Cardio Freak MMA News Report 06.07.10: Re-Enter 'Iceman'
Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 06.07.2010
How can Chuck Liddell defeat Rich Franklin? How much does "Cro Cop" have left? Does anyone care about Yvel vs. Rothwell? It's a complete preview of UFC 115 featuring thoughts on the entire card and plenty of Chuck Liddell love. Plus thoughts on Mir and Faber dropping weight, Petruzelli's UFC return, and Shields' likely UFC debut. It's more focused than Chuck Liddell, it's Cardio Freak on 411.
UFC/WEC Event Preview/Review
UFC comes to Vancouver for the first time in history and unlike the Canucks in the playoffs, there is sure to be plenty of excitement.
The show is headlined by the return of my favorite fighter of all time, "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell taking on Rich Franklin.
I have mixed feelings about Liddell's return. On one hands, I'd rather him stay retired because I don't think he'll be a contender for the title and it's sad watching him perform below the level he used to be capable of. I also don't want to see him get KO'd again. On the other hand, I'm excited because why wouldn't I be excited to see my favorite fighter in action even if he's not what he once was? It's like when Peter Forsberg returns to the NHL despite his injury history. He may not be the Peter Forsberg he once was but he's still Peter Forsberg, my favorite hockey player of all time. So overall I'm excited for the return of Liddell and I hope I'm not sad by the time the event is over.
Liddell vs. Franklin isn't really about what each fighter used to do, it's about what Chuck Liddell needs to do and what he's capable of doing. On the feet we know Franklin stands southpaw, likes to set up the left straight, and throws a lot of body kicks. Liddell on the other hand paws with the jab, disguise the jab as a left hook, and set up the right hand. That's the gist of things when it comes to how both fighters fight.
If they both stick to their usual fighting style, Franklin will either pick Liddell apart with kicks or Liddell will catch Franklin with a right hand. That's why Liddell can't fight his usual style. He needs to start incorporating all of his strengths and not just his hands. There was a time when Liddell was a feared striker, not just a feared puncher. He needs to get back to using his kicks to throw off the timing of Franklin. At UFC 37.5 against Vitor Belfort, Liddell punished Belfort for thinking he could trade kicks with him. He needs to do the same thing in this fight. We all know Liddell has great wrestling and he uses it to sprawl and brawl. He needs to start using it to be offensive. He scored takedowns against Wanderlei Silva and "Shogun" Rua but he immediately let both fighters up without doing damage. He needs to make Franklin pay for his kicks by putting him on his back and doing damage on the ground. If he does these things, his chances of beating Franklin increase dramatically.
Following Quinton Jackson's layoff and subsequent ring rust, fans are now worried about Liddell. I'm not. Unlike Jackson, Liddell never let himself get too bad out of shape, especially in the months leading up to the fight. He's constantly been working out and he got in excellent shape for Dancing With The Stars. Ring rust likely won't be a factor for Liddell and even if it is, he won't use it as an excuse. If anything I think the time off will help him. He's lost four of his last five fights, he's been knocked down in all five fights, he's been (T)KO'd in three of the four losses, Now he's had 14 months off to give his brain a rest from getting rattled around. Franklin has solid power but he's also more of an overwhelming striker than a one punch KO striker. Not only that but he's been working with Howard Davis for over a year now and that work has helped him tighten his defense and movement.
As you can see, I'm really talking myself into Liddell winning, not that I needed much convincing. He's saying all the right things leading up to this fight that makes me believe he can beat Rich Franklin, who doesn't sound as focused or into things as Liddell. I'm not convinced that he can make another run at the title because the Light Heavyweight division is filled with younger guys who are faster and just as skilled. But Rich Franklin isn't one of those fighters.
I'm picking Liddell in this fight. It's a winnable fight for him even if he doesn't fight how I believe he should. Southpaws are open for overhand right hands and if there's one punch Liddell throws better than anyone, it's the overhand right.
The co-main event features a Heavyweight scrap between Mirko "Cro Cop" and Pat Barry.
In his prime, Mirko "Cro Cop" would have defeated Pat Barry. As good as Barry's striking is, Mirko's striking was just on another level. But he's not in his prime anymore. Barry refuses to believe that Mirko is washed up, which is smart on his part but we all know Mirko isn't what he once was. He says his knees are finally healthy now, which will allow him to unleash more kicks. I hope he's right because seeing him throw a grand total of 12 kicks in his last two fights was sad to watch.
