture because he beat a 45 year old Mark Coleman whose game hasn't evolved over the years but I don't want to discredit Couture like that. What Couture did was very impressive. Had he barely beat Coleman in a lackluster decision than that would have shown that he just doesn't have it anymore. But he dominated Coleman and that's what a good fighter should do. We've seen better fighters than Couture look less impressive against worse fighters than Coleman. I give Couture all the credit in the world because he's 46 years old but still has the drive to be the Light Heavyweight champion.
Couture may have earned himself a title shot just because of how dominating he was in this fight and the "Randy Couture chases the title" story is too good to pass up. The one thing that works against him is that Machida and Shogun won't fight until May, which means they won't be ready to fight again until September or October and Couture might want another fight before then since he's not getting any younger.
Coleman says he'll be back but I'm not sure why. He's not a top guy anymore and he's only going to embarrass himself against any good fighter who shows up in shape. Leave it to Tito Ortiz to want to fight a 45 year old who is clearly past his prime and coming off an uncompetitive loss. You stay classy Tito.
I was very upset with myself after last weeks column and what I wrote about Chael Sonnen even before his performance at UFC 109. I still thought Marquardt would win but I didn't give Sonnen the credit he deserved. Then again I don't think a lot of people did so I don't feel too bad. On the bright side, Sonnen was such a big underdog in this fight and I did feel like he had a fighting chance so I ended up putting money on him and walked away with a nice payout.
Simply put, Chael Sonnen dominated Nate Marquardt with his wrestling. Marquardt had no takedown defense and wasn't good enough off his back to catch Sonnen (although he came close a couple of times) so the end result was Sonnen grinding away en route to a decision victory. I didn't think it was as exciting as some people but I couldn't help but to be impressed with Sonnen's performance. He got into trouble a couple of times but to his credit he showed that he wasn't a front running fighter, survived, and continued to fight on.
Sonnen has the perfect style to beat Anderson Silva. He's a strong and relentless wrestler who won't get sucked into striking with Silva. Whether or not he can beat Silva is a different story as he'll have to avoid the submissions and control Silva for 25 minutes while avoid the strikes on the feet but if I favor any fighter in the Middleweight division of having the best chance against Silva right now, it would be Sonnen. While the performance was likely good enough to earn him a title shot no matter what happens in the Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva fight, the trash talk will likely give him that extra edge. Sonnen has already started trash talking Silva and his lack of verbal skills.
This was a big loss for Marquardt because it ruined his title aspirations for the time being and set him back a bit in the Middleweight division. I don't think Rich Franklin wants anything to do with the Middleweight division right now but I think he would be the perfect next opponent for Marquardt.
Paulo Thiago is starting to prove that his uppercut against Josh Koscheck was no fluke.
Coming into the fight I thought a lot of people were overrating Swick's striking and underrating Thiago's. Thiago has shown some good counter punching in his previous fight and Swick lost to Dan Hardy because Hardy had a counter for everything. Thiago had a counter for Swick as well and that counter was a left hook that dropped Swick. Once he had his opponent down and hurt, Thiago pounced on him and ended up choking him out. It was a very good performance by Thiago against a guy who a lot of people think is a great fighter and a guy who was one win away from a title shot.
I'd like to see Thiago face Matt Serra next. UFC loves to book guys who win on the same show against each other and that's the scenario we have here. It would be another tough test for Thiago as Serra is a former champion but he's obviously ready for the tough tests.
Mike Swick needs to move back to 185. His only loss at that weight was against Yushin Okami and he has a speed advantage that he doesn't enjoy at Welterweight. Plus he's not going to fight his teammates Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch and they're going to get better fights than him since they're better fighters. I really think it hurts all their training knowing that they're all in the same division and even though they're not fighting against each other directly, they're fighting against each other to be the top guy in the division.
Quick tangent. I feel bad for Dan Hardy. He earned a Welterweight title shot because he had four straight wins: A split decision victory over Akihiro Gono, a KO over Rory Markham, a split decision over Marcus Davis, and a unanimous decision over Mike Swick. What happened to those guys after Hardy beat them? Gono went on to lose to Jon Fitch and be cut by UFC, it was found out Markham fought with a collapsed lung, Davis lost to Ben Saunders by KO, and Swick lost to Thiago by TKO. It takes some luster off his victories and takes even more luster off his most recent two as they were finished in their next fight while Hardy couldn't finish them. Dan Hardy doesn't have anything more than a punchers chance against Georges St. Pierre but he could have used a little help from the guys he beat to make those wins look impressive.