We know what Mirko is going to do. He's going to throw a lot of right hook-straight left combos, counter with the straight left, and possibly throw a lot of kicks. I expect Barry to throw plenty of kicks of his own, use his quick jab, and throw the straight right. I don't expect either fighter to try and take things to the ground and even if they do they likely won't succeed given the lack of offensive wrestling of both guys and solid defensive wrestling of both.
One thing Mirko may not have to worry about is the clinch game of Barry. Against Junior dos Santos and Cheick Kongo, he was bullied in the clinch by the bigger and stronger guy. Barry does have a weight advantage but Mirko has the height advantage so if they clinch it could turn into a stalemate over Barry roughing him up with knees. Still look for Barry to attack the body with kicks. Dos Santos put the finishing touches on Mirko at UFC 103 with multiple uppercuts and knees to the body, which Mirko wanted no part of.
If Mirko has anything left, he'll beat Pat Barry. I'm not as solid on Barry as most but I do recognize that he's a very good striker and he's younger and faster than Mirko. He also hits hard and seems to have a solid chin given that he's never been KO'd in MMA or his kickboxing bouts. I think that Mirko is going to have a tough time catching up to Barry and Barry is really going to test the leg health of Mirko with kicks.
In a fight that has gone overlooked, Martin Kampmann battles Paulo Thiago in a Welterweight showdown.
I'm really looking forward to this fight. Win or lose, Kampmann is rarely in a boring fight and Thiago has proven that he's more than a guy who just scored a fluke uppercut victory over Josh Koscheck.
This fight will come down to Thiago's takedown offense vs. Kampmann's takedown defense. Even though Thiago is a good counter striker with power, Kampmann is a better technical striker who also has power to go along with a hell of a chin. Thiago likes to throw the right uppercut-left hook combo and likes to counter with a left hook followed by a right straight. Thiago has good defense on the feet, keeping his hands high to block punch but ont punch that seems to slip through his defense is the straight right. Kampmann throws a very accurate straight right and I suspect he'll look for it a lot in this fight.
On the ground Kampmann has a very solid jiu-jitsu game but Thiago has, "top of the food chain jiu-jitsu." Thiago is a black belt in judo so if he's going to get a takedown, it will likely be from the clinch. Of course if Thiago tries to clinch with Kampmann, he'll be suspect to the knees of Kampmann. Thiago likes to look for chokes on the ground, whether he's on the top or bottom position. His control on top isn't as good as one may think given his jiu-jitsu expertise and that could be a problem against an active ground fighter like Kampmann.
I've gone back and forth on this fight but in the end I'm going with Kampmann. I think he'll be able to keep it standing, take anything Thiago throws at him, and eventually just wear him out. Thiago's cardio is questionable while Kampmann can go a hard 15 minutes with little problem.
Gilbert Yvel and Ben Rothwell meet in a clash of Heavyweight strikers.
Does anyone care about this fight? Personally, I can't stand Ben Rothwell. His story of, "I used to get picked on, then I put on a bunch of weight and picked on them" makes him come off like a prick, I think he comes off like a prick in general, and he's not a very good fighter. Yvel seems like a nice guy but his lack of everything except striking means he'll never be a contender in the Heavyweight division.
Even though this fight doesn't matter in the big picture, it should be a fun stand up battle. Both guys like to bang and they both have power. Yvel is the more technical striker and I give him the power advantage but his chin is pretty much non-existent and Rothwell has enough power to catch him. Rothwell would be smart to use whatever wrestling he has to takedown Yvel but he probably won't because he doesn't seem like the smartest guy in the world.
I'm picking Yvel in this fight because of my bias against Ben Rothwell and because Yvell is a more explosive striker who should be able to pick apart Rothwell as long as he doesn't get caught. Hopefully someone gets KO'd quick otherwise we're in for a long boring fight that really doesn't matter.
The PPV will open with a Welterweight clash between Carlos Condit and prospect Rory MacDonald.
Another fight I'm really looking forward to just because Condit is another guy who always has exciting fights and Rory MacDonald may end up rivaling John Hathaway for best Welterweight prospect.
MacDonald is a good boxer with power and solid jiu-jitsu. Condit is a very technical striker, lacks power, and is very active on the ground. Neither fighter has too much wrestling. MacDonald gas tank is unknown but we know Condit can fight for days.
After seeing Hathaway against Diego Sanchez, I'm not ready to write off any young 20 year old against any established fighter. There are some differences though, the major being Hathaway's wrestling background and the fact that Sanchez is a small Welterweight who looked soft in that fight. MacDonald's advantages are that Condit is coming off a decent sized layoff that included a hand injury and that Condit likes to kick, which leaves him open for takedowns even if MacDonald's wrestling isn't that strong.