Maia vs. Miller wasn't the most exciting fight in the world but it was certainly a good performance by Maia.
Maia showed much improved stand up against a decent striker in Miller and he was able to put Miller, a very good wrestler, on his back multiple times. He couldn't do anything with Miller on his back but Miller has a very defensive guard and I think Maia was fighting more not to lose than to win in this fight. Plus I'm willing to bet that Maia didn't train much jiu-jitsu leading up to this fight and instead focused strictly on his striking.
Maia is still a contender at Middleweight. His only loss is a quick one punch KO against Marquardt and he rebounded strong with a win here. Plus he holds a victory over Chael Sonnen and that victory looks even more impressive now with Sonnen on a three fight winning streak and the next contender to the Middleweight title.
Miller will find himself back on the prelims and in danger of becoming the gatekeeper of the division. He's going to beat fighters who mediocre at best but he won't beat the guys who are potential threats to the title.
Anytime Frank Trigg gets KO'd I'm a happy man. So needless to say, I was a very happy man as UFC 109 kicked off. There wasn't much to the Matt Serra vs. Trigg fight. Serra kept looking for the body shot and Trigg pecked away at him with his reach. Then Serra caught him with the big right hand and that was all she wrote for Trigg.
With the win Serra is now the greatest mid-level Welterweight of all-time. That's a pretty big accomplishment if you ask me and I'm sure Serra will be happy to hear this news when one of my loyal readers breaks it to him. I don't think anyone believes Serra will win the title again but he's a good guy to have in the division because he is a former champion so a win over him means something and he's one of the best promo guys in MMA (trailing only Frank Mir in my mind) so he's great at selling fights. I still think he'll face Paulo Thiago in his next bout.
Frank Trigg just needs to go away. I've never been a Trigg fan so I enjoy watching him lose but now it's just getting sad. I'd say that he should go back to the broadcast booth but that's really where my disdain for him started. The only thing worse than watching a potential 15 minute Trigg fight is hearing Trigg talk for three hours. I'd be happy if Trigg was never heard from or seen again.
Overall UFC 109 was a surprisingly good event. If you came into the event with low expectations (and who didn't?) then you likely walked away pleasantly surprised with what you saw.
Quick Thoughts on the Prelim Fights:
*Phil Davis has the build and athletic ability of Kevin Randleman yet he's already surpassed him in the skill department He has the potential to be very scary in the Light Heavyweight division.
*So much for Rolles Gracie being the next big thing in the Heavyweight division. At least all those fans begging to see Gracie got their wish.
*God bless you if you watched Hague vs. Tuchscherer.
*So much for Phillipe Nover being the Lightweight Anderson Silva or Georges St. Pierre.
*Melvin Guillard might actually make something of himself under the guidance of Greg Jackson. I think Torres would have won if he wasn't coming off a Mir Layoff though.
*Can UFC just release both Buchholz and Danzig to spare us another Mac Danzig fight?
Full Results:
*Randy Couture defeated Mark Coleman by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:09 in Round Two
*Chael Sonnen defeated Nate Marquardt by Unanimous Decision (30-27 across)
*Paulo Thiago defeated Mike Swick by Submission (D'Arce Choke) at 1:54 in Round Two
*Demian Maia defeated Dan Miller by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
*Matt Serra defeated Frank Trigg by KO (Punches) at 2:23 in Round One
*Mac Danzig defeated Justin Buchholz by Unaimous Decision (29-28 across)
*Melvin Guillard defeated Ronnys Torres by Unanimous Decision (29-28 across)
*Rob Emerson defeated Phillipse Nover by Unanimous Decision (29-28 across)
*Phil Davis defeated Brian Stann by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
*Chris Tuchscherer defeated Tim Hague by Majority Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
*Joey Beltran defeated Rolles Gracie by TKO (Punches) at 1:31 in Round Two
Major UFC/WEC News
On February 3 WEC confirmed WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber. The show will take place on Saturday, April 28 from Sacramento, California and will air on PPV for $44.95. Here is the confirmed card thus far:
Well it's official: WEC is coming to PPV. Good idea or bad idea? Here are the positives:
*Not running in May was a smart idea. There are three big PPVs in May (Mayweather vs. Mosley, UFC 113, UFC 114) that would all draw more interest than the WEC event. A lot of people can only buy one PPV a month and they certainly would have skipped WEC for one of the other three. Running at the end of April might be a little too close to May for comfort but at least it's not in May and won't show up on the same bill as the May events.