I still like Condit in this fight just because I know what I'm getting from him. MacDonald looked very tentative in his first fight against Mike Guymon and that was on the preliminary card of a SpikeTV event. Now he's on PPV against a former WEC champion. At least with Hathaway he'd been on a PPV event before and even made the broadcast in his first UFC fight. I'm just worried that the moment will overwhelm MacDonald, leading to a Condit victory.
Quick Preliminary Preview:
*Tyson Griffin vs. Evan Dunham should be on the main card. At least we'll get to see the fight on Spike. Should be a hell of a scrap.
*Mac Danzig is still employed? How many lives does this guy have?
*Is David Loiseau the luckiest fighter in the world? Best friends with GSP, always called upon for events in Canada.
*Big fight for TUF 9 winner James Wilks. Does anyone even remember that he won TUF 9?
*Funch trains with Gabriel Gonzaga. I wonder if he's a mental flake as well.
*Really pulling for Mike Pyle against Jesse Lennox. He's a good guy.
While the success of UFC 115 on PPV will depend largely on Chuck Liddell and what drawing power he has left, I think this card has potential to be one of the best of the year. Three of the five main card bouts featuring two guys who like strike and the other two bouts feature a fighter who rarely has a boring fight.
Official Predictions:
*Chuck Liddell to defeat Rich Franklin by TKO in Round 2
*Pat Barry to defeat Mirko "Cro Cop" by Decision
*Martin Kampmann to defeat Paulo Thiago by Decision
*Gilbert Yvel to defeat Ben Rothwell by KO in Round 1
*Carlos Condit to defeat Rory MacDonald by Decision
*Tyson Griffin to defeat Evan Dunham by Decision
*Matt Wiman to defeat Mac Danzig by TKO in Round 2
*David Loiseau to defeat Mario Miranda by TKO in Round 1
*James Wilks to defeat Peter Sobotta by Decision
*Ricardo Funch to defeat Claude Patrick by Submission in Round 2
*Mike Pyle to defeat Jesse Lennox by Submission in Round 1
UFC/WEC News
*Seth Petruzelli is back in the UFC and will face Ricardo Romero at UFC 116.
*Frank Mir has talked about wanting to fight at Light Heavyweight.
*Urijah Faber expects that his next fight will be at Bantamweight.
*Jens Pulver was released from his WEC contract.
*Seth Petruzelli finally capitalizing on his Kimbo Killer fame almost two years later. I'm glad Petruzelli is back in the UFC. He's got a lot of charisma and after being screwed by BAMMA on his last payoff plus not banking on being the first guy to beat Kimbo Slice, he probably needs money. I don't think he's going to be a contender but he could easily be the Light Heavyweight version of Tom Lawlor. Plus there is money to be made with Petruzelli if SpikeTV decides they want Kimbo for one more fight: Petruzelli vs. Slice 2 as a Fight Night co-main event.
*Mir is such a great bullshitter. He lost to Brock Lesnar so he put on a ton of muscle. Then he lost to Shane Carwin so now he wants to just drop weight classes. I don't think he can get to 205 without potentially dying and even if he does he probably won't perform to a great level. If he wants to cut to 220 to potentially fight Anderson Silva then fine. If he doesn't look like a zombie and actually performs well, then try to cut to 205. But Mir has a big frame, just put on a bunch of muscle, and has never cut weight in his life. I thought Mir had a death wish by constantly talking about Lesnar and in a strange way, Lesnar may end up causing Mir's death.
*As it should be for Faber. There is nothing left for him to do at Featherweight as long as Jose Aldo is the champion. It's unfortunate that Miguel Torres is coming off two losses and can't be risked to a third otherwise they could go ahead and do Torres vs. Faber. Instead Torres is in desperate need of a rebuild win and it would probably be smart of WEC to give Faber a showcase win at 135. Maybe he takes on the WEC 49 winner of Eddie Wineland vs. Will Campuzano or Wagnney Fabiano should he defeat Frank Gomez at WEC 49.
*Disappointing news for Pulver. I don't know why they weren't able to work out a deal that would allow Pulver to stay on as the color commentator but it's a shame that they couldn't. I really hope Pulver doesn't continue to fight for another organization. He was a great fighter in his time but I don't think he's a Hall of Famer and he's looked sadder than Kazushi Sakuraba could ever dream of for years now.
Strikeforce/Miscellaneous News
*Strikeforce Challengers Series 9 will be headlined by a Womens Bantamweight title fight between Champion Sarah Kaufman taking on Roxanne Modafferi
*Jake Shields is officially free to negotiate with other companies. Strikeforce says they will not get into a bidding war over Shields.
*I'm looking forward to Kaufman vs. Modafferi but can't help but think that Strikeforce has really dropped the ball with their women's division. First of all, Modafferi vs. Tara LaRosa should have taken place on a Strikeforce card not at Moosin MMA. Secondly, even though Modafferi won that fight, she lost her last Strikeforce fight. I realize that hardcore fans probably watch both Strikeforce and Moosin meaning Strikeforce has almost no casual fans, which is an entirely different problem, but assuming they had casual fans, those fans saw Modafferi lose her last fight. Third, how did Bellator sign Megumi Fugi and Strikeforce didn't? Finally, how has Erin Toughill (10-2-1) yet to have a fight yet Jan Finney (8-7) gets a title shot? Strikeforce, I want you to succeed. I like that you're giving women a chance. But you're badly screwing it up.
*And not getting into a bidding war over Jake Shields will cost them Jake Shields. Not that I blame them. Jake Shields isn't the type of fighter who is going to draw ratings on his own and because Strikeforce has almost zero establishment as a brand, Jake Shields just isn't a draw. So they really can't afford to overpay someone who won't draw for them and given Dana's deep pockets, they'd be forced to overpay. Of course Strikeforce could have put an end to all of this if they had just properly promoted Shields leading into his fight with Dan Henderson and locked him up prior to that fight but in their minds Henderson was going to come in, KO Shields, and send Shields packing.
The After Party Is At…
That does it for me folks. I'll be back next week with a review of UFC 115 unless of course Chuck Liddell loses and then I'll be taking next week off to attend my funeral. Take care everyone.
Shields is definitely headed to UFC.
The only problem is where to start with him. You can't put him in a title shot right away vs GSP (assuming he still has the belt, which is likely) because he doesn't have that name yet. You don't want to risk feeding him cans on the off-chance that the can wins.
I would book him vs a similar style fighter in Jon Fitch. Win or lose, Fitch has a name and is respected. If he wins, give him a striker like Dan Hardy. If he can beat Hardy, then the title shot would be good.
Either way, I want to see GSP vs Shields in the long run, but I want Shields built up. MMA fans know him, but casual fans are not too familiar.
Posted By: MPMoore (Guest) on June 07, 2010 at 09:20 AM
Gilbert Yvel seems like a nice guy? He knocked out a ref for fucks sake! Then kicked him while he was on the ground. He was also dq's for biting and intentional eye pokes. He was barely able to get licensed in the US. Yeah, seems like a real peach. Do some research.
Posted By: Losaphone (Guest) on June 07, 2010 at 09:58 AM
I, like you, hope that Chuck wins, if for nothing else that I don't want to see him lose again. I hope we see an improved Chuck, because as you said, old Chuck will probably go to sleep or lose a decision against a game 'Ace'.
I hope Barry beats Cro Cop and sends the guy packing for good. I still don't understand why the UFC bent over backwards to get the guy back. He may have dominated Anthony Perosh but I doubt he's going to dominate anyone else like that anytime soon.
And I agree, I don't like Rothwell either. There's just something about the guy, I dunno.
Posted By: Nick (Guest) on June 07, 2010 at 10:04 AM
"Rothwell would be smart to use whatever wrestling he has to takedown Yvel..."
Should be
Rothwell would be smart to use whatever wrestling he has to take Yvel down.
Awsome article. You are the highlite to my Monday morning, second only to my coffee.
Posted By: E-Van (Guest) on June 07, 2010 at 10:12 AM
The one fighter who has more of worry about ring rust than Liddel is Lesnar. Surgery time off seems to be very hard to overcome and Shane Carwin is top level competition.
Posted By: Pete (Guest) on June 07, 2010 at 11:58 AM
Your article is a great break to my monday. Love it, keep up the good work. I gotta disagree with your prediction of this being a great card. I live in vancouver and wouldnt waste the money for the ticket. Plus the ticket price is a tad silly up here for this one.
Posted By: Glorydog (Guest) on June 07, 2010 at 03:14 PM
Lesnar actually never had surgery. He was able to heal with antibiotics, a special diet and rest.
Posted By: guest (Guest) on June 07, 2010 at 09:14 PM
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