*They've certainly stacked the card. Urijah Faber is by far the biggest draw in the company, Jose Aldo was considered by many to the Fighter of the Year for 2009, Mike Brown is a former champion, Ben Henderson is making a name for himself, and Cerrone is a great personality that knows how to sell fights.
*The timing of the show is great as long as UFC promotes it strong. This show will follow WEC 47 featuring Miguel Torres and Jens Pulver, which should do a good rating on VS., UFC 111 featuring Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin, which should do around one million buys, UFC 112 featuring Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort and BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar, which should do at least 500,000 buys (possibly more as it's unknown how much a great card will draw overseas as all previous overseas UFC cards have been mediocre at best), and during the middle of the TUF11 season. If all those shows push WEC 48 then at the very least plenty of people will know about the show and knowing is half the battle. UFC has already started pushing this event as they ran a promo for the show during UFC 109. So it seems like the hard sell is in full force.
VS. needs to step up and give WEC a countdown type show for this card. The only other time WEC ran a countdown show was for Faber vs. Pulver 1 and not coincidently, that event is the highest rated WEC event ever.
*WEC management has low expectations. From what I've heard, WEC and company will be happy with around 60,000 buys for this show. That's a very reasonable number especially if it's promoted as well as it should be.
The negatives:
*$44.95 for your first time on PPV seems steep. People are used to seeing WEC for free so expecting them to pay $44.95 might be a bit much. A better price would have been $29.95 but I guess with pretty much every sporting event costing $44.95, WEC felt the need to make that the price tag in an effort to not come off minor league.
The price tag is the only negative that really jumps out at me. Everything else seems to be working in the favor of WEC for this event. The price tag is a big thing though and could end up trumping all the positives.
Minor UFC/WEC News
On February 4 MMAJunkie reported that Forrest Griffin vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will likely take place at UFC 114 and not UFC 113 as first reported.
This isn't really big news but I just wanted to include it to boost my own ego. Last week I said that this fight would end up moving to UFC 114 because it just made sense and now that MMAJunkie has reported it then it must be true.
I don't like to break news in the MMA world, I prefer to sprain it and I think I do a pretty good job at that. My track record at spraining upcoming fights and the like speaks for itself. Unfortauntely "common sense" isn't a legit source.
With Griffin vs. Nogueira co-headlining with Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans, I fully expect this show to do at least 800,000 buys.
Recent Fight Card Additions:
UFC 111: Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham
UFC 114: Chris Leben vs. Aaron Simpson, Deigo Sanchez vs. John Hathaway
UFC 115: Tyson Griffin vs. Evan Dunham
Sources: WrestlingObserver, MMAJunkie
Some interesting fights here.
I think Diaz will do better at Welterweight because, like his brother, his body type just seems to suit that division. He's starting to grow into his body and put on a little bit of size and he couldn't deal with the speed of the Lightweights. Markham is a good debut opponent for him as well as he's coming off a Mir Layoff and although he's a powerful striker, Diaz has the Diaz genetics. In a way this fight is a lot like the Marius Zaromskis vs. Nick Diaz fight the other week when it comes to the striking department. Markham is a more well-rounded fighter than Zaromskis though.
Leben vs. Simpson is a battle of two guys with good chins who hit really hard. Who doesn't love those kind of fights?
I'm shocked Sanchez is moving back up to 170 to fight John Hathaway. After headling a very successful PPV one would think that he would face a top guy at Welterweight but instead he's facing a rather unknown in Hathaway. I think the better fight would have been Sanchez vs. Carlos Condit but obviously Joe Silva didn't agree. This is a win-win fight for Hathaway.
I'm really looking forward to Griffin vs. Dunham. They're both very well-rounded although I think Griffin does everything just a little bit better than Dunham. The winner of this fight could easily be one win away from getting the next Lightweight title shot.
No More News
That does it for me folks. I'll be back next week with a preview of UFC 110. Take care everyone.
Right now, with 3 hard fought wins 2 of which against ranked competitors, and a hard fought decision loss to Jon Fitch, Thiago is in the mix. Serra isnt even in the rankings.
To be honest, Thiago is more deserving of a title shot than Dan Hardy. Much more so. (Not that i think he would have a chance with GSP at this point, just stating facts)
Posted By: john (Guest) on February 07, 2010 at 11:22 PM
"*fighter name here* has the perfect style to beat Anderson Silva"
Just no, people said that about Hendo, Leites, Belfort and now Sonnen. This is becoming a total joke....
Posted By: Brad (Guest) on February 08, 2010 at 12:52 AM
"Swick lost to Thiago by TKO"
Incorrect.
Some fights I expect/want to see coming off this card are: Trigg/Baroni, Serra vs. Kampmann/Saunders winner, Maia/Akiyama, Nate/Miller, Paulo vs. Fitch/Alves winner, Swick vs. loser of Kampmann/Saunders & Coleman/Tito.
Posted By: zwarrior2 (Guest) on February 08, 2010 at 04:08 AM
Brad - you're spot on my man. People are of this constant belief that Wrestling is the way to beat Silva.
Lutter had him on his back...nothing, submitted next round.
Marquardt had him on his back, Silva was dodging punches and elbows, WHILE ON THE BOTTOM, got knocked out the end of the round.
Henderson had him down...did nothing, choked him out the next round.
I also like the bit that says "Sonnen has already started trash talking Silva and his lack of verbal skills."
I'm pretty sure that Silva's verbal skills are perfect in Brazil and Portugal and that his English is far better than Sonnen's Portuguese. I may be looking into this too deep, but if it is the case, then Sonnen is coming across as a bit of a racist and very Nazi-like)...with his hick-like accent (can't say I'm too familiar with Oregan, but thats what it sounds like to me) its probably not a good thing
Posted By: Franco Baresi (Guest) on February 08, 2010 at 06:27 AM
Lutter had him on his back...nothing, submitted next round.
---------------------------------------
Did nothing? Watch that fight again, Lutter had him mount and was hitting him with some huge shots. Lutter is an idiot he failed to make weight and gassed in the second round. He was winning to that point.
Hendo won the first round in there fight as well, its not nothing.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think Sonnen can beat Silva but im just stating facts. I don't think anyone in the MW division anywhere can beat Silva right now. In the UFC I think GSP and Machida could beat him, possibly Shougn.
Posted By: Guest#0492 (Guest) on February 08, 2010 at 09:44 AM
I can see Serra being the opponent for Thiago, look: Serra has plenty of name recognition, is a former champ, is one of only a very small group of men to have a win over GSP, and can hype the fight. A win for Thiago would have the spotlight all over him! Would Condit, Hughes, Kos, or Alves be greater challenges and more highly ranked opponents for him? Yes, of course. However these guys are all at least rumored to be booked up, so we've got Serra v Thiago as a very likely fight.
Posted By: guest guest (Guest) on February 08, 2010 at 09:59 AM
Hardys a better fighter than Thiago. Thiago's BJJ is awesome but when you actually know how to stand up and fight Thiago is an easy guy to beat. Swick attacks with his hands very low and his chin high making him easy pray. Koscheck throws wide and winging shots that are easy to counter. Thiago's striking is amateurish and he was fortunate to face wild strikers prone to counters.
The reason Hardy put Swick on his back rather than to try and work him over on his feet is because Swick sucks on the ground. Other than his fluke guillotines he's never shown any aptitude for good BJJ or wrestling.
I don't think Thiago is more deserving of a title shot than Hardy because beating Swick and Volkman while losing to Fitch isn't as good as beating Gono, Markham, Davis, and Swick before Thiago did it.
I also think Dany Hardy pretty much ruined all four of those guys as he really hurt Gono every time he touched him, had one of the best KO's in history of all time against Markham who still hasn't recovered, did such a mental job on Davis that he'll never be the same, and he killed Swick's confidence with how effortless he made the ability to hurt Swick look.
Posted By: Kingof170 (Guest) on February 08, 2010 at 10:40 AM
you may have a point on the lutter fight (tho the superior fighter won, weight cut or not), hendo may have won the round, but the damage was minimal. when silva had the dominant position it was game over.
I guess i explained it badly, my point was silva has been on his back before, realised what the game plan is, then decimated.
Posted By: franco baresi (Guest) on February 08, 2010 at 11:34 AM
"I don't think Thiago is more deserving of a title shot than Hardy because beating Swick and Volkman while losing to Fitch isn't as good as beating Gono, Markham, Davis, and Swick before Thiago did it."
How about beating Swick Volkman and Koscheck? Forget about that one?
Posted By: john (Guest) on February 08, 2010 at 01:09 PM